As all of the Phillies' fans already know, one of our most loved players was traded last week. Carlos Ruiz, lovingly known as Chooch, has gone to L.A. to join the Dodgers.

The only possible consolation I can think of is that he’ll be with former Phillies player Chase Utley. Which almost makes me want to root for the Dodgers. Almost.

But as we approach the last month of the regular season, I can’t help but think the Phillies were when on their hot streak eight and nine years ago.

On September 30^th of 2007, The Philadelphia Phillies clinched the division, surpassing the rivaled Mets, who lost to the Marlins that day. The Phillies beat the Nationals 6-1, earning them a spot as the Wild Card team and clinching the NL East division for the first time since 1993. It’s a good day to be a Phillies fan when the Phillies make history and the Mets get kicked out of the playoffs.

Citizens bank erupted. Phillies fans laughed, cheered, cried, while the players drenched each other in champagne. Though we knew the battle for the World Series title wasn’t over, we were just happy to have this. For that moment, everyone felt the weight of responsibility, stress, or hardship leave their bodies. Everyone forgot their problems for a minute, and we were all just a city cheering together.

And though the Phillies continued on to lose all three of their playoff games that year to the Rockies, we had hope for next season.

Jimmy Rollins’s “we’re the team to beat” speech was just a year too early (though J Roll did take home the MVP award in 2007). On September 27^th of 2008, the Phillies again clinched the division. Again, the stadium erupted with Phillies fans. But this year, we knew the postseason was coming. Philadelphia went on to beat the Milwaukee Brewers in the NLDS, and as the anticipation increased, they beat the Dodgers in the NLCS, became national champions, and continued on to the World Series to face the Tampa Bay rays.

The Phillies won the first game of the series at Tampa. But then Tampa came back to win the next. Game three ended in a score of 5 – 4 Phillies, and the Phillies took game four with a 10 -2 win. This left game five as the possible end to our waiting, waiting for a victory that had remained far out of reach since our last, and up to that point only, world series championship in 1980.

Philadelphia scored right off the bat in the first inning. The Phillies and Rays took turns scoring, but at the top of the sixth inning, the game was suspended until the next day due to rain, making it the first World Series game to not have been played to completion or declared a tie. So we did what all Philadelphians have learned to do. We waited. And we cursed the umpires and the other team and that guy at the grocery store wearing a Tampa jersey. And we waited some more.

The game resumed, not the next day, but two days later, on October 29^th. It was the bottom of the sixth with the Phillies up to bat and the score was two all. The Phils knocked one home, but then Tampa scored one as well in the seventh. But then Pat Burrell hit a double. Eric Bruntlett pinch ran for him and was hit home by Pedro Feliz. The Score was now 4-3.

It stayed like this into the ninth inning, down to the final batter. Brad Lidge pitched to Eric Hinske of the Rays with Carlos Ruiz catching. Hinske has two strikes. Charlie Manuel is obnoxiously chewing gum on the sideline. The crowd is nonstop screaming. And then Brad Lidge pitched the most important ball of his career. The third strike in the top of the ninth in the 2008 World Series—and the championship was ours.

Brad Lidge dropped to his knees and put his arms in the air. Chooch ran out and hugged him. The Phillies ran from the outfield and out of the dugout and piled on top of them. The audience at Citizens Bank completely lost it, all of the Phillies fans watching at home completely lost it. We called our neighbors and ran around the house screaming and cried and laughed and then finally settled down, and then did it all over again. Everyone wore their Phillies shirts the next day. And on Halloween of 2008, dressing up was not my number one priority, because I had to go to the Phillies World Series parade.

Being at the parade wasn’t even the best part. Yes, it was great to see Pat Burrell perched atop a slowly moving vehicle with a bunch of happy people just having a good time. But the ride down to see the parade made October 31^st 2008 one of the best days of my life.

All of the news stations advised people to take public transportation. And since everyone was on the trains and buses, nobody was driving on the roads. So my mom and my brother and family friends of ours hopped in the car and went for it. Skipped school, didn’t care, just because we had finally won. We stuck our heads out the window and screamed “Go Phillies!” every time we saw someone wearing phillies gear. And they screamed back, with ready smiles on their faces, because we had finally won. We screamed out the window until our voices were practically gone. “80 08” was painted on signs all over the city. I saw more joy and harmony among a united group of people than I have seen since. The city had an extra glimmer to it that day. We all had something in common with each other to celebrate.

Since then, all of the players have left the team or been traded for one reason or the other. Everyone except Ryan Howard, our long time first baseman and on-and-off homerun guru. His better years are probably behind him. But it strikes me as sad to think that all of our favorites have been separated from each other, as if they were more of a family than a team. And at the end of the day, I think they were. Because they united is in one of the most joyous feelings I have ever felt. From their perspective, they know they accomplished something truly amazing. After all, they are world f*cking champions. But I don’t know if they realize how much they brought us together. Even just for a minute, a day, a week, a month, until the next season. Even now when I think about that final pitch, that moment where Brad Lidge dropped to his knees and Carlos Ruiz ran out to meet him, my eyes draw a little tear and my stomach does a back flip. Because they gave me something that no one can ever take away: the pride in a team that I truly feel connected to, the happiness in celebrating with family and friends, and a sense of kinship with the whole city of Philadelphia.