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Sadly, for fans of the declining Philadelphia Phillies, the 2012 season ended prematurely in the last weekend of September. Sports pundits are already making predictions for ’13. Some speculate, for example, that it might be Charlie Manuel’s last year as manager. There will be changes in the lineup of course. They talk of strengthening the offense and rebuilding the aging team with this or that draft pick.
Scratched into the Phightin’s ’12 tombstone will be all of the injuries, the errors and the moments of pitching greatness to no avail. I am not writing this to bury the Phillies, but to praise them. To me they will always be world champions, above and beyond any winning season or golden trophy. I want everyone to know how they succeed gloriously over and above their efforts on the baseball field.
In April of ’08, my dear husband Stan at 75 was entering the final two years of his life. A bout with the flu had exacerbated an existing condition that made breathing difficult. He was in a lot of pain. To help him with his edema and breathing problems, I bought him a red leather recliner that faced the old Panasonic TV in our living room on Fernon Street. He could sit with his feet elevated while reading his endless adventure novels or filling up his puzzle books.
But his greatest escape from all his discomfort was sports, especially baseball, especially the Phillies.
We had a daily delivery of the papers and Stan would ask the same question every morning: “What time does the game start?” I would have to look it up in the sports pages and tell him. He planned the rest of his day around that timetable.
Meanwhile, another distraction and hobby that Stan had was the claw machine, you know, the kind you find in the ACME crammed with plush animals and other figures. During that ’08 season, the machines were packed with Phillies dolls and other memorabilia. Stan was an expert claw machine player (I called him “a claw machine addict”). He would always come home with at least two stuffed toys, and that year we were oversupplied with bears and other figures dressed in Phillies regalia. Our front windowsill was decorated with many of them, including a stuffed red hand signaling No. 1. We had so many that Stan was fond of giving them away, especially to neighborhood children.
As the summer passed and the Phillies kept winning, Stan’s enthusiasm increased. He became totally absorbed in their games and coached from his recliner. He would yell at the television throughout the game, telling [Ryan] Howard off when he missed a pitch or ordering [Shane] Victorino to make a catch or [Jimmy] Rollins to steal another base.
Once a young friend of his came by with free tickets to a game, and Stan’s eyes almost popped out of his head. I dropped them off at the stadium and he nearly sprinted with his cane to the entrance. That was one of several in-person games he would enjoy that year and the next, especially in the company of our beloved daughter Claire.
Of course we all know that the Phillies won the World Series in ’08. It would be only the second time in their history to reach that pinnacle. Names like Chase Utley, Howard, Victorino and Rollins are etched permanently in our sports memory for their brilliance on the field that summer.
But to me, the greatest accomplishment of the club in the ’08 and ’09 seasons was how they helped one very sick man to endure the hardest journey of his life. Stan literally lived for their spectacular games. He was just as faithful to the Eagles, but his singular devotion was for the Phightin Phils. Because of weakness, he missed attending the victory parade on Broad Street, but again, younger friends brought back snapshots just for him.
Another April arrived in ’10, but Stan would not see it end. The Phillies’ new season began just days before he died. Hooked up to a respirator, he could not speak or move very much. I asked his nurse to please tune the hospital television to the opening game against the Washington Nationals. Stan, as sick as he was, concentrated his dark eyes on that screen for a while. It was his last Phillies game.
My family and I cannot thank the Phillies enough for providing such a magnificent respite for our beloved husband and father. I am sure he was one of countless suffering fans they have sustained through many struggles.
God bless them all. They are always winners in our hearts!
Gloria C. Endres
South Philadelphia
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