Thanks Phillies for the memories and thanks TGP for the....uh...Education?

First, a little background on me...my family moved in the late 70's from Philadelphia to the south where football is king, when I was fairly young.  Between my parents and my three brothers, some sort of sport (with the exception of basketball) was always on TV, especially if it was a Philly team, but I never had any desire to watch.  I tended to block all sports out.  Somewhere along the years that all changed. 

Fast forward to the year 2008 when, listening to the news, I heard that the Phillies had won the World Series.  I mentioned it to my kids and then proceeded to have to explain who the Phillies were, (I am sure at that point my dad flipped in his grave in disgust with my parenting skills).  In 2009 I happened to see that the Phillies were in the WS again and decided to watch.  I don't remember a lot about it, but I do remember watching Cliff Lee and not liking CC Sabathia very much.  Sometime after that I heard that Cliff Lee had been traded and felt oddly disappointed.  Towards the end of the 2010 season I started paying a little bit of attention.  I watched the game where Doc pitched the no-hitter w/ the Reds.  I didn't know what a no-hitter was, but thought it was fun watching the excitement on Doc and Chooch's face at the end of the game.  Huh, I think I could into this sport.  I kept watching the rest of the post-season down to Howard's last strike.  What a bummer.  Then December comes and while getting ready for work one morning with the news on in the background, I heard the words Cliff Lee and Phillies.  Wait, what??? That day I did some searching online and came upon The Good Phight and, like a seabass, I was hooked, both to the site and the game.

Throughout the 2011 series you guys have educated me in more ways then I could ever imagine (some ways I wish I could forget).  I have learned the meaning of many terms like RBI's, RISP, and more.  Still foggy on what all the numbers mean that follow a player's name and even though I have googled it more times than I can count, I cannot figure out what the heck BABIP is.  Oh and my eyes tend to start bleeding when I try to read the articles w/ all the stats included.  But I'm trying to get it!  Living in a college football town I am in the minority in my love of baseball (even though Atlanta and the Brave are an hour away).  I enjoy coming to the site and reading the comments from people who are passionate about this game.  I love sharing what I learn (well, some of it) with my 10 year old son who is falling in love with this game also (to the chagrin of his dad who really wanted him to play football).

I've become emotionally invested in this game and this team.  Last Friday was bad for me.  When I turned on the game in the 2nd inning and saw it was 1-0 I told my husband that  I had a bad feeling about it.  I went to bed that night in a funk, I didn't want to believe it was over.  I woke up Saturday and went straight to TGP.  I knew there I would find others who felt like I did.  Reading David Cohen's piece gave me the mental head slap I needed to remind me of how great a season this was.  The memories of watching these games, discovering a love of baseball and spending the time with my son as he discovered the same love could not be taken away from me.  I was able to take him to his first Phillies game!  I loved watching him study the players and channel his inner choochiness while playing catcher in his ballgames. (and doing a darn good job if I might add!)  Having my girls ask me in the morning who won the game the night before even though I knew they really didn't care, made me smile.  I wore my Phillies hat this weekend with pride.  Win or lose, my team was (and still is) awesome!

Now, for me, the baseball season is over.  I really don't care who wins the WS just as long as it's not the Cardinals, but that's more out of spite and bitterness, plus I really don't like Tony Larussa's ugly face and bad hair.  Opening day 2012 can't come soon enough.  Until then I will keep on lurking on TGP and continue to learn more about this game I have grown to love.  All this to say...Thanks Phillies for the fun ride in 2011 and thanks to The Good Phight for the education, the humor and the snarkiness.

Now can someone please explain BABIP to me??