Phillies taking the first step on a most-anticipated journey

It is here. Finally.

The most eagerly anticipated ride in the history of Philadelphia sports starts now, as the 2011 Phillies start reporting to work (officially) in Clearwater, Fla. Never has a Philly team begun its season with as much positive energy and pure enthusiasm as this one.

If there's a trace of our historic sense of impending doom, good luck finding it. The city Murphy surely had in mind when formulating his infamous Law is all in with this club to an unprecedented degree. This unfamiliar sense of goodwill and well-being is the result of a remarkable series of events and circumstances - from the building of Citizens Bank Park to the 2008 World Series title; from the acquisitions of Cliff Lee, Roy Halladay, and Roy Oswalt to the acquisition of Lee again.

This may not happen again. After all, it hasn't happened before.

After previous Phillies high-water marks - 1980 and 1993 - labor strife ruined the ensuing seasons.

The Flyers? Fans were excited about the start of the 1974-75 season, with Reggie Leach added to a Stanley Cup-winning team. But that was a hockey team that had been in existence for less than a decade. This is one of the longest-running and most star-crossed franchises in American history, enjoying its most glorious era of sustained success.

The 1983 76ers? Yes, there was excitement about the addition of Moses Malone to an already loaded team, but it was leavened by a certain amount of skepticism. The team had already fallen short with its "We Owe You One" campaign.

The Eagles? Over the years, a bunch of teams started training camp with a chance to win it all. Usually, there has been some kind of off-season discontent or controversy that dampens enthusiasm a bit. The 2004 team, which boasted new additions Terrell Owens and Jevon Kearse and reached the Super Bowl, may have been the closest thing in recent memory to these Phillies.

But even that team had the weight of a long championship drought weighing on it. These Phillies are riding a wave they started by ending that drought in 2008 and built on by continuing to acquire elite pitchers the way the Eagles stockpile fifth-round draft picks.

It wasn't so long ago that spring training opened with Kevin Millwood or Adam Eaton or Jon Lieber at the top of the starting rotation. It wasn't much longer ago that we were asked to get excited about Gregg Jefferies and Mike Lieberthal and Bobby Abreu.