Stott's grand slam didn't just clinch the Phillies a playoff series, it brought back hints of '08

Before we talk about the second playoff grand slam in Philadelphia Phillies history, let’s take a second to revisit the first.

The Phillies had already defeated the Milwaukee Brewers in Game 1 of the NLDS, their first playoff game victory since 1993. But in a way — despite Cole Hamels’ gem of a pitching performance — that was merely a tune-up for the truly important game.

C.C. Sabathia was the pitcher during the 2008 MLB stretch run. After Milwaukee acquired him at the trade deadline, he put the Brewers on his back, going 11-2 in 17 starts with an incredible 1.62 ERA and an even-more eye-popping seven complete games — including a Game 162 nine-inning near-shutout (his only run allowed was unearned) to clinch the Brewers an unlikely playoff berth. Sabathia, at that moment, was viewed as essentially unbeatable.

Enter Shane Victorino.

Well, really enter Brett Myers first, who in the second inning forced an improbable nine-pitch walk from the supposedly untouchable Sabathia first, and rattled him enough to lead him to walk Jimmy Rollins on four pitches, loading the bases for No. 2 hitter Victorino.

With one swing of the bat, Victorino sent Citizens Bank Park into an uproar.

As a college student in the CBP crowd that night, I’ll never forget the sound just after the crack of Victorino’s bat — the brief millisecond of silence before the collective realization that, yes, Sabathia was the one who threw that pitch. Yes, it wasn’t merely a harmless fly ball destined to land in the left fielder’s glove. And yes, Sabathia was not truly unhittable.

But I’ll also never forget an article I read that night on FOXSports.com, after returning to my dorm. It’s now lost to the annals of history (trust me, I’ve checked), but in the article, the writer posited that the 2008 MLB playoffs could now be called to an abrupt and premature end. After all, a moment like what had just occurred that night in Philadelphia — a seemingly invincible pitcher touched up for the worst possible single at-bat outcome — could only happen to a team destined to win a title.

And of course, that writer — nameless at this point — was proven right.

Which brings us, finally, to Wednesday night, and the second grand slam in Phillies postseason history.

One could fairly argue that this game (and series) was over long before Bryson Stott picked up his bat in the sixth inning. On paper, the Phillies were always far superior to the Miami Marlins, who despite their post-trade deadline improvement, still entered the playoffs with an ugly negative-55 run differential. The Phils had already taken Game 1 by a 4-1 score, and were up 3-0 in the potential deciding Game 2. Aaron Nola was dealing on the mound, and had already made it through two of his biggest problem innings, strongly hinting that a meltdown would not be occurring on this night.

In 2008, when Victorino stepped up to the plate, the game was still very much in doubt, a 1-1 score in the bottom of the second inning. And the Phillies center fielder back then was facing perhaps the best pitcher alive, as opposed to Stott battling Andrew Nardi, a solid but forgettable reliever. The two situations were far from exact replicas.

But there was one more big difference, one that I can personally confirm as someone who attended both games: that millsecond of hesitation after Victorino’s bat contact, the slight disbelief from the Philly faithful that their club was on the verge of a classic moment?

Yeah, that didn’t happen on Wednesday. The second that Stott hit the ball — even though it was to a deeper part of the part than Victorino’s legendary bomb — everyone in Citizens Bank Park knew. The entire building had no trouble believing that Stott and the rest of the 2023 Phillies were capable of a moment like that.

Stott, in fact, seemed more shocked than the fans. His post-HR pose implied that he knew right away that he had blasted it out of the park. But unlike teammate Rhys Hoskins last season in the NLDS, for a few seconds, Stott didn’t appear to know quite what to do in the wake of his bomb, ultimately deciding on a delayed bat spike.

The fans knew what they were going to do, though.

Philadelphia fans, as I’ve noted in the past, aren’t a naturally optimistic bunch. I’ve long held the personal belief that their pessimism is at heart a defensive mechanism — a way for the losses to hurt just a little bit less, if fans could convince themselves that actually they had saw it coming all along. But it seems to be different with this Phillies team. Despite their roster flaws, their penchant for dramatic defeats, and the fact that they haven’t yet won a title, fans really want to believe that they can pull this off, that 2022 was a mere prelude to the trophy the club is destined to secure.

Stott’s grand slam only adds more fuel to the destiny fire.

It doesn’t hurt, of course, that the individual results of this series — regardless of the quality of competition faced — strongly hinted that the Phillies are indeed poised for a long postseason run.

Aaron Nola — long one of the 2023 club’s biggest weaknesses — came through on Wednesday with an absolute gem, throwing seven shutout innings and proving that his two strong starts to end the regular season were indeed a sign of better days to come. J.T. Realmuto, who just concluded his most underwhelming season as a Phillie (both at the plate and the field) and entered the playoffs as a low-key potential liability at the plate, reemerged in full force as well. He was a Game 2 hero, stepping up as the first batter to make solid contact off Braxton Garrett (after he had struck out three of the first four Phillies hitters) and then following it up with a mammoth fourth inning home run.

Nola and Realmuto don’t look like potential weaknesses now. They look like key pieces in the midst of perfectly-timed tears.

But the new reasons for optimism go beyond two once-struggling stars. Rookie reliever Orion Kerkering was able to get his first taste of playoff action in a low-leverage situation on Wednesday, and he looked as nasty as advertised, positioning him for tougher innings in the coming weeks. Manager Rob Thomson sure seems to have rediscovered his strategic fastball, expertly deploying the bullpen both nights, and even getting relievers ready in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings during Nola’s start, just in case he reverted back to his old collapsing ways. It was a shrewd fallback plan, and one that apparently didn’t impact Nola’s on-field confidence one bit, given his seven strong innings.

The same can be said for Thomson’s decision to roll with Cristian Pache as a starter in both games, despite Brandon Marsh’s significantly better full-season results. It was a risk on Thomson’s part, even with the Marlins throwing two tough lefties out on Tuesday and Wednesday as their starters. But it paid off beautifully, with Pache making two strong defensive plays on both nights to rob batting champ Luis Arreaz of leadoff hits, preventing the Marlins from gaining early momentum — and chipping in with the bat as well, driving in a run in Game 1 and scoring the team’s first in Game 2. As for the man he replaced in the lineup? Marsh didn’t sulk even a bit, instead helping to lead the Phillies’ dugout celebration on both evenings, as enthusiastic as anyone.

This isn’t merely a talented Phillies team. It’s a team that comes through in big moments. It’s a team that has each other’s backs. And if the crowd noise at CBP on Wednesday was any indication — it was deafening — it’s a team that very much has the full support of the city as well.

The next step, of course, isn’t going to be easy. The 2008 Phillies benefited from avoiding in the playoffs the team with the best record in the NL that season — the Chicago Cubs — who were upset by the 84-win Los Angeles Dodgers in their NLDS matchup before the Phillies had to face them.

The 2023 club won’t have the same luxury. Because there is no playoff reseeding in Major League Baseball, the fourth-seeded Phillies will still get the powerhouse, 104-win Atlanta Braves next, even though the sixth-seeded Arizona Diamondbacks upset the NL Central champion Brewers and stand as the lowest seed left in the NL bracket.

To continue their trek to the World Series, the Phillies will have to take down an absolute juggernaut — in a short five-game series.

But the Phils club that took apart the Marlins this week looks capable of doing it. Heck, the Phillies team that played the Braves all season looked fully capable of it, and now, that club is getting serious reinforcements that they didn’t have during the regular season, in the form of revitalized stars (Nola, Realmuto) and better depth (Kerkering, Jeff Hoffman in higher leverage situations, Johan Rojas as a full-time CF, Jose Alvarado back close to peak form). The Phillies appear in many ways to be peaking, and even their less impressive version gave Atlanta fits.

So Stott’s grand slam may have been different than Victorino’s bomb from 2008 in many ways. But after watching the last two games — and really, the last two years — it’s not at all absurd to think that it could be a harbinger of similar heights to come.