This is what I have been waiting for.

Eight months ago, my friend Tony and I drove down to Clearwater, Fla., and spent five days watching, examining and critiquing our way through Spring Training, and we came back convinced that this year’s Phillies were better than the team that got swept in the NLDS just four months earlier.

Even the players knew they were better than that team. Jimmy Rollins told me his goals for the season were to simply keep fighting for that ring.

“Personally? Do Better. As a team? Do much better,” said Rollins back in February after the first game of Spring Training. “If you haven’t won a ring, you’re empty, and right now, I’m working on that ring.”

J-Roll was right about the Phillies being the team to beat in 2007, and with 92 regular season wins along with seven postseason wins, he’s just one win shy of his 100-win prediction from this offseason. If they can reach 103 wins, J-Roll won’t feel so empty anymore.

So how do the Phillies get those last four wins? Honestly, I have no idea what will get them those last four wins.

The Tampa Bay Rays do a lot of things right. They had the third best pitching staff in baseball, with a 3.82 team ERA, which was just slightly better than the Phillies during the regular season. Their bullpen was among the best in baseball, just like the Phillies. Their hitters are young and dangerous, just like the Phillies.

So what could get the Phillies to that final celebration of the season? The same things that have gotten the Phillies to this point. It sounds cliché, but to win the World Series, the Fightins will need to get at least six strong innings out of their starters, and follow that up with a few more flawless performances by the best bullpen in baseball.

National League Championship Series MVP Cole Hamels should continue his postseason roll, while Brett Myers and Joe Blanton will hopefully continue giving the Phillies quality innings.

The key to the World Series might be the left arm of 45-year-old Jamie Moyer. The ageless wonder pitched like a 45-year-old in his first two playoff starts, but I have a hunch that he will do better against the Rays.

Throughout his career, Moyer has dominated the Florida Marlins, going 11-1 against them. Why? Because the Marlins’ lineup usually has a lot of talented, but young, hitters, who Moyer easily out-smarted. Against the Dodgers, Moyer was knocked around by a group of patient, veteran hitters.

The Rays, while extremely talented, are like the Marlins because they have a lineup full of young hitters, who all sport a free-swinging approach at the plate, which I believe Moyer will be able to exploit.

With an expectation of the Phillies getting solid pitching, the next question is whether or not Philadelphia will score enough runs to win.

Coming into this season, we all figured that the Phils would have to slug their way to victories, but now their pitching is carrying the team, while timely hitting is giving them enough runs to win.

That philosophy was fine against teams in the National League, but now the Phillies are going up against the best that the American League has to offer, so timely hitting won’t be enough. Philadelphia will need to score runs in bunches, which will mean that Rollins, Howard and Utley need to start hitting. So far, the Phils have been using a balanced attack on offense, but the big three will have to step up if the Phillies are going to end the championship drought that plagues Philadelphia.

Looking back once again at Spring Training, the biggest thrills of the week were meeting Michael Jack Schmidt and Darren Daulton, who are heroes of past Phillies teams. These Phillies—Chase Utley, Jimmy Rollins, Ryan Howard, Shane Victorino, Cole Hamels, Brad Lidge, and 19 others—have a chance to engrave their names onto the collective heart of Phillies fans everywhere, so that 20 years from now, a 24-year-old fan will appreciate the memory of shaking hands or drinking a beer with them.

Prediction: Phillies in 6, although I hope the Fightins can finish them off in five games so they celebrate in front of the 46,000 rally towel-waving phanatics at Citizens Bank Park (including me!).

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Like the “On the Edge” Blog? Hear more of my opinions about Philadelphia sports every Friday at 3:30 p.m. on WBCB 1490 AM during the Coffee with Kahuna show, where, this week, we will talk more our Philadelphia Phillies in the World Series, and have a preview of the Eagles/Falcons week 7 battle.