You'll Always Remember Your First Time, Part 15

They say you never forget your first time. And with October upon us, the vivid memories of my first time witnessing a professional Philadelphia franchise win a championship are ripe in my head. Even with football underway, I find myself wandering back to that glorious month of October, 2008. It's something I want to relive again and again. In fact, that's exactly what I'm going to do, republishing my feelings during the wild ride to becoming 2008 World Fucking Champions. View part 1 here, part 2 here, part 3 here, part 4 here, part 5 here, part 6 here, part 7 here, part 8 here, part 9 here, part 10 here, part 11 here, part 12 here, part 13 here and part 14 here.

Today is part 15, originally published Oct. 16, 2008, by The Charles:

what is this, a blog?

i hate to get a little sentimental with four wins yet to go but i couldn't help but feel that way after the game 5 win over the mannys. i speak mostly of mr. pat burrell and one charlie manuel. when you think about this city, you list all the cliches that get churned out interview after interview about the passion, the blue-collarness and the ultimate desire to reach that promised land of a championship. you can go through the lists of those athletes around here who have got it (see chase, shane and pat just from the phillies), and those who haven't (rolen and rollins to name a couple). but after a decade of burrell, i can't help but put that guy on my all-time favorites list



if you think about where burrell came from and what he was when he got here, it's nice to see where is he is now. arriving from the always arrogant university of miami as a brawny pretty boy as the no. 1 pick, maybe he didn't seem like our typical philly guy. so he went through the fire, played well early on, then had that disastrous .209 season, and bounced back to be a solid bat in the middle of the lineup. he was the goat for years. all those kneel-down strikeouts on sliders down and away, while the team either struggled to compete or fizzled down the stretch. if jeff conine can do it, why can't our supposed golden boy? the one thing pat never did was sit around and complain like others or pout or anything. he just kept trying, because he got it.

well maybe he's no golden boy, but he is now a huge part of one of the best core's of a team we've had in this city in a while. the phillies have always had a special route to philly fans' hearts throughout the decades and the main reason is that the successful teams have done it with grit and hustle and a certain determination that those sitting in the seats all buy into and relate to. and to see burrell now, coming up big in key spots (do i need to remind you about game 4 milwaukee?), showing the same passion that's in every title-hungry fan's belly, it just makes you feel pretty darn good. sure pat is never gonna be the all-everything first overall pick, but what he is now is the imperfect, blue-collar, not-taking-anything-for-granted kind of player. he is a true philly guy.

unlike others...



as for charlie

i don't think i ever had a super strong opinion about him. i liked how he got the team to play hard. i didn't like some of the things he did during games. but seeing how authentic this guy is and how his team has grown to be just like him, in that they're tough, determined and they just won't stop coming even when everyone is calling them dead, i gotta tip my cap to him. he's done a heck of a job and in terms of people, it couldn't have worked out for a better guy.

hearing that quote about from his mom, "charles, you're gonna win those games..." or however it went exactly woulda made me cry if i knew how to cry.

let's get this one done for charlie and pat and chase and shane and chris and jayson and i could list a lot of others. and also vinnie. let's win one for vinnie. it would be nice.

and it's about time.