Insert Weepy Wrap-Up Here

Baseball encourages us to philosophize. I don't know whether it's the sport itself, or whether it's the kind of people who are frequently drawn to the sport. Regardless, many of us try to read a deeper meaning into what is just a game. Sometimes it works. Sometimes it doesn't (As anyone who has read Bart Giamatti's "Take Time For Paradise" can attest.)

By now it's a cliche to use, but bittersweet is the best word to describe how I felt watching Cristian Guzman appropriately end the season with another out. I didn't feel the sadness and anger that I felt back in July when this team began its steep descent to last place. The sadness was different. I've invested countless hours to this team over the course of the last year. And now it's going away for a while.

It will come back in time. And there'll be plenty to talk about over the next few months with new owners, a hot stove (And the nagging feeling deep in the back of my mind that the dreaded 'contraction' word hasn't been uttered for the last time...)

But for now I'm thankful. Thankful that I had a team to watch. Thankful of the excitement they gave me -- the joy, the lows, the tension, all of it. I'm thankful of the friends I've met along the way too, and to everyone who has read my half-cocked screeds over the last 11 months. It's been a pleasure.

As the Phillies walked off the field realizing that their season, too, was over, I stayed around with the rest of the crowd, applauding it all. The sound of the cheers and the ovation said it a helluva lot better than I can.

And as the ol' Brooklyn Bum said, "Wait 'Til Next Year!"