'It gives me goose bumps': How the Phillies saved their season

PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES SLUGGER Bryce Harper didn't rather get his day wish.

All play long, Harper had said helium wanted to inactive beryllium playing connected his 30th birthday, which was connected Sunday. That time came and went without the Phillies connected the tract -- but lone connected a technicality.

It's mid-October, and Philadelphia is inactive playing shot -- and playing it arsenic good arsenic it has each year. After stunning the Atlanta Braves successful 4 games successful the National League Division Series, the Phillies weren't playing a Game 5 connected Harper's birthday; they were flying to San Diego, wherever they'll look the Padres connected Tuesday nighttime successful Game 1 of an improbable NL Championship Series betwixt 2 teams that entered the postseason arsenic the league's No. 5 and 6 seeds.

It wasn't an casual travel for a Phillies squad that, successful 5 abbreviated months, went from an under-.500 squad riddled by injuries to a superior playoff contender.

But Harper -- who was sidelined himself for 2 months with a breached thumb -- ne'er mislaid religion successful his team.

"He said, 'We ain't losing,'" Philadelphia archetypal baseman Rhys Hoskins recalled aft the Phillies' series-clinching triumph implicit the visiting Braves connected Saturday. "He's been saying it since the archetypal time successful St. Louis [during the chaotic paper series]. I deliberation it's the content that helium has successful us. It's the content we person successful each other."

LIKE MOST POSTSEASON TEAMS, that content began for Philadelphia successful outpouring training. But adjacent the Phillies mightiness admit that it waned aboriginal successful 2022.

During outpouring training, the Phillies figured they'd flooded immoderate antiaircraft woes with a potent offense. But the squad got disconnected to a rocky start, dropping to 22-29 connected June 1 nether seasoned manager Joe Girardi. President of shot operations Dave Dombrowski sensed the Phillies needed a change. The Phillies were built to triumph present but were doing thing but.

"Sometimes, erstwhile you marque a alteration successful leadership. you get conscionable a small antithetic feeling successful the clubhouse," Dombrowski told ESPN. "It's not needfully antagonistic astir the idiosyncratic progressive -- Joe, successful this case. It's conscionable a antithetic feeling."

And that alteration successful the clubhouse was needed, though it's hard adjacent for the Philly players to enactment their fingers connected what wasn't working. One subordinate summed it up this way: "A clubhouse is simply a surviving organism. And it conscionable was not breathing right."

The Phillies promoted fashionable seat manager Rob Thomson and, seemingly successful an instant, everything was different. They won their archetypal 8 games nether Thomson, vaulting implicit .500 for the archetypal clip since ­­­the opening week of the season.

Philadelphia recovered its mojo.

"We started playing precisely the mode we thought we were going to play coming retired of outpouring training," Thomson said. "It conscionable benignant of each came together, close astatine that spot. I don't deliberation it had thing to bash with me. It conscionable started to click."

But if you inquire his players, the alteration successful civilization had everything to bash with Thomson.

"It did," Phillies outfielder Nick Castellanos said during Saturday's champagne-soaked NLDS triumph celebration. "We didn't person everyone feeling the champion versions of themselves, and erstwhile Thomson was capable to travel in, with nary unit connected him, helium conscionable went retired and fto shot beryllium played."

As Dombrowski added, "Thomson mightiness beryllium a small spot much laid back. Joe, a small much intense. It's not bully oregon bad, conscionable different."

Under Girardi, the Phillies had already fallen into a heavy spread successful the NL East; but with the expanded postseason, they knew they inactive had a accidental astatine playing successful October. And they had an undying content they were amended than their grounds was telling everyone. Slowly, that grounds caught up to their mindset.

"This is being honest: I deliberation we each [believed] coming retired of outpouring grooming due to the fact that we knew we had a bully ballclub," Thomson said. "We knew our bullpen was good, rotation was good, we had large offense. We conscionable got disconnected to a small spot of a dilatory commencement and benignant of spiraled."

Then came the managerial change. The squad went 65-46 implicit the remainder of the regular play -- and, definite enough, made the postseason for the archetypal clip since 2011.

"The sweetest happening astir each this is nary 1 truly knows what this squad has gone done unless you were present each azygous day," near fielder Kyle Schwarber said. "To spot this full squad travel together, it gives maine goose bumps."

THERE'S A HUNGER among fans successful Philadelphia -- wherever a loyal basal hadn't antecedently seen playoff shot successful a decennary -- that is appreciated passim the Phillies organization.

"And I'm getting chills due to the fact that it fires maine up, man. It makes maine privation to triumph that overmuch more," Harper said. "And erstwhile they amusement retired for america similar that, it makes our squad that overmuch better."

Even aft Harper watched his erstwhile team, the Washington Nationals, triumph the World Series the play aft helium signed a 13-year, $330 cardinal declaration with the Phillies, that Philadelphia instrumentality basal is simply a large crushed helium ne'er regretted his prime to leave.

"They privation you to spell retired determination and bust your ass each day," Harper said. "No excuses, bully oregon bad. They don't care. They conscionable privation you to support doing it. And I emotion that mindset. My dada utilized to accidental the aforesaid happening erstwhile I was increasing up. It doesn't matter. 'Next day, adjacent day, adjacent day, support going, support going, bask it, but support going.' And that's however this metropolis is."

That tin mean plentifulness of cheers, similar during the NLDS, erstwhile the Phillies gave fans plentifulness of reasons to get excited. But fans successful Philly tin beryllium arsenic brutal connected struggling players arsenic they tin beryllium uplifting to those who succeed. Getting utilized to them takes time.

"I'm conscionable opening to recognize that Philadelphia Phillies fans are highly passionate successful the moment," Castellanos said. "I spot it with the Eagles. Things are going great, but if idiosyncratic drops a sure-handed touchdown, they're raining boos similar idiosyncratic conscionable kicked your dog. There's bully and atrocious successful that passion, but erstwhile we're rolling, there's much bully than bad. It's awesome."

Schwarber has played successful beforehand of passionate instrumentality bases earlier -- helium made the playoffs with the Boston Red Sox and Chicago Cubs earlier coming to Philadelphia -- but helium said the feeling successful Philly close present is special.

"No discourtesy to immoderate instrumentality base, due to the fact that they're each amazing, but this, by far, is the champion part bid I've ever seen connected the location field. Just however electrical it was."

As Harper added, "It's a batch of amusive to beryllium a portion of it. I can't hold until Friday nighttime erstwhile we get backmost [from San Diego]. Of course, we're not going to look ahead. We'll instrumentality attraction of concern connected the West Coast and travel location and hopefully person that aforesaid accidental to bash this again."