2007 Chachi #58 Phils Clinch East HL

I don't remember with much clarity the Phillies in the Postseason throughout the '70s, or in 1980 or in 1983. I remember hearing stories of my Mom not being able to watch the 1980 NLCS against the Houston Astros and how she listened to the games from the next room over.

I clearly remember the Phillies clinching the NL East division title in 1993. I was 500 miles away in college and my Dad held up the phone to the TV back home so I could hear Harry Kalas call the last few outs of the clinching game against the Pirates. My parents videotaped the game and mailed it to me, so I got to watch the postgame celebration in my dorm room a week after the fact.

I was there when the Phils clinched in 2007. (I'm the better looking guy on the right, next to my brother-in-law, Andy.) Jenna's Uncle Tim had two extra tickets, so we gladly accepted them. Before the team even took the field that day, the Marlins scored seven runs against the Mets' Tom Glavine and the crowd grew more and more frenzied as each Marlins' run went up on the out-of-town scoreboard. A Mets loss and a Phillies win and the Philadelphia Phillies were the 2007 NL East champions.

With two outs in the top of the 9th, the Nationals' Wily Mo Pena watched as a Brett Myers' curve ball went by for a called third strike and the place went completely bonkers. Little did we know it would be the first of three consecutive division titles.