The city of Philadelphia has always had a special meaning for me.
It’s where I was born.
It’s where I started my broadcasting career.
I never knew the city in my early days. We moved out to the New York City suburbs when I was three years old.
But I did get to know it when I became one of the all-night newscasters at KYW Radio when that station changed to an all-news format in 1965.
It had always been a great sports town.
The fans are knowledgeable and tough.
There’s the old joke about how Philly fans were so brutal, they would boo Santa Claus.
Actually, it’s a true story.
During one of the Philadelphia Eagles down years, and they have had plenty,
Santa Claus came onto the field late in a game, one late December Sunday, and was roundly booed by the crowd.
This doesn’t appear to be one of the Eagles down years, at least not at this point. They are 6-0, the only unbeaten team remaining in the NFL, and looking mighty good.
But this week, we’re not talking about the Birds.
We’re talking about the baseball team, the Phillies.
The Phillies, in an incredibly unlikely turn of events are headed for the World Series.
They’ll be mighty underdogs once more, against the strong Houston Astros who swept the Yankees in the ALCS.
They finished third in the NL East, seven games behind the Atlanta Braves.
But they swept the NL Central champion St. Louis Cardinals 2-0 in the wildcard round, defeated the Braves in the best of five division series, 3-1, and eliminated the San Diego Padres in five games in the National League Championship Series.
The Phillies captured the deciding game last Sunday winning, 4-3, on the strength of a dramatic 2-run homer in the bottom of the 8th by Bryce Harper, their star 2019 acquisition who had known nothing but frustration since coming to the City of Brotherly Love.
They have won 9 of 11 games in post-season, and nobody saw this coming.
It appeared as though it was going to be another one of those hopeful, but helpless seasons for the Phils when they fired their manager Joe Girardi when June rolled around.
The Phils got off to a woeful start and changed managers when they were 22-29, and 12 1/2 games behind the then, red-hot Mets.
Rob Thomson, who had been Girardi’s first lieutenant as bench coach took over.
General Manager Dave Dombrowski, who has known big-time success running two other teams, figured the club needed a new voice, as well as someone who could handle the bullpen in a better fashion than Girardi.
Joe Girardi happens to be a good manager and should get another shot.
Sometimes the elements just don’t work, and this was a classic case.
Quietly, the Phils turned it around.
They battled injuries including superstar Bryce Harper’s broken thumb which sidelined him for two months.
Knowing their path to winning was to outscore their foes and that’s precisely what they did in consistently.
They outlasted the tough Milwaukee Brewers to gain the final spot in the National League playoffs and after the managerial change compiled a 65-46 mark to get into the post-season tournament.
For Harper, who as acquired from the Washington Nationals more than three years ago, it’s been a major disappointment until now.
Watching his former team win the World Series the season after he departed had to be painful.
But he’s not complaining now. And he’s delivered as a superstar should, hitting 5 home runs in the playoffs, and batting over .400 in the San Diego series.
Last week, at a restaurant in Scottsdale, AZ, I ran into Tony LaRussa, the recently retired White Sox manager, and a longtime friend.
He left his table to move up to the television screen in the front to get a better view of the Phillies-Padres game 2 battle.
When I approached him he emphatically reminded me that all a team ever needs to do is earn a spot in post-season. It’s a whole new scenario when that happens, and the results of what transpired in the marathon 162-regular year campaign becomes irrelevant.
That’s the beauty of baseball, he said, and he is so right.
It goes for the other sports as well.
I was a New York Giants baseball fan as a kid, and I’ll never forget my wonderful father presenting me with two tickets to the 1952 All-Star Game, which was going to be played in Philadelphia, my home town, at their old ballpark, Shibe Park.
I was thrilled to be going to an All-Star Game at the age of 9, and finally witnessing another major league game other than the Polo Grounds, which was home to my Giants.
The weather did not cooperate.
It rained throughout our drive from Queens to the City of Brotherly Love.
And as it turned out, it was the only game in All-Star history that was not completed because of rain.
The game was halted after 5 innings, and the field was covered.
The National League led 3-2, and I was able to witness home runs by the Dodgers’ Jackie Robinson and Hank Sauer of the Cubs.
I also saw diminutive pitcher Bobby Shantz, playing for the American League Philadelphia Athletics, strike out the side.
We waited patiently for the rain to stop and the game to resume.
But it never happened.
It was an official game and the NL were the victors.
I would have given anything to watch batting practice and to see the variety of uniforms worn by the players from both leagues.
That, too, never happened because of the weather.
Still, it was an unforgettable experience.
Years later when I worked in Philadelphia, I would see the NBA 76ers with the great Wilt Chamberlain play at Convention Hall before going to work at the radio station at 10:30pm for my all night newscasts.
And weekend cab rides to the legendary Palestra, where college basketball doubleheaders were played, were memorable times as well.
I was always comfortable living in Philly, and it’s always held a special place in my heart.
Of course, further on in my career, I would pay many visits to my birthplace, to broadcast 76ers games for CBS, with Julius Erving, Moses Malone, Maurice Cheeks and the rest, coached by future-partner Billy Cunningham.
If the Philadelphia Eagles maintain their terrific start, we will, naturally, focus more on them.
But right now, it’s all about the Phillies.
And at least, for this little moment in time, Philadelphia, my hometown, is the sports capital of the USA.