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Sorry for shutting down the blog so early after the game last night, but there was just no way I was going to be around baseball. I typed up the blurb below, got in the shower, and went to bed. I was too depressed and too under the weather to do anything different.

That being said, I've now pretty much resigned myself to the fact that the Phillies, despite taking the 1 game to 0 lead over the Yankees, will not be able to repeat this year, now down 3 games to 1. That being said, I am hopeful that they can at least show what the Dodgers failed to show in both NLCS Game 5s after heart-breaking losses, and that is some heart. At least go down with a fight. At least give me something to be proud of by the end of the night. I know it's going to be difficult, maybe even impossible to beat the Yankees 3 times in a row in the World Series and I've resigned myself to the fact that it will not happen, but for the love of pete, please show up tonight and please don't let the Yankees romp you in their clinching game. Make them work for it, damn it. You've come too far this year to roll over and quit. You are better than the Dodgers. You've proved it in the past now prove it tonight.

You guys had a heck of season, you have a lot to be proud of. Don't let one game shape the way you play an entirely different game tonight. It's not even about giving the Yankees the satisfaction of sweeping you at home in the World Series, I could careless about where they clinch right now. It's about showing your fanbase that this team, regardless of what happened in the past will not quit. That you will not give up. That you will not go quietly into the night. Just look at this season, after all of the adversity this team has faced, including the passing of the late great Harry Kalas, that you have not given up in the past. Just look at the day Harry died, you guys WON that game.

Look, I'm not equating losing a World Series game to the passing of a beloved friend and broadcaster, there is obviously no comparison, but that's not the point I'm trying to make. I'm trying to make the point that you should not give up. Despite the 3-1 series deficit, you have proven time and again that you are up to the task and equal to the Yankees. You got a few bad breaks, yes, so have the Yankees as a matter of fact, the umpiring has been poor but it's even itself out in my view, but through it all, can you really say that this Yankee team has dominated you?

If you lose tonight, regardless of how it happens, that's how history will be written, that you were too much and were easily handled by the New York Yankees. And I do tip my hat to the Yankees, they are a very good team. Keyword: team. These Yankees have geled together as a team and it has worked. Is that how you want it? But prolong the series, and maybe, just maybe, you'll be judged differently.

Never give up, never surrender, you have to fight and you have to fight until there is nothing left. And even then, you gotta fight some more. You may go down tonight, you may not live to see another baseball day, but gosh darn it, you gotta believe and you gotta make sure that you show your fans that you can overcome adversity one last time and that you won't quit like the Dodgers did 2 years in a row or like the New York Giants did yesterday against the Eagles. In order to make your fanbase proud tonight, give the Yankees everything they have and never, ever even think about tucking your tail between your legs and calling it a season. For one night of heart and emotion and willpower, can translate into a whole lot more in the very near future.

Never give up. Never surrender. Fight til there is nothing left.