By Jon Wheel

A rain-drenched Citizen’s Bank Park did not stop the Phillies from ending the Tampa Bay Rays’ magical season. After the first suspended World Series game in baseball history, the Phillies pitching, along with timely hitting, earned Philadelphia its first World Series championship since 1980.

The Phillies’ pitching was dominant…to say the least. The Phillies held the power bats of Carlos Peña and Evan Longoria to just three hits combined in the five game set. The Phillies pitchers also did something that the White Sox and Red Sox pitchers couldn’t do…keep the Rays in the park. The Rays hit just four home runs in the series, after hitting 22 long balls in the ALDS and ALCS. World Series MVP Cole Hamels was his dominant self, and Joe Blanton contributed with his arm, and his bat, hitting his first home run since high school. And fittingly, Brad Lidge recorded the final out of the series, finalizing his perfect season. Remember, Lidge gave up a game-winning two-run home run to Albert Pujols in the NLCS in 2005. So it was a relief for the Phillie faithful to see Lidge nail down the game five win.

Though the Phillies’ hitters took a back seat to their pitching, they certainly made their presence felt. Even though it took about three and a half games for them to get an RBI with runners in scoring position, they still managed to be just good enough to defeat the heavily-favored Rays. An early home run from Chase Utley helped Philadelphia in game one, home runs from Ryan Howard, Blanton, and Jayson Werth powered the Phillies in game four, and an important RBI single in the seventh inning in game five by Pedro Feliz earned Philadelphia its second world championship in 126 years.

Game five of the World Series was an extremely important game for both sides. For Tampa Bay, they needed a win to keep their fairytale season alive. For the Phillies, they almost had to win it at home, or else they would have to face, arguably, the Rays two best pitchers: “Big Game” James Shields and Matt Garza. Not to mention, they would have to play two more games at the Trop, where the Rays were a Major League best 57-24. In the end, the Phillies were able to hold off the pesky Rays, winning the series four games to one.

So after 28 years without a championship, the only professional sports franchise with 10,000 losses won the World Series. The Phillies also held their championship parade on Halloween, giving many fans a reason to skip work or school. So for now, Philadelphia fans can relax, knowing that one of their teams has finally brought them a much-needed championship.