Walking the concourse, surveying the thousands and thousands of fans packed into the stadium, Whalen got choked up. He started shouting to no one in particular: "This is awesome! Awesome!"
Ed Booth, who recently moved from Fishtown to Mountaintop, Pa. - a town so far from Philadelphia that not everyone is a Phillies fan - woke his 11-year-old, Nick, before the sun rose to drive to Citizens Bank Park.
"This is sacred ground," said Booth, 37. "To be here on the day we celebrate, the day when we lift that trophy up. . . . Well, I can't think of anything better."
It was vital that Michael Greenberg get as close to the field as possible. He's spent the last few weeks living and breathing Phillies. He traveled to St. Petersburg, Fla., where he displayed a sign reading "Only God Saves More Than Brad Lidge," then came back for the rain delays and the suspended game.
Yesterday, he sat along the firstbase line, facing the diamond-shape stage at second base where several Phillies spoke to an adoring crowd. "I had to be here, had to see it through," said Greenberg, 50, of Yardley.
Greenberg saw a problem: returning to real life after a month of playoff euphoria.
"I'm trying to figure out what to do next week," said Greenberg, a lawyer. "I guess I have to go back to work."
Joan Pollak tried her best to keep the tears away, even if they were happy tears. She and husband Ron are fanatics, season-ticket holders and lifelong devotees. They brought a still camera and a video camera, and had two televisions at home recording the ballpark ceremony.
"I've just been so emotional," said Joan Pollak, 61, proudly pointing out that she did not cry when she was at the Marlton ShopRite to get Shane Victorino's autograph.
While they sat in the lower deck, the Cherry Hill couple's son had to resort to eBay for a $49 ticket way up in the nosebleed seats. It doesn't matter, they said.
