Phillies win World Series title! Wait, that's it?

On their way to the title the Phillies knocked off the way too C.C. Sabathia-reliant Milwaukee Brewers, the 84-win Los Angeles Dodgers and a Tampa Bay Rays team that had hit the wall after blowing a seven-run lead in Game 5 of the ALCS against the Boston Red Sox. After winning six of its first eight in the postseason, Tampa Bay lost six of its last eight to close it out. Maybe the magic of the cowbells wore out. That and Evan Longoria and Carlos Pena didn't hit and the Rays' bullpen seemed to realize their real identities as mediocre journeymen relievers.

On a quick side note, why did Joe Maddon "start" Grant Balfour in the suspended game on Wednesday? It seems to me that Matt Garza would have been the pick here. He was on three days rest, would have been amped up for the situation and is simply a better pitcher than Balfour. And oh yeah, it was a must-win game. James Shields could have started Game 6 and Andy Sonnanstine would have started an "all hands on deck" Game 7.

Now back to the Phillies.

I'm not saying that the Phillies didn't deserve to win the title (I mean they aren't the 2006 Cardinals) but it was just totally anti-climactic. As a die-hard baseball fan I was trying to get excited about the Rays-Phillies series in my mind. I told myself it had the potential to be great. Obviously I was way off, kind of like Bud Selig and the meteorologists who thought they could get Game 5 in on Monday without delay.

What could have made the Phillies conquest of the baseball world more memorable? How about beating the best team in the NL (the Cubs), the best team in the AL (the Angels) or the defending World Champs (the Red Sox) on their way to the title?

What the '08 postseason proved is that you can't predict the postseason and if the top teams (like those mentioned above) don't play up to their potential, a very good but not great team shall go home with the trophy.

In the future I'd imagine that the Phillies winning the World Series will be third most memorable thing about this postseason. The rise of the Rays and the incredible bow-out of the Cubs will last longer in the memory banks.

The Phillies were a very good but not a great team and only a sustained run of excellence at the top of the NL East will change the perception of what they just accomplished. As a baseball fan, I hope they do it.

Congrats to Courier staff writer Chris Pummer for somehow picking the Phillies in our preseason picks (He must have seen that Game 3 performance by Jamie Moyer coming). Now let's kick off the Hot Stove talk!