And it was the boisterous Rockies who wasted cartons of good champagne and cold beer in their postgame downpour of delight, which surely qualified as one of the wettest and wildest celebrations ever for a mere wild-card winner.
From the moment when Matt Holliday hurtled past Michael Barrett with the winning run - although replays suggested the sliding Rockies outfielder might have missed the plate - a raucous outburst unfolded on Coors Field's diamond, in the locker room, and on bar-lined Blake Street outside.
Like Holliday, a serious Most Valuable Player candidate, most of these Rockies had never experienced the postseason. So as they careened around their drenched locker room in "2007 Wild-Card Champion" hats and T-shirts, they could be excused their exuberance.
Amid all the spraying, lifting, drinking, shouting, and hugging, the Rockies had little time or inclination to discuss the Phillies, a team they beat in four of seven 2007 meetings.
"Are you serious?" a champagne-soaked Jamey Carroll asked a reporter who had questioned him about the team's next foe. Carroll's sacrifice fly drove home Holliday and capped the Rockies' three-run rally off Trevor Hoffman. "We'll get to Philadelphia soon enough. Right now, we're going to enjoy this moment."
In truth, the Rockies and Phillies appear to be mirror images of each other - even beyond their muscle and lack of brains.
"It's going to be a battle," said third baseman Garrett Atkins, whose apparent home run in the seventh inning was ruled a double on what appeared to be another blown call. "We play hard, they play hard."
Both charged into the postseason. The Rockies lost once in their final 15 games, while the Phils went 13-4 to overtake the Mets. Both have questionable bullpens and a patchwork rotation behind a creditable ace (Lefthanders Jeff Francis for the Rockies and the Phils' Cole Hamels, who will face each other in Game 1).
