The Top 10 is upon us, and we head back to the 2008 Philadelphia Phillies season for the first of the final 10 moments. As the NLDS started, the Phillies found themselves back in the playoffs for the second year in a row, and this time, they had to face a team that had traded for arguably the best pitcher in the National League during the second half of the season. What happened in Game Two of the NLDS was one of the best things I had ever seen, and is clearly deserving of the number 10 spot on this list.
Moment #10: Shane Victorino's grand slam off C.C. Sabathia-October 2, 2008
For the second year in a row, the Phillies had clinched the National League East and were headed to the playoffs. While the 2007 Phillies had been swept by the Colorado Rockies, the 2008 Phillies knew that there was more work that had to be done. Cole Hamels took the mound in Game 1 of the NLDS and pitched a gem, pitching eight shutout innings in a 3-1 Phillies win. With that, the Phillies had won their first playoff game since 1993, but there was still a large obsticle in front of them if they wanted to take a 2-0 lead against the Milwaukee Brewers.
Milwaukee was in the playoffs for the first time since 1982 on the strength of one man. When the Brewers acquired C.C. Sabathia from the Indians in July, most people thought that he would help push Milwaukee towards the playoffs. Very few thought that a man who had gone 6-8 with a 3.83 ERA in Cleveland would then turn around and go 11-2 with a 1.81 ERA in the National League. Thanks to Sabathia's pitching, the Brewers clinched the Wild Card in the National League on the last day of the season. The Phillies had swept the Brewers in the middle of September, but had missed Sabathia during the four game series, and now would have to face him with the NLDS potentially on the line.
Brett Myers took the mound for the Phillies in Game 2 and got into trouble early. He walked three of the first five batters he faced, with a walk to Ryan Braun forcing in a run. However, he worked out of trouble and would never find himself in a situation like that again for the rest of the game. Meanwhile, the Phillies got to C.C. Sabathia in the first inning, thanks to a Shane Victorino double, but he came back with strikeouts of Chase Utley and Ryan Howard to get out of the inning. In the second, he wouldn't be so lucky.
After a Pat Burrell fly out, Jayson Werth doubled to center, and Pedro Feliz followed that up with an RBI double that tied the game. Carlos Ruiz advanced Feliz to third on a ground out, and Brett Myers then stepped to the plate. To be honest, his at bat here could have made this list, but it fell just short. He and Sabathia battled, after Sabathia got Myers down 0-2 on the first two pitches. Myers took ball one, then fouled off a pitch, and repeated that process for the next six pitches until he earned a walk. Somehow, Brett Myers, who had exactly four walks in the regular season, had earned a walk off of C.C. Sabathia. The big pitcher was clearly rattled, because he walked Jimmy Rollins on four pitches, which loaded the bases for Shane Victorino.
Sabathia started Victorino out with a ball, but then came back with two quick strikes, putting him in a 1-2 hole. The next pitch was a belt high off speed pitch that Victorino drilled. The ball flew into left field and landed about six rows into the stands as Citizens Bank Park erupted in cheers. As improbable as it was for C.C. Sabathia to walk Brett Myers, it seemed even more unlikely that he would allow Shane Victorino of all people to hit a grand slam home run off of him. The grand slam was the first postseason home run of Shane's career and was only the seventh home run that Sabathia had allowed as a member of the Brewers. Suddenly, the aura surrounding Sabathia was gone. He was just another pitcher that the Phillies had taken care of early in a baseball game. The man that had led Milwaukee to the playoffs for the first time in 26 years wouldn't make it out of the fourth inning, while Brett Myers pitched seven innings of two hit baseball. The Phillies would hold on to win the game 5-2, with all the runs coming in that second inning.
As it turned out, C.C. Sabathia would never pitch another game for the Brewers again. After Milwaukee prevented a sweep with a Game 3 win, the Phillies came back and took Game 4 on the strength of four home runs. Sabathia was scheduled to start Game 5 back in Philadelphia, but he never got the chance. He would sign with the New York Yankees in the offseason, and faced the Phillies in the World Series, where he went 1-1.
I've said it before, and I'll continue to say it until the day I stop breathing: there were so many moments during the 2008 Phillies' season that made me, and others believe that they could win the World Series, and this was another one of them. Who would have thought that Shane Victorino would hit a grand slam off of the best pitcher in the National League? Who would have thought that home run would give Brett Myers, of all people, enough runs to beat C.C. Sabathia in the playoffs? I'm telling you all, there was something magical out there for the Phillies in 2008. All of these moments just didn't happen by chance.
When this moment actually happened, I wasn't watching the game. I was listening to it, parked outside my apartment, waiting for the inning to end. I had just gotten home from work, and pulled up as Brett Myers came to bat. I refused to get out of the car, knowing full well that if I did, I would jinx the Phillies. Once Shane hit that grand slam, I screamed as loud as I think I ever have, and I know people were staring at me. I didn't care. The Phillies were on the verge of doing something that I had never actually seen them do (I was nine back in 1993, and didn't actually see much of the playoffs that year, as I had a bedtime.). After seeing Cole Hamels in person shut down the Brewers the day before, I didn't think anything could top that. This did.
Here is the video of that glorious home run, matched up with Larry Andersen and Scott Franzke's call. Thanks to The Fightins, the best Phillies blog online, for the video.
The journey towards the top of this list continues tomorrow with the last moment between the Eagles and Cowboys. This one involves a certain wide receiver who was coming back into town for the first time since he left.
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