From seven games up to out of the playoffs? With last night's loss for the Braves and the Padres' win, the Braves now sit only 1 game up in the NL Wild Card race. They are still in the driver's seat, but these last two games of the season are big. They just might miss the playoffs.
And this Phillies fan couldn't be happier. For the Braves, with Bobby Cox at the helm and Chipper Jones on the DL, both in their last years, to go from a lock to October spectators would be fabulous. If you're a Phillies fan and you don't feel that way, well, I question whether you're really a phan.
Look, I'd like to say this is just about baseball and that I don't harbor any ill will against the players or Cox the person. But that'd be wrong, because I do. I don't like him, I never have (even when I liked Greg Maddux, Leo Mazzone, and Andruw Jones), and I would love for him to have a devastating finish to his career.
But, it is mostly about baseball and as a Phillies fan, there's nothing I'd enjoy more (with the Phillies long-ago passing the Braves by gaining 13 games on them in the standings over a two month period and having clinched the best record in the NL) than the Braves, our hated rival, losing their playoff spot on the last weekend of play. While playing the equivalent of the Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs. And losing their spot to the struggling San Diego Padres. After having a 7 game lead in late July. In Bobby Cox's and Chipper Jones's last years.
I understand the current numbers and matchups don't make this very likely right now (though it's certainly looking more possible) but I'm not ashamed to admit that it sure would be sweet.