I distinctly remember thinking back on September 22, 1991, "When will that be us?" As the Pirates celebrated on the field at Three Rivers Stadium that day, many of the '91 Phillies had the same thought. (I love Cliff Brantley's quote: "Golly, maybe someday." Please click the picture to enlarge.) "Someday" would come two years later on September 28, 1993, when the Phils returned the favor and clinched the NL East against the Pirates at Three Rivers. A long, long dry spell followed, and we had to wait until September 30, 2007, the last day of the '07 regular season, for the Phillies to clinch their next division title.
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| 1992 Topps Debut '91 #20 |
We've been spoiled every year since then. The Phils have won three straight division titles, and if they can just hang on for 12 more games, they can clinch their fourth in a row. I've said it before on this blog - suffering through the lean years of the late '80s and again from 1994 through the mid-2000s, makes me appreciate what the Phillies are doing now even more. The 2010 Phillies look absolutely unstoppable right now, and it's made all the more enjoyable when I think back to the road it took to get here. Golly.
Maybe Someday?: Brantley never made it to the Postseason. He pitched in 6 games for the '91 Phils and in 28 games for the '92 Phils, putting together a 4-8 record with a 4.25 ERA. He latched on with the Expos' organization from the '92 season, but he ended up back within the Phillies' organization by season's end. He pitched in 7 games for the Phils' AAA team in Scranton/Wilkes-Barre before hanging up his spikes.
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