Damn Phillies

I’ve been saying since the 2008 World Series that the Phillies won back-to-back championships, because we beat every team we played in the post-season.

I’ve been saying since the 2008 World Series that the Phillies won back-to-back championships, because we beat every team we played in the post-season.

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The 2009 loss to the Yankees never counted, I would explain, because the Yankees aren’t a team. They’re a collection of mercenaries, a soulless machine that buys championships by buying high-priced players.

I loved the Phillies because they fielded a team built through years of smart player development and trades, and the occasional prudently-considered free agent signing.

But we never grabbed top-tier free agents by the handful, the way the Yankees did (and they could do this only because of the inequities in Major League Baseball’s revenue sharing).

Which is why, as excited as I am at Cliff Lee’s return to Philly, I’m a little concerned about losing our moral high ground. The Red Sox finally beat the Yankees by becoming the Yankees.

Please, spare us that fate.