TRANSPORTATION: PUBLIC URBAN AND PASSENGER :
SPORTS BASEBALL :
UNITED STATES: CITIES: PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA:
The Phillies World Championship Victory Parade and Public Transportation



There are many ways in which one can look at events in Philadelphia in
September and October involving the Philadelphia Phillies. One thing is
certain, there has been an increasing support and rallying behind this
team by an ever growing population in the region. A relatively new
stadium and the coming out of nowhere last baseball season to take the
Eastern Division of the National League certainly was a base on which to
build. The month of September saw ups and downs but as the end of the
season approached, the Phillies were able to secure the Eastern Division
championship of the National League. Momentum of fan support and
excitement had already begun well before the season ended and grew in
decibals and intensity with every victory against the Milwaukee Brewers
and the Los Angeles Dodgers. An interlude with cowbells and a split in
Tampa with the first two games in Tampa was followed by a third game in
which the Fox announcer welcomed viewers of the third World Series game
at noisy and cold citizens bank park. This noise and enthusiasm was only
subdued somewhat in the fifth game part one, the introduction of Mud Ball
to major league baseball's World Series. Nevertheless a Fox commentator
covering the game, either Joe Buck or Tim McCarver, wondered aloud how
fans who were so wet and cold in this pouring rain in which an aquatic
version of baseball was attempted, could make so much noise. The game was
finnally called at the end of the top half of the sixth inning with the
Phillies due up in the bottom of the sixth and the pitcher Cole Hammels
due to hit with the game tied 2-2 after a mud slide steal of second base
by B.J. Upton who then scored on a base hit to tie the game at 2-2.
So part one of game five, a game that a Phillies win would end the series
with the Phillies as victors, came to a very anticlimactic and puzzling
ending. The rain continued most or all of the night and play never
resumed that night.


Sport and Society 10/29/08 [World Series of Baseball 2008]
<http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Net-Gold/message/25621>


Sport and Society for 10/31/08 [World Series 2008]
<http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Net-Gold/message/25653>


Hence a part two to a World Series game, a first in history. A pinch
hitter for Cole Hammels, magically still in the game two days after his
start, Eric Bruntlett doubled and wound up scoring the go ahead run.
Baldeli of the Rays tied that score with a home run ending Cole Hammels
chance of holding the record for the most post season wins in one post
season. Pat Burrel led off the eighth with a double off of the left field
wall that missed being a home run by inches and his pinch runner scored on
a hit by Pedro Feliz. The Phillies bullpen shut down the Rays from
further scoring including a save from "Lights Out", Brad Lidge who has
successfully saved ballgames all season long for the Phillies with no
blown saves on his record. Indeed the Phillies never lost a game all
season when they lead in the eighth inning.


With the third out in the ninth inning registered, Philadelphia took to
the streets in a huge collection of large celebrations that went late into
the night and were punctuated by noise, fireworks and lots of traffic
detours. Friday the day of the parade for the Phillies from Center City
to the Sports Complex and Citizens Bank Park in deep South Philadelphia
brought a huge gathering of people and overwhelmed the city's public
transportation systems including the Southeastern Pennsylvania
Transportation Authority (SEPTA). This tremendous outpouring of
excitement, support and joy speaks more than volumes for the tremendous
importance sports and sports teams have for the cities they represent and
the need for this kind of social and bonding activity in peoples lives.
This baseball season in Philadelphia will go down in history in a huge
way, not just because of what happened on the field, but also because of
what the fans did during the season, the post season and in the huge
gathering of fans after the last World Series game and at the Friday
celebration parade. SEPTA had to put all available buses, subway cars,
trolleys and rail cars in service and simply run as many trips as
possible.


PHILLIES WORLD SERIES PARADE MADNESS:
SEPTA Suspending All Inbound RR Trains
<http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Net-Gold/message/25642>


One SEPTA manager reacting to any criticism regarding the inability of
SEPTA to bring all those wishing a ride to the parade area was quoted as
saying:


"'Does anyone really expect us to have 500 extra buses and trains
sitting around waiting for a parade?' Maloney asked."


Here then are some news highlights from this sequence of events.


POSTED: 10-30-2008 04:02 AM ET | MODIFIED: 10-30-2008 03:25 PM ET
Phillies Fans Clog City Streets, Parade Set for Tomorrow
WFMZ
<http://wfmz.com/view/?id=567385>




Philadelphia finally gets another title
By Jayson Stark
ESPN.com
(Archive)
<http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/playoffs2008/
columns/story?columnist=stark_jayson&id=3672202>


A shorter URL for the above link:


<http://tinyurl.com/66ryrq>




Posted on Thu, Oct. 30, 2008
Fan celebration worth the wait
By Patrick Kerkstra and Kristen Graham
Inquirer Staff Writers
Philly.com
<http://www.philly.com/philly/news/nation_world/33561969.html>

PHILADELPHIA -- For a quarter of a century, they'd waited for this night,
waited for this moment.


For a quarter of a century, they'd watched these scenes happen in somebody
else's town, on somebody else's field of dreams.

Seasons came. Seasons went. Baseball seasons. Football seasons. Basketball
seasons. Hockey seasons.

They never ended this way -- not a stinking one of them. Not in
Philadelphia -- the city where these sorts of dreams never came true.

And then, on a wintry Wednesday night in October, in the cliff-hanger
episode of "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Parade Floats," it
happened.

It was 9:58 p.m. in the Eastern time zone. The perfect closer, Brad Lidge,
finished off the perfect season with the perfect pitch.

The hitter standing 60 feet away, Tampa Bay's Eric Hinske, swung through
one last invisible slider. And as Brad Lidge collapsed to his knees and
euphoria erupted all around him, you could almost feel the sky clearing
and the universe shifting.

The Phillies had won the World Series, won it in five astounding games,
won it by finishing off a 4-3 win over Tampa Bay that they had to wait 46
waterlogged hours just to complete.

But that's not all. For the city they play
in, the wait was over. A wait that had consumed every man, woman and
child, every Mummer, every pretzel baker, every cheesesteak chomper, every
boobird.

The wait that had dragged them all through 25 years and 98 combined
seasons of misery and heartbreak, seasons whose only common trait was that
they'd all managed to last just a little too long.

It was the longest wait, by far, of the 13 metropolitan areas in America
with teams in all four major sports. No other metropolis out there --
anywhere -- was within eight years.

And then, with one pitch, with one euphoric shriek in the night -- in
45,000-part harmony -- it was over. And life in Philadelphia may never be
the same.

"For all these years," said Jimmy Rollins as fireworks crackled through
the night, "the part of playing here that upset me the most was that I was
always home in October, watching somebody else celebrate.

"But not this year," said the man who first opened his mouth and dared
them all to reach for this chunk of the sky. "This year, WE get to
celebrate."

[Jayson Stark provided sports coverage as a journalist in Philadelphia for
the Philadelphia Inquirer in times past. One sad story he covered amongst
the 2,893 articles in the Philadelphia Inquirer found with him as author
in Access World News is this headline:

PHILLIES BROADCASTER BY SAAM DIES AT 85
Philadelphia Inquirer, The (PA) - January 17, 2000 ]





Posted on Thu, Oct. 30, 2008
Fan celebration worth the wait
By Patrick Kerkstra and Kristen Graham
Inquirer Staff Writers
<http://www.philly.com/philly/news/nation_world/33561969.html>

A final, biting Brad Lidge slider.
And then, bedlam.

A scream of triumph decades in the making burst forth from bars and living
rooms across Philadelphia last night as the Phillies won their first World
Series in 28 years.

Citizens Bank Park trembled beneath the feet of 46,000 ecstatic fans.
Teeming masses of humanity instantly seized South Broad Street, the
intersection of Frankford and Cottman, and Main Street in Manayunk. Center
City was so crammed with revelers, it was a challenge even to move.

Tens of thousands of euphoric college students from Drexel, Temple and
Penn spontaneously marched en masse to join the party. The few cars on the
roads were overloaded with fans, who rode on roofs, trunks, even front
windows.

Fans clambered up light poles, and ripped down the World Series banners
atop them. They filmed the exuberant scene with camcorders and cell
phones. Fireworks shot into the sweet October sky in neighborhoods across
the city.

"This is the best thing that could ever happen to this city. The Phillies
finally did it, and we're the happiest people on earth," Joe McClain, 23,
said from the intersection of Frankford and Cottman.

In Center City, a pregnant woman named Amy Arcarso pointed at the statue
of William Penn atop City Hall and bellowed: "We broke your curse."






Posted on Thu, Oct. 30, 2008
John Smallwood: Phillies set great example for city's other teams
By John Smallwood
Philadelphia Daily News
Daily News Sports Columnist
<http://www.philly.com/dailynews/sports/columnists/20081030_John_
Smallwood__Phillies_set_great_example_for_city_s_other_teams.html>


A shorter URL for the above link:


<http://tinyurl.com/65uosw>


The Phillies proved that last night in Citizens Bank Park when they beat
the Tampa Bay Rays, 4-3, and won the 104th World Series.

It wasn't quite 10 p.m. when "The Curse" ended.

When Brad Lidge got Tampa Bay Rays pinch-hitter Eric Hinske waving
helplessly at that nasty slider, the Phillies not only became World Series
champions but they opened the door to an endless possibility of encores
for the Philadelphia franchises.

As Ryan Howard ran around the field waving that huge 2008 championship
banner while a sold-out, frenzied crowd of Philadelphia fans sang in
unison, "We are the Champions," a quarter-century of frustration, 100
combined seasons of heartache were washed into the Delaware River.

This morning, the whole area and everyone across the country and the world
who cheer for Philadelphia teams wake up a changed fan base.

They can dream of championships without the splinter stabbing in the back
corner of the mind that something is always going to go wrong. The
Phillies shoved away that negative cloud that has hovered so heavily over
this city for so long.




Video: Harry Kalas calls the final out
<http://philadelphia.phillies.mlb.com/media/
video.jsp?mid=200810293653422&c_id=phi>


A shorter URL for the above link:


<http://tinyurl.com/65uosw>




Video: Phillies Fans Celebrate The Series Win
<http://www.philly.com/philly/video/33560729.html>



Audio: Manuel, Hamels, Lidge and Howard talk about winning it all
<http://www.philly.com/philly/sports/phillies/33560009.html>



Phillies fans revel in a party 28 years in the making
By JIM WALSH Courier-Post Staff October 30, 2008
<http://www.courierpostonline.com/article/20081030/NEWS01/810300356/1006>


A shorter URL for the above link:


<http://tinyurl.com/6ladfs>



"The last time the Phillies won, it was '80," said the Washington Township
man as he jotted down "8-0" on a napkin at an Oaklyn bar packed with
fellow Phillies fans. "Turn that around and what do you get? 0-8.

"It's always been our year," Lukaitis insisted before the Phillies took
the field for the stunning climax of a rain-delayed Game 5. The Phils
defeated the Tampa Bay Rays in a 4-3 nail-biter to win the second World
Series title in their 125-year history.

Team officials announced plans for a parade Friday from Center City to the
team's South Philadelphia stadium.

"It'll be bedlam," predicted former Phillies reliever and current
broadcaster Larry Andersen.

"If you figure a hundred seasons between the four major teams (in
Philadelphia), these fans are starving for a championship and they deserve
it," said Andersen, who played on the Phillies teams that lost the 1983
and 1993 World Series. "They deserve to be able to party."

The Phils' 28-year title drought was extended for 46 hours by the first
suspension of a game in World Series history. Game 5 started Monday night,
but was stopped in the middle of the sixth inning due to heavy rain.

Play resumed about 8:30 p.m. Wednesday with the Phillies batting in the
bottom of the sixth inning and the score tied 2-2.

Whether hell froze over was not known, but it was a bitterly cold night
for a baseball game in Philadelphia. The temperature was in the low 40s
when play began, with the wind chill making it feel like the mid 30s.

At Citizens Bank Park, Dave Groff watched history being made, and the
Cherry Hill man loved the view.

"The place just exploded," said the 48-year-old fan, describing the final
strikeout by reliever Brad Lidge.

"Over the last four or five years, they got closer and closer," he said of
the Phillies' climb to the top. "Now, it's real. I think it's real."

Many fans watched the game from the warmth of bars, but some of them
planned to feel the night's chill once the Phils won.

Lukaitis, for example, wore a green sweat shirt under his red Phillies
T-shirt -- resulting in a striking resemblance to the Phillie Phanatic --
so he could head into the city to celebrate.




October 30, 2008, 1:01 am
An Overdue Celebration for Phillies Fans
By The New York Times
Tags: phillies
By Jen A. Miller
New York Times
Baseball
Bats
<http://bats.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/10/30/
an-overdue-celebration-for-phillies-fans/>


A shorter URL for the above link:


<http://tinyurl.com/6d354u>



PHILADELPHIA After the Phillies clinched, fans from South Philadelphia
flocked to Broad Street, a main artery, lining the streets from Citizens
Bank Park to City Hall. The road was closed by the Philadelphia Police
Department before the game.

At the corner of Broad Street and Shunk Street, fans shot off fireworks
while chugging beers and champagne. Some fans climbed light poles and
knocked down street signs.

Everyone here is from South Philadelphia, and they dont want to destroy
the neighborhood, said a Philadelphia Police Officer on the scene. Theres
some young guys flexing their beer muscles, but a lot of families, too.

Finally, said Jennifer Romeo, 32, of Philadelphia, who walked down Broad
Street with her husband, Michael, 34, and son, Santo, 14.

We waited 28 years since the last one, we could wait two more days, she
said of the suspended game.

This town was starving for this; weve had our hearts broken so many times,
said Lawrence White, a chef at Le Virtu, a South Philadelphia restaurant
located on Passyunk Ave. He left the kitchen when the Phillies won to join
his girlfriend, Tara Howely, at Broad Street and Passyunk Avenue.





City Stops to Enjoy Parade as Phillies Fans Flood Broad Street
New York Times
By JEN A. MILLER
Published: October 31, 2008
<http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/01/sports/baseball/01parade.html>


PHILADELPHIA Fans here had waited 25 years for a championship parade down
Broad Street. The Phillies gave them one Friday, and so many fans showed
up that they nearly shut down the city.

When the Phillies defeated the Tampa Bay Rays on Wednesday night to
capture the World Series title, they delivered this city its first major
sports championship since 1983, when the 76ers won the N.B.A. finals. The
Phillies only other title came in 1980.

The parade started in Center City, passed City Hall and traveled nearly
four miles south to the Phillies home field, Citizens Bank Park. It
started at noon and crawled at a speed of about 4 miles per hour, arriving
in South Philadelphia more than an hour later than expected, about 3 p.m.

The police and city officials estimated that more than a million fans
packed the route, and the crowds overwhelmed the public transit system.
Septa, which runs the citys subway system and regional rail lines,
temporarily shut down the Broad Street Line, which connects Center City to
the sports complex area. The Patco high-speed line, which runs to New
Jersey, was also jammed. Some fans chose to walk home instead of waiting
for trains.





Thousands attend Phillies World Series parade
PA SportsTicker Published: Friday, October 31, 2008
National Post
<http://www.nationalpost.com/sports/story.html?id=924336>


PHILADELPHIA -- The Philadelphia Phillies celebrated their first World
Series title in 28 years Friday afternoon with a raucous parade through
the "City of Brotherly Love."

Hundreds of thousands of fans attended the festivities, which began in
downtown Philadelphia and ended at Citizens Bank Park.

"This is the biggest parade I've ever been in," said Phillies manager
Charlie Manuel, who hoisted the World Series trophy as Philadelphia
celebrated its first major professional sports title in 25 years. "It's
like Christmas came two months early."

The three-hour ceremony began on Market Street and proceeded east toward
City Hall before turning south on to Broad Street.

The parade was led by left field Pat Burrell, who rode in a horse-drawn
carriage. The longest-tenured current member of the Phillies and a pending
free agent for this coming offseason, Burrell was greeted by chants of
"Bring back Pat!"

World Series MVP Cole Hamels, shortstop Jimmy Rollins, center fielder
Shane Victorino and the Phillie Fanatic, the franchise's beloved mascot,
also were present as eight flatbed trucks slowly made their way through
the city.





City of Brotherly Love ecstatic as Phils celebrate title
Sports Network
<http://www.sportsnetwork.com/merge/tsnform.aspx?c=
sportsnetwork&page=mlb/news/newstest.aspx?id=4188364>


A shorter URL for the above link:


<http://tinyurl.com/6xyp7m>




Fans roar as Phillies parade through city
By MICHAEL RUBINKAM 1 day ago
Associated Press
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gtXXUUFEpTqSJxswDBADFzrTn2JQD945M4M00




Philadelphia Fans Flock to Phillies' World Series Title Parade
By Curtis Eichelberger
Bloomberg
<http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/
news?pid=20601079&sid=a_.7LdPdzQy8&refer=home>


A shorter URL for the above link:


<http://tinyurl.com/5e3jpr>



Trains overwhelmed as Phillies fans flock downtown
By BOB LENTZ 2 days ago
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gtXXUUFEpTqSJxswDBADFzrTn2JQD945IQLG0


PHILADELPHIA (AP) Thousands of Phillies fans lined up 10 deep along
downtown sidewalks and overwhelmed commuter trains hauled thousands more
toward Philadelphia as excitement built Friday for the city's first
championship parade in 25 years.

The World Series-winning Philadelphia Phillies were expected to be
showered with brotherly love and confetti during the 90-minute procession
from the heart of the city to the sports complex in South Philadelphia,
about 4 miles away.

People wore Phillies gear and brought stepladders to see over the crowds.
Toward the end of the parade route, fans climbed onto low storefront roofs
to get a better view.

Saint Joseph's University graduate students Alaina Hullings and Tricia
Duckworth, both 22, said they stayed up all night devising their
ensembles: faux grass skirts with red, white and blue leis, plus homemade
red capes emblazoned with center fielder Shane Victorino's No. 8 and his
nickname "Flyin' Hawaiian" on the back.

"I've waited my whole life for this," Hullings said.


<snip>


Mayor Michael Nutter cautioned fans against the scattered vandalism that
marred the revelry after the Phillies defeated the Tampa Bay Rays for the
title late Wednesday. Police reported 76 arrests and several vandalized
businesses; they are also examining photos and video of the crowds to
identify and arrest additional offenders.

"You can be joyous; you cannot be a jackass," Nutter said Thursday. "That
kind of idiotic, destructive behavior will not be accepted in the city of
Philadelphia."

Officials had earlier stressed the importance of using public transit, but
the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority reported Friday
that its suburban trains were full by midmorning.

"We are being overwhelmed," said SEPTA spokesman Felipe Suarez. "We are
having to bypass stations."

PATCO train stations in southern New Jersey were also jammed early Friday,
forcing fans to stand in long lines to buy tickets.




Posted on Sat, Nov. 1, 2008
SEPTA ridership triple the norm for parade
Philadelphia Inquirer
<http://www.philly.com/philly/hp/news_update/33694904.html>


SEPTA ridership triple the norm for parade

The parade honoring the world champion Phillies on Friday brought about
three times the number of usual commuters to SEPTA.

Spokesman Richard Maloney said today that on a normal weekday the system's
regional rail lines carry about 130,000 riders. On Friday, it was 300,000.

The Broad Street subway typically usually carries 150,000 riders on a
weekday, Maloney said. On Friday it was 400,000.





Posted on Sat, Nov. 1, 2008
Public transit overload
By CATHERINE LUCEY, BARBARA LAKER, MENSAH M. DEAN & JASON NARK
Philadelphia Daily News
<http://www.philly.com/dailynews/
local/20081101_Public_transit_overload.html>


A shorter URL for the above link:


<http://tinyurl.com/5oaoka>


SCORES OF PHILLIES fans yesterday did what the city told them to do - took
public transit.

Well, they tried to, anyway.

SEPTA and PATCO were overwhelmed by historic crowds at train stations,
subway platforms and bus stops.

Despite extra service, many Phillies fans waited for hours watching packed
trains or buses pass them by. Some people gave up and drove in. Some
frustrated commuters in New Jersey walked over the Ben Franklin Bridge.

But many missed the parade altogether.

According to SEPTA spokesman Richard Maloney, the region's public-transit
system was completely overloaded.

"It was historic," Maloney said. "Starting about 7:30 they just came in
hordes. We are running every possible vehicle we have, and we're running
every vehicle we have as many times we can."

Then, of course, there was the issue of getting people home.

At 1 p.m. SEPTA halted all inbound Regional Rail trains to the city so it
would have all its trains available to take people out of town. That
service was restored at about 5:30 p.m.

SEPTA also stopped running the Broad Street Line south of the Vine Street
stop between 1 and 5 p.m. - again to keep more trains available to take
people north, away from the parade route.

As of 7:30 last night, Maloney said, there were still crowds of people
waiting for Regional Rail lines, which were still delayed then, in Market
East and Suburban stations. He said the Broad Street Line was back on
schedule by 6 p.m.

"It's still just the volume of people getting out of here [causing the
delays] primarily at Suburban Station," Maloney said, estimating that
there were hundreds of thousands of passengers. "[But] we're very
surprised of how quickly the city cleaned out. We were anticipating a lot
worse."




Players stunned by flood of fans
By KEVIN COONEY
phillyBurbs.com
Philly Burbs
<http://www.phillyburbs.com/pb-dyn/news/102-11012008-1614545.html>


PHILADELPHIA He is normally a quiet kind of guy who doesn't say much to
get himself in trouble.

But in the exuberance of the moment yesterday and after riding through
roughly two million happy people on the streets of Philadelphia, Chase
Utley finally let his guard down.

World Champions, he said. World (Bleeping) Champions!

While the local broadcast media outlets were reaching for the censor
button quicker than at any time since Ray Rhodes was head coach of the
Eagles, Utley's teammates in the background and the 40,000-plus that
packed Citizens Bank Park roared their approval.

That's just the way Chase is, infielder Greg Dobbs said. When he speaks,
there's a lot of truth to it. And he was just saying what we had all had
in our minds the past few days.

I didn't plan anything, Utley said. I was told that I was to talk ten
minutes ahead of time. It was short and sweet.

Censors be damned on this day. After all, there was no other way to frame
what they had all experienced on a four-plus hour ride that will bond the
Phillies and their fans for the rest of their lives.




----------------------------------




The complete articles may be read at the URLs provided for each.




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