Dispelling Illusions

Finally, Lowe, who won the clinching game of all three postseason series in '04 when the Red Sox finally reversed their curse, looked every bit the free-agent ace as he took a shutout into the sixth inning. A 2-0 lead in Game 1, what's that? It means nothing. Except, perhaps, in Philly.

In this town, they can almost smell weakness in visiting athletes. Long ago, poor Burt Hooton of the Dodgers was heckled so thunderously he lost control, walked the house and became the first postseason pitcher ever mocked out of the box. But the opposite is also true. Phils fans can also sense when a foe has leaders and clutch players, the kind, to be painfully specific, that this town has generally lacked during its brief 125 years in the big leagues.

Few teams have the perfect mascot. The Phils do: the Phanatic. He's the ideal emblem of a town that may understand baseball too well for its own good. In the absence of victory, Philly has had to settle for generations of expertise. Only the East Coast understands baseball properly (just ask us). Being surrounded by so many experts (real ones) can be daunting, confidence eroding. How do you breathe freely when 45,839 people a game can spot every little mistake perfectly?

As Larry Bowa, long a Philly player and manager, now a Dodger coach, says, "The [crowds here] are very boisterous. They love their teams. They let you know when you're not doing well, but they also let you know when you're doing things right. If our players thought Chicago was bad [for the Cubs series], they're in for a rude awakening, because it's not even close."

The sum and soul of all this is that, for a tight "inside" postseason game there is no place, except perhaps Cuba, where the game is more intensely (and critically) watched, pitch to pitch, with the susurrations of the crowd giving a gut-level running commentary. For the first half of this Game 1, their analysis did not flatter Phils Manager Charlie Manuel.

For instance, groans arrived in the fourth inning when Manuel didn't walk the Dodgers' No. 8 hitter with a man on third and one out in a 1-0 game. Why not try to get the slow Lowe to strike out or hit into a double play? Instead, Blake DeWitt swatted a sacrifice fly for the kind of 2-0 lead that the Dodgers usually make stand up.

The trouble with inside baseball in October is that teams like the Phils, with 214 homers, don't play fair. "They're dangerous. They're big-inning guys," said Torre. "They do a lot of things to get your attention."

In particular, the Phils wait for you to make a mistake, leave the front door unlocked, so they can ransack the joint.

The Dodgers finally left the door ajar in the fifth. Lowe, cruising with two outs, got careless and allowed singles to the No. 8 hitter Carlos Ruiz and, of all people, Hamels. Lowe escaped, but not before a deep Jimmy Rollins fly out and much bellowing from the crowd. For the first time, he'd felt the fire with which he was playing.

The idea had been planted. Don't leave that door ajar again. But the Dodgers did immediately as shortstop Furcal threw away a routine ground ball to start the sixth. Howard may be the Phils' symbol with his three-year average of 51 homers and 144 RBI, but Utley is the grit. He looked for a first-pitch sinking fastball and got it.

"I squared up a sinker. For Derek Lowe, it was up, but really it wasn't that bad a pitch," said Utley whose high fly landed in the third row of the close right field power alley.

One out later, Burrell showed patience, worked the count to 3-1, then homered into the third row of the left field bleachers, this blow a scalding liner that was gone before you could say, "Going, go -- "

The Dodgers had no answer. By the time the Phils rolled out their monster closer, Brad Lidge, 41 for 41 in save opportunities this year, this one-run win was a formality. That is, if any Phillies win in October can be.

Much more lies ahead. But for the Phillies, more than almost any franchise, opening with a victory, and keeping an all-knowing packed house off their back, is essential to postseason success.

To do it with omens -- a crucial Dodger error, two homers at the Citizens Bank discount window and, most of all, a Manny-not-quite-being-Manny double to the furthest foot of the park -- why, how eloquently unlike the Phils.

Finishing the deal will be a separate agony. But at least the Phils have made a proper beginning to their quest.