BlackAmericans.com

Overcoming deficits big and small, early and late, for the past 13 months has polished the Phillies’ reputation as baseball’s ultimate comeback team.

The Phillies and the Tampa Bay Rays are each one victory from reaching the World Series. But postseason baseball has only one certainty: If and when those victories come there will be bubbles. And a mess.

The toast of Philadelphia is Matt Stairs, a balding hockey player with a squat body who was once nicknamed the Wonder Hamster.

David Ortiz, the hero of so many Octobers for the Boston Red Sox, has driven in just one run in seven postseason games and has not hit a home run in his last 14.

Matt Stairs crunched a two-run homer deep into the right-field bleachers, breaking a tie in the eighth inning and powering the Phillies to a victory over Los Angeles.

No matter how fierce a club’s lineup is or how excellent its starters are, it is practically impossible to survive over 162 games without a reliable bullpen.

For the Phillies Chase Utley and the Dodgers’ James McDonald, the bridge across this social, economic, professional and cultural divide is the high school they attended, Long Beach Polytechnic.

Phillies pitcher Jamie Moyer, the second oldest pitcher to start a postseason game, speaks hopefully about pitching until his age matches his uniform number — 50.

As he prepares to retire after the Phillies’ postseason run, Gillick, 71, will leave a legacy of small ego and big success.

The Phillies lead the best-of-seven series, two games to none, and are halfway toward their first World Series appearance in 15 years.