When Fall is upon us and Phillies fans start singing the Greenday hit “Wake Me Up When September ends”, they must be thinking about Red October. And who can blame them?

This current generation of Phillies enters the playoffs for the 4th consecutive season, trying to replicate the success of the Phils of decades past. But playoff appearances without a championship parade down Broad Street does not a dynasty make (for reference, just ask the Buffalo Bills of the early 90’s and the Andy Reid led Eagles from 2000-2004).

The Phillies from 1976 to 1983 won three consecutive NL East titles from ’76-78 only to fall short of reaching the World Series. But after acquiring the “million dollar man” Pete Rose in 1979, they were finally able to get over the hump in 1980 with future hall of famers Rose, Mike Schmidt & Steve Carlton. And they followed it up with another pennant in 1983, eventually losing to the Baltimore Orioles in the World Series.

The Phils from 2007-2011 won 5 straight NL East titles, while winning the World Series in 2008 & the pennant the following season.

The current crop of Phillies limped in to the playoffs in 2022 only due to the fact that baseball added a 3rd wildcard team in each league. But to their credit, they got hot at the right time, going all the way to the World Series before losing in six games to the Houston Astros.

That 2022 run escalated expectations for a fan base that had not seen their team reach the postseason in eleven years. And while the team won the division the next two seasons, they regressed in the playoffs, losing in the NLCS to Arizona in 2023 after being up 2-0 & 3-2 in the series, and last season to the Mets in the house of horrors known as Citi Field.

Expectations are high once again as the Phils enter the playoffs as the #2 seed, but the issues that plagued this team in past seasons still remain, namely that without the home run, they can’t score.

The team has a maddening ability to hit a ton of home runs one game, and then score a total of four runs in the next three. Their hitting is akin to a warm or cold front weather wise, and if they happen to go cold in a five or seven game series as they have the last two seasons, playoff futility will be the end result.

Their strength lies in their starting pitching. Even without ace Zach Wheeler, this team can match up with any other team’s starting rotation. But manager Rob Thompson seems eager for the quick call to the bullpen, which is when things get dicey.

The team acquired closer Jhoan Duran at the trade deadline to shore up the back end of the bullpen. But while Duran makes a grandiose appearance whenever he is called in, a lights out entrance is only good when your closer is lights out on the mound. And as of late, he has been leaking oil. If this continues, his new entrance song might have to be Duran Duran’s “Wild Boys”.

Bryce Harper is probably past his prime in terms of being the team’s best hitter, which now falls on fan favorite Kyle Schwarber. But “Schwarbs” is in the final year of his contract, and resigning him does not look likely, which would hurt the Phillies offense going forward.

The Dodgers might be the toughest team the Phils will play in the postseason, and this series could come down to five games, which could cause a lot of trips to the emergency room, namely for elevated blood pressure issues.

And then there are the fans. 43,000 of them, waving rally towels as if their life depended on it. Only in Philadelphia can the fans intimidate the opposition in a way that no other city can.

Buckle up Philadelphia, and Happy Red October to those that celebrate. Time will tell whether the end result is champagne or sorrow….