phillies head back to world series

It's Fall and the Phillies are back in the World Series, against the New York Yankees no less, the first game (barring a snowstorm) this Wednesday evening. The Phils and Yankees haven't played in a World Series since 1950, when the stadiums were different, the players were all (or nearly all) white, and the Yankees won in four straight but difficult games, which probably won't happen again. Then again, they didn't play in November back then, either.

Ben Shpigel of the NY Times put it best, when he said that the Phillies have changed the paradigm. A city which is used to losing has become so confident of winning that facing two good closers (Huston Street and Jonathan Braxton) in the ninth inning seemed merely a speed bump. Whether this will be enough to overcome the freespending Yankees--or whether the Yankees will buy the Phillies team, or city, should they lose--remains to be seen. For now, it is simply something to look forward to, a moment when the historic rival cities get ready to clash on what, for once, looks to be a more or less equal playing field.