Nervous? Anxious? Trouble sleeping Thursday night?
That's what these elimination games can do to a person.
Do or die. Win or go home.
It all sounds so scary, and no doubt a large portion of frantic Phillies fans are out there are already gnawing at their nails in anticipation of Friday night's Game 5 at Citizens Bank Park.
Some free advice: Embrace this moment and enjoy the ride.
Roy Halladay is pitching and the Phillies are at home. That combination makes them the favorite to win and advance.
Yes, it's true that if the Phillies lose this National League division series to the St. Louis Cardinals, the season will be viewed by many as a failure. The title of best team in franchise history will not belong to them.
A different and healthier way to view this do-or-die game is as something rare and potentially special.
This is only the third time in 129 years that the Phillies have been involved in a series that has gone the distance, and the first time they did so remains arguably the greatest game in franchise history.
For those old enough to remember the team's first World Series title in 1980, the celebration was made extra special by what happened in Game 5 of the Phillies' action-packed National League Championship Series with the Houston Astros.
Game 5 in the Astrodome wasn't a roller-coaster ride. It was all the amusement-park rides wrapped into one nerve-shattering, 10-inning baseball game. Plenty of televisions were shut off and turned back on that Oct. 12 night in 1980. Some may have had shoes or beer bottles thrown through them, too.
You think the Cardinals' Chris Carpenter in Game 5 is a tough assignment for the 2011 Phillies?
Try staring down the barrel of a Nolan Ryan fastball in the top of the eighth inning after the Astros had just scored three times to take a 5-2 lead.
That's what the 1980 Phillies had to deal with in Game 5 and they responded with three straight singles by Larry Bowa, Bob Boone, and Greg Gross to start the inning.
When Pete Rose slammed down his bat and sprinted to first base after drawing a bases-loaded walk, the Phillies' body language went from desperate to determined as Ryan exited the game.
By the end of that crazy inning, the Phillies had scored five times, with NLCS MVP Manny Trillo delivering a two-run triple that broke a 5-5 tie.
The momentum immediately swung the other way again when the Astros scored twice in the bottom of the eighth off closer Tug McGraw to tie the game.
