I'm a bandwagon fan.

When the Eagles are headed into the postseason ... when the Sixers made the playoffs, oh so long ago ... and when the Phillies play an October Phest.

I'm there. Rooting, hooping, cheering for the home team. I'm a pretty quick study, so I can get up to speed with who's who even though I paid no attention all summer.

It's better this way. I have all the excitement of winning without having gone through the agony of losing. (I ignored the Eagles previous two games, but paid a little attention this past Sunday.)

In the case of this year's Phillies, my bandwagon ride started on a Sunday in the last week of the regular season when I had the privilege of tickets to the last game in the Phillies-Brewers series. We saw the Phils take the game for a sweep of the Brewers, and on the ride home, listened on the radio to the Mets blow the lead in their game, starting the chain of events that led days later to putting the Phillies in first in the National League East Division.

Watching Shane Victorino hit and Chase Utley field in person, seeing Ryan Howard and Pat Burrell power the bats put me on board. Of course, if they had lost the next few games I would have just chalked it up to another year and moved on.

But, they didn't, and here we are, two wins away from the World Series.

I wore a Chase Utley jersey to work on Friday. I found the "Big Talker" 1210 radio station on my car radio to hear Friday night's game while en route to the grocery store. I even suggested to my husband that we watch a weekend night game in a sports bar (I love Pennsylvania's new smoking ban at times like this).

I love baseball. That is not a bandwagon phenomenon; that is my birthright. I am from a family of ballplayers, and I brag about that often. But, I don't have the patience or fortitude to follow any team closely for 162 games.

So I wait and watch for the boys of summer to play through the fall.

I may jump on the bandwagon, but it's a great ride.