No sooner had the curveball locked Wily Mo Pena's knees for strike three [Derived headline]

face=+Bold; By Kevin Cooneyface=-Bold;

THE INTELLIGENCER

PHILADELPHIA -- No sooner had the curveball locked Wily Mo Pena's knees for strike three than Brett Myers leaped off the mound, took one step towards his catcher Chris Coste and tossed his glove high to the sky like a mortarboard.

"I wish I could begin to describe that feeling," Myers would say later, "but there's no way to. You have to experience it first hand to know exactly what it is like."

Years from now, that same description will probably fit the way Phillies fans will feel towards the amazing ending of the 2007 regular season.

You had to experience it to fully understand just how truly incredible it really was.

Behind the arm of Jamie Moyer and three other relievers, the Phils finally graduated from the role of perennial contenders to National League East champions Sunday with a 6-1 victory over the Washington Nationals before 44,865 fans at a rocking Citizens Bank Park.

The win -- coupled with the Mets' 8-1 meltdown to the Marlins at Shea Stadium -- sent the Phils forward to the National League Division Series against either the Padres or Rockies. That series will begin on Wednesday night at Citizens Bank Park.

It also ended an amazing pennant race that will go down as one of baseball's biggest collapses. The Mets became the first team in baseball history to lose a seven-game lead with 17 to play, awaking the echoes of the 1964 Phillies.

"We never gave up on ourselves and each other," said second baseman Chase Utley, who was 1-for-3 with an RBI in the clincher. "We knew the character we had here. We knew that we could do it."

It is the club's first division championship since the "Macho Row" boys nearly ran wire-to-wire in the magical summer of 1993. This time, the Phils did it completely in reverse. They were alone in first place for only two days during the entire season -- Saturday and today. But as the Mets would undoubtedly vouch to this morning, that last one is the only day that truly matters.

"I always thought that we had a lot of character with the guys in this locker room," Phils manager Charlie Manuel said. "They just were not going to be denied. And now, we're going."

Sunday began as a showdown of 40-plus year olds pitching indirectly against one another from 110 miles apart.

But by the time Moyer -- a 44-year old native of Souderton who skipped school to go to the Phillies 1980 World Series victory parade -- got to the mound at 1:35, Mets starter Tom Glavine, 41, was already headed for the showers after yielding seven runs and five hits in just one-third of an inning of work to the Marlins.

"You could tell that something positive was obviously going on there," Moyer said. "But we still had to go out and get the job done ourselves."

"The Marlins could have scored 50 runs and it wouldn't have mattered if we didn't take care of business," shortstop Jimmy Rollins said.

Rollins would tally the first run of the game in the first, scoring on an Utley sacrifice fly to right. The lead would swell to 3-0 in the third when Ryan Howard beat the Nationals' shift and slammed a single into right, scoring Carlos Ruiz and Rollins.

Rollins added an RBI triple in the sixth -- his 20th of the year -- and Howard slammed his 47th homer of the season in the seventh to wrap up the scoring.

That's all the support the pitching staff would need. Moyer was effective in allowing a run and five hits in 5 1/3 innings of work. He gave Manuel a bridge to the bullpen trio of Tom Gordon (2/3 of an inning), J.C. Romero (two innings) and Myers, which closed Washington out with one hit and no runs.

"Jamie was exactly what we needed today," Manuel said. "He was strong and he worked well against that lineup. And those guys at the back of our bullpen have been strong all the way through this."

And after years of knocking on the door and being rejected for the wild-card, these Phils finally learned what it took to get over the first hump and into the post-season.

"You can't rely on anyone else," Rollins said. "When it comes down to it, you have to win your games and control what you can control. We did that and all of this happened."

Kevin Cooney can be reached at kcooney@phillyBurbs.com.

No sooner had the curveball locked Wily Mo Pena's knees for strike three [Derived headline]

face=+Bold; By Kevin Cooneyface=-Bold;

THE INTELLIGENCER

PHILADELPHIA -- No sooner had the curveball locked Wily Mo Pena's knees for strike three than Brett Myers leaped off the mound, took one step towards his catcher Chris Coste and tossed his glove high to the sky like a mortarboard.

"I wish I could begin to describe that feeling," Myers would say later, "but there's no way to. You have to experience it first hand to know exactly what it is like."

Years from now, that same description will probably fit the way Phillies fans will feel towards the amazing ending of the 2007 regular season.

You had to experience it to fully understand just how truly incredible it really was.

Behind the arm of Jamie Moyer and three other relievers, the Phils finally graduated from the role of perennial contenders to National League East champions Sunday with a 6-1 victory over the Washington Nationals before 44,865 fans at a rocking Citizens Bank Park.

The win -- coupled with the Mets' 8-1 meltdown to the Marlins at Shea Stadium -- sent the Phils forward to the National League Division Series against either the Padres or Rockies. That series will begin on Wednesday night at Citizens Bank Park.

It also ended an amazing pennant race that will go down as one of baseball's biggest collapses. The Mets became the first team in baseball history to lose a seven-game lead with 17 to play, awaking the echoes of the 1964 Phillies.

"We never gave up on ourselves and each other," said second baseman Chase Utley, who was 1-for-3 with an RBI in the clincher. "We knew the character we had here. We knew that we could do it."

It is the club's first division championship since the "Macho Row" boys nearly ran wire-to-wire in the magical summer of 1993. This time, the Phils did it completely in reverse. They were alone in first place for only two days during the entire season -- Saturday and today. But as the Mets would undoubtedly vouch to this morning, that last one is the only day that truly matters.

"I always thought that we had a lot of character with the guys in this locker room," Phils manager Charlie Manuel said. "They just were not going to be denied. And now, we're going."

Sunday began as a showdown of 40-plus year olds pitching indirectly against one another from 110 miles apart.

But by the time Moyer -- a 44-year old native of Souderton who skipped school to go to the Phillies 1980 World Series victory parade -- got to the mound at 1:35, Mets starter Tom Glavine, 41, was already headed for the showers after yielding seven runs and five hits in just one-third of an inning of work to the Marlins.

"You could tell that something positive was obviously going on there," Moyer said. "But we still had to go out and get the job done ourselves."

"The Marlins could have scored 50 runs and it wouldn't have mattered if we didn't take care of business," shortstop Jimmy Rollins said.

Rollins would tally the first run of the game in the first, scoring on an Utley sacrifice fly to right. The lead would swell to 3-0 in the third when Ryan Howard beat the Nationals' shift and slammed a single into right, scoring Carlos Ruiz and Rollins.

Rollins added an RBI triple in the sixth -- his 20th of the year -- and Howard slammed his 47th homer of the season in the seventh to wrap up the scoring.

That's all the support the pitching staff would need. Moyer was effective in allowing a run and five hits in 5 1/3 innings of work. He gave Manuel a bridge to the bullpen trio of Tom Gordon (2/3 of an inning), J.C. Romero (two innings) and Myers, which closed Washington out with one hit and no runs.

"Jamie was exactly what we needed today," Manuel said. "He was strong and he worked well against that lineup. And those guys at the back of our bullpen have been strong all the way through this."

And after years of knocking on the door and being rejected for the wild-card, these Phils finally learned what it took to get over the first hump and into the post-season.

"You can't rely on anyone else," Rollins said. "When it comes down to it, you have to win your games and control what you can control. We did that and all of this happened."

Kevin Cooney can be reached at kcooney@phillyBurbs.com.