Brett Phillips’ Game 4 Heroics Provide Reminder of Baseball’s Postseason Magic
By: Lukas Weese
Tags: World Series, Sports Journalists, Tampa Bay Rays, Los Angeles Dodgers, MLB

Brett Phillips helped his team soar to an unpredictable Game 4 victory, evening the World Series at two apiece (photo by; Getty Images)

Baseball is fun.

When the sport produces theatrical moments, ones that even Hollywood’s best screenwriters couldn’t dream up, it elicits euphoric emotions.

October provides the perfect theatre for baseball to shine. Unlikely players become playoff heroes. Wacky plays etched into the sport’s lore for generations.

Even in an unprecedented year like 2020, where only 11,000 fans pack into Globe Life Field compared to the normal 40,000, baseball still produces the unthinkable.

Because it’s fun.

Saturday’s Game 4 of the World Series epitomized the magic of postseason baseball. Back and forth lead changes. Unsung heroes becoming playoff legends.

And an ending for the ages.

Down 7–6 in the bottom of the ninth, with two out and two strikes, Brett Phillips became a part of Tampa Bay Rays folklore. A ball hit to shallow right field, allowing Kevin Kiermaier to score the tying run. Then, to add to the craziness, Dodgers catcher Will Smith botched the catch from Max Muncy, allowing Rays rookie sensation Randy Arozarena to score and win the game.

Rays take Game 4 8–7, evening the World Series at two apiece. A team filled with unique characters and talents begetting an unforgettable conclusion.

“I’m having a time putting my emotions into words,” Phillips said to MLB on FOX’s Ken Rosenthal after the game. “What a great team effort on this win. It took almost 28 guys. That’s what’s special about this team. We don’t rely on one guy. It takes everyone. Baseball’s fun.”

Phillips expected to be injected into the game heading into the ninth inning, as the team used up its bench players. For the 26-year-old Seminole, Florida native, he waited for his entire career for a moment like this.

And delivered.

Phillips, drafted by the Houston Astros in the sixth round of the 2012 MLB Draft, bounced around between the Milwaukee Brewers and Kansas City Royals, before arriving in Tampa. In the regular season, he hit just .202 with 10 home runs and 34 RBIs.

Two weeks ago, Phillips didn’t even make the Rays’ ALCS roster after going 0 for 2 in the playoffs. He cheered on his teammates from the dugout, as the Rays defeated his former Astros team in seven games to advance to the World Series.

“He’s constantly smiling,” Rays manager Kevin Cash said. “Laughing all the time. Hopefully, we don’t get him laughing too hard to where he passes out.”

For some players, put them in that situation and they quake under the pressure. Not Phillips. He slowed things down, saw Dodgers closer Kenley Jansen’s pitch, and made perfect contact to the outfield.

There’s the old adage that says “legends are born in October.” The sport witnessed an unknown Edgar Renteria win the 1997 World Series for the Florida Marlins in Game 7 on a walk-off hit. Or David Freese, sending the St. Louis Cardinals to Game 7 with a walk-off home run in the 2011 World Series, instantly becoming a fan favourite.

Add Brett Phillips to that list of unsung postseason heroes.

“Biggest at-bat of his life and he comes through. Truly incredible. I got to watch the replay. I have no more words,” Kiermaier said after the game.

The last time a team trailed with two outs in the 9th inning of a World Series game then walked off on the next pitch was Kirk Gibson for the Dodgers back in 1988. The last time the Dodgers won the World Series.

Phillips had driven in one run since July 27th. And won a World Series game for a Rays team about to be put on the brink of elimination.

Baseball’s a game that gets criticized for a variety of reasons. From the slow pace of play to unnecessary bickering between owners and players, the sport’s favourability in the public eye has declined.

But on nights like Saturday, even amidst a global pandemic, we can celebrate what makes baseball and sports so special. We don’t know what’s going to happen the next pitch, at-bat, inning, or game. Somehow, someway, despite the game evolving over the years, moments like Game 4 can still occur, becoming entrenched into the fabric of the sport’s history.

Even for all its faults, baseball still remains fun.