After a 46-hour rain delay, the city finally celebrated the Phillies’ World Series win. At the Draught Horse, people celebrated late into the night and eventually poured onto on the streets of Philadelphia.
“I have enormous pride. I feel good. This is the second time in my life to see this happen. It’s beautiful,” said Syaff Brunson, an employee at the Albert Einstein Medical Center, who saw the Phillies win the Series in 1980 with his grandfather.
The Horse was so loud at the end of the game, it was hard not to hear the “Let’s go Phillies” cheers reverberating throughout the bar. The excitement during the last three and a half innings ran through the crowd with every hit, walk or strikeout in the game.
When Brad Lidge came out to pitch in the ninth inning, the excitement in the Horse was palpable. People were banging on the tables and cheering.
The crowd was anticipating the party of the century, and it got one. The moment Tampa Bay’s Eric Hinske swung through Lidge’s slider to get the final out, pandemonium erupted in the Horse with people hugging, jumping up and down, laughing and crying. The bar’s 200-plus crowd waited for a minute, then started to empty onto the streets.
“I feel great. We deserve to win the championship.
I’m happy they fought hard and that they didn’t cheat to win a championship,” said Marketa Kirkland, a Temple graduate.
Among the masses was TJ McNally, a former employee at the Horse, who now lives in Boston. He decided to come down for the game.
“It’s unbelievable,” McNally said of the win. “It’s crazy.”
Anthony Meyers can be reached at anthony.meyers@temple.edu.
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