The Week Ends With High Hopes
By MATTHEW NADU
Updated 10:45 AM EST, Mon, Apr 20, 2009
"It's outta here!"
Emotional is the only word to describe the past seven days. Not everyone can be Harry. For 38 years, God lent us his voice in the form of Harry Kalas who was the Almighty’s gap from the diamond to heaven--like a bridge over troubled water during so many disappointing summers.
As the week concluded Saturday afternoon everyone felt mortal during the Phillies' final farewell ceremony for Kalas at CBP. Our heroes, our giants of baseball reduced to raw emotion. Players, family and friends alike mourned the loss of a voice gone from the booth but never from the game.
But, breathe easy Philadelphia- It’s the beginning of a new week.
"It's outta here!"
In one of the most up and down weeks in recent Philly sports memory, we can walk away with our fists pumped after a week of goodbyes and dry ice we just couldn’t save.
As the city mourned the loss of our dear friend and legendary Phillies broadcaster Harry Kalas, so too did we weep for the home teams as they failed to ignite high hopes back into the soul of the city.
But on Monday, April 20, 2009 all is silent. Just when all seemed lost, our boys, our teams pulled the trifecta to fittingly end the week, this chapter of our city’s history, on a high note.
The Phillies, 76ers and Flyers are all basking in glory after a walk-off homer, a fade-away and a bully-beat down.
Raul Ibanez, the newly signed left fielder for the Phils, launched a two-run walk off I-bomb officially saying goodbye to Mr. Harry Kalas and Pat Burrell.
Down 4-3 in the ninth, after a Jimmy Rollins pinch-hit homer, Ibanez launched a 2-0 pitch into the crowd for his fifth homer in just 11 games.
The 5-4 win ended a three game losing streak.
Then the flood gates opened.
As fans left Citizens Bank Park, the Wachovia Center exploded as the Flyers bashed their way back into the best-of-seven-game Conference Quarterfinals with a 6-3 win over the Penguins.
After dropping the first two games of the series on the road, the turnpike trip back to Philly yielded big sticks as the Fly-guys feed off the hometown crowd and with late goals by Claude Giroux and Simon Gagne.
Just hours later with ill-faded memories of the week that was already in the rear view mirror, the 76ers launched themselves to a 1-0 lead by way of an Andre Iguoldala 18-foot jumper with 2.2 seconds left in the game against the favored Magic down in Orlando.
Devastating, heart breaking and spirit raising, the week ended on a high note after too many low blows.
The week that was is officially “outta here!”
First Published: Apr 20, 2009 9:37 AM EST
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