"Are they better than we are?" manager Charlie Manuel said. "For this Series, they are. They got the trophy, we don't. We gave it up, now we've got to get it back."
As galling as that is for Philadelphia, this was not about the Phillies. They were the extras, not the stars of this film.
"Last year, we were the ones celebrating," Ryan Howard said. "Now we've seen what it's like on the other side."
Starting pitcher Pedro Martinez was a fitting symbol for these Phillies. He just didn't have it last night and, for the most part, the Phillies just didn't have it, either.
Howard was a week late for the Series, striking out a record 13 times, although he finally hit a too-little, too-late home run in the sixth inning last night.
Cole Hamels, the MVP of two series last year, was the most disappointing player of this tournament. It is amazing that the Phillies were able to win their division and advance through two playoff rounds without getting anything from Hamels.
Brad Lidge, last year's perfect closer, made just one appearance in this World Series and it was an unbridled disaster - the inning that convinced the Yankees this Series belonged to them.
In hindsight, Johnny Damon's first-to-third sprint in the ninth inning of Game 4 was the pivotal moment. The Phillies, desperate for the big hits that defined last year's postseason run, had finally gotten one. Pedro Feliz's game-tying home run in the eighth had everyone in Citizens Bank Park believing that the Phillies were about to work their magic.
