11 years is a long time. There’s no other way around it, but in that span of over 4,000 days it is easy to forget how something makes you feel, or react to if you haven’t seen it in a long time. That is the case with seeing the Phillies in the postseason. There were points in September that serious doubt crept in if the team was going to be playing fall ball, but here we are.

When the wild card round began, those forgotten feelings came back. The team was in St. Louis taking on a pretty hot Cardinals team on national television at a weird time of the day. As annoying as baseball’s start times are in the postseason, there is still something special about it. Even more special about it is how locked in we become on every pitch. Let’s be honest, during the regular season you’re watching the game, but sometimes it’s just background noise or you’re half paying attention. But here in October, every at bat is huge, and that’s proven by how fired up the players are when they take advantage of an opportunity at the plate.

The Phillies disposed of the Cardinals in two games, taking advantage of their age. As well as St. Louis played down the stretch, they were a slow team on the basepaths, which really helped the Phillies get out of some jams. The offense played a lot of small ball, which was refreshing to see, but was also a necessity as Kyle Schwarber and Rhys Hoskins were struggling at the plate.

It was fun to see the team celebrate, the excitement level rose, but we were heading to Atlanta, the NL East champions who won over 100 games this year.

The Phillies quickly showed the world that they belonged here by scoring fast and early in game one of the NLDS, and eventually holding on to a 7-6 victory. They lost game two but there was little concern as we knew what the Braves would be coming into. A raucous Citizens Bank Park.

Any previous excitement paled in comparison to the scene of the Phillies’ first home game in 11 years. The towels flying, the jammed back stadium, the chants, the mockery of the tomahawk chop, and the cheering of each base hit of defensive play. Absolute chills.

To be honest, it immediately brought me right back to the golden era of Phillies baseball between the years of 2007-2011. The sellout crowds watching a team that had a chance to win every single night. That’s what this team brings as well. They have been scrappy with their style of play, but have also recently regained their power by putting some pitches into the seats at crunch time.

The Braves looked flat the entire series and appeared to be uninterested in playing baseball. The crowds were intense, and the Phillies were consistently putting more pressure on them by getting men on base and taking advantage of the Braves miscues. The Phillies won the best-of-five series in four games and will now be traveling to San Diego to take on a Padres team that just defeated what many people thought was the best team in baseball in the Dodgers.

This should be a battle between two teams that were fighting for wild card position during the final weeks of the season and now their paths collide. The Padres, much like the Phillies made big splashes in free agency over the last few seasons and have both played the role of David taking down the Goliath. Once again, Phillies fans should hope for a split at the very least to bring the series back home for what is clearly a home field advantage. The Phillies were 4-3 against the Padres during the regular season, and they get to reset their rotation back to how they want it with Zach Wheeler, Aaron Nola, and Ranger Suarez taking the ball for the first three games, respectively.

Buckle up, Phillies fans. This town has been painted red once again, and what a beautiful feeling it is. Even though we may have forgotten what it was like to feel this, it has clearly come back to us, and we know we love an underdog story.

Phillies in 6.