When Brett Myers flung his glove in the air after the division-clinching strikeout against the Washington Nationals, the Phillies and their fans partied like they hadn't won a thing since 1993.
That team, of course, was far more flawed than the 2011 edition that clinched the franchise's fifth straight division title Saturday night by beating the St. Louis Cardinals 9-2 at Citizens Bank Park.
Raul Ibanez provided the electricity for this clinching with a grand slam in the bottom of the eighth that turned the game into a rout and Chase Utley made a sensational barehanded play for the final out.
This is by far the best of manager Charlie Manuel's five division champions. The team won its 98th game Saturday, one more than any of the previous division winners under Manual, and they still have a dozen more to play.
The franchise record of 101 wins figures to be obliterated.
"I think every season is different," Manuel said the other day. "But the outcome, when you win your division, it keeps getting better. If you're a competitor and a winner, the longer that you win the more you want to go through it all over again. I think that's better than winning just one time."
That may all be true, but the better you get the bigger the accomplishments must become in order to satisfy the audience.
Once Evel Knievel jumped 30 cars, he couldn't go back to 29 the next time.
And the euphoria of that division title from five years ago can only be matched by this 2011 team if it wins a second World Series title in four seasons.
That's the curse and the blessing of being the best team in baseball.
Nobody cared too much five years ago that the Phillies were headed to the postseason with Cole Hamels, Kyle Kendrick and Jamie Moyer as their first three starters. Just the fact that they were going to be playing in October was enough.
