OPINION

By Ryan Fagan

updated 11:19 p.m. ET Oct. 29, 2008

PHILADELPHIA - Resting in the street in front of the Connie Mack statue at Citizens Bank Park before Game 3 of the World Series was an enduring symbol of Phillies fans. It was a D-cell battery, worn and rugged, likely run over by at least a couple of cars the day before.

Fitting that before one of the brightest moments in Philadelphia sports history, there was a reminder of one of the most infamous moments — when batteries were hurled at then-Cardinal J.D. Drew before his debut in Philly after he spurned them as a No. 1 draft pick two years earlier. That was a distant memory Wednesday night, though.

When Brad Lidge struck out Eric Hinske to close out the ninth inning of the Phillies' 4-3 victory, the City of Brotherly Love had its first professional sports championship in 25 years. It was something the players wanted as much for their fans as they wanted for themselves.

"It would be huge for the city," Phillies pitcher Brett Myers said during the early stages of the World Series, "Especially because it is so long since they've had a championship. They want us to win. Our fans are there for us, and they want us to win."

Win they did. And celebrate they will.

When it mattered most . . .

. . . the Phillies' middle infield of Chase Utley and Jimmy Rollins made the biggest defensive plays of the game.

Ruiz rewards Utley's alertness as he tags Bartlett to end the seventh.

In the seventh inning, with two outs and Jason Bartlett on second base, Akinori Iwamura hit a chopper up the middle. Utley ranged to his right and fielded the ball but probably wouldn't have gotten the speedy Iwamura at first base. So he faked the throw to first -- prompting Bartlett to head home -- and threw the ball to his catcher, Carlos Ruiz, in plenty of time to nail Bartlett for the third out.

INTERACTIVE Phillies Moments of '08 NBCSports.com takes a look back at some of the plays that helped make the season a World Series winner for Philadelphia.

Then, in the eighth, after Carl Crawford led off with a single, Rollins fielded a slow grounder by B.J. Upton and started a 6-4-3 double play that would have qualified as routine if not for the situation.

Quite a delay

A delay of 46 hours, to be exact. Game 5 was delayed at 10:40 p.m. ET on Monday, then officially suspended at 11:10 p.m. The first pitch from Grant Balfour on Wednesday was at 8:40 p.m.

After all that build-up . . .

. . . Geoff Jenkins delivered in the most anticipated postseason pinch-hit appearance since the Dodgers' Kirk Gibson hobbled up to the plate and socked a backdoor slider from Oakland's Dennis Eckersley over the right-field wall in Game 1 of the 1988 World Series. Jenkins hit just .246 this season after signing a two-year, $13 million contract last winter, and he made just 17 starts after the All-Star break because of his inconsistency at the plate.

But Jenkins still can rip a fastball with the best of them, and he knew Balfour would bring the heat on the 3-2 pitch. Jenkins locked in and drilled Balfour's 96-mph offering deep into the gap in right-center, a shot that might have carried out of the park in better conditions. Jenkins stopped at second, moved to third on a sacrifice bunt by Rollins and scored when second baseman Iwamura couldn't handle Jayson Werth's bloop single.

And the Phillies were right back where they started the sixth inning so many hours ago, ahead by a single run.

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