If you listen closely, you can hear the last, slow agonizing gasps of summer.

Yes, that is the sound of the Phillies disappearing right in front of our eyes.

The beach homes are being closed up. Yellow school buses are again crowding the streets. Glum kids are heading back to class.

And the Eagles are about to take over our sports world again.

Of course, the Phillies still could have something to say about this. Unfortunately, what they are saying with their play on the field is speaking much louder than their words.

Give the Phillies credit; they’re not going down without a fight. But it still looks like they’re going down.

They managed a split in Wrigley Field against a very good Cubs team. They could have – and very likely should have – fared much better. But their bullpen, which has been the backbone of the team most of the year, failed them at the worse possible time.

Then they packed up and headed for the nation’s capital. Yesterday afternoon the Phils celebrated Labor Day by for the most part taking the day off. The suddenly red-hot Nationals dropped a 7-4 whipping on them. Kyle Kendrick took the loss.

The Phils are now two games behind the Mets. The Phillies have two more games against the Nats, then head to New York for a make-or-break weekend stand with the Mets, their last games ever in decrepit Shea Stadium.

By the end of next weekend we’ll know whether baseball season is over or not.

In the meantime, the drums beat louder and louder that it’s football season, with the Eagles opener at the Linc on Sunday.

If the Phils don’t take these two games against the Nationals, then at least split the first two games with the Mets, don’t look for many people to be flipping channels on Sunday.

Instead, things will have returned to normal in Philadelphia sports. The Phillies will be dead in the water, and the grumbling about the Eagles can then start full-time.

By the way, Andy, about that fullback situation….