PHILADELPHIA – Bryce Harper shook his head again. He could not believe it.
He couldn’t believe what happened to the Phillies on Tuesday night at Citizens Bank Park. He was hurting, but everyone in the clubhouse was hurting after the stunning 4-2 loss to Arizona in Game 7 of the National League Championship Series. A team that seemed destined to return to the World Series a week ago instead comforted each other with hugs and pats on the back. Then they said goodbye.
The Phillies felt they should have sprayed champagne and sang “Dancing On My Own” to celebrate their return to the Fall Classic. Instead, Rhys Hoskins walked around the clubhouse and hugged his friends for perhaps the last time as teammates.
“It’s a group of guys that I think should be great,” Hoskins said. “And that was us. We just came up short tonight.”
“I definitely hope I’m back,” Nola said. “But I don’t know what the future holds yet.”
Kyle Schwarber, Jake Cave and Hoskins sat together, perhaps discussing the season that ended too soon. Nick and Liam Castellanos sat on the floor in front of them. Alec Bohm, who speared his bat so hard that it shattered after hitting it in the eighth inning, stood and listened.
But Harper shook his head. He provided “Bedlam at the bench” in Game 5 of the 2022 NLCS when he hit a game-winning home run in the eighth inning against San Diego, sending the Phillies to the World Series. On Tuesday, he had another opportunity to create another iconic moment in the seventh inning.
The Phillies had runners on first and second with two outs. Harper entered the batter’s box against D-backs right-hander Kevin Ginkel, who threw a first-pitch slider into the dirt. Harper took a 96 mph fastball up the middle for strike one. Ginkel followed with another slider in the dirt for ball two.
Ginkel threw a fastball up the middle. Harper swung the ball and ran it to center field for the third out of the inning.
“I got a heater and I just missed it,” Harper said. “He threw me the pitch I wanted. I was up 2-1 and he threw a heater at me and I… man, not coming through in that moment leaves me personally devastated. I feel like I let down my team and also the city of Philadelphia. This is a moment where I feel like I have to push through and…yeah.”
How close was he to making it?
“I mean, 109 at 44,” Harper said, referring to the ball’s exit velocity (107.6 mph) and launch angle. “So he probably beat my run by a tenth of a second.”
A tenth of a second that could have changed the Phillies’ season. They could be preparing to face the Rangers in Game 1 of the World Series on Friday in Texas. Instead, they wondered how everything could have gone wrong.
“It’s pretty shocking,” JT Realmuto said. “It’s never fun to lose, especially when I feel like we played a really good brand of baseball early in the series. Things just took a turn.”
The Phillies took a 2-0 lead in the series. They were in command. Then they suffered two late-inning collapses in Games 3 and 4 in Phoenix. Craig Kimbrel recorded his 400th career save and made the NL All-Star team that season, but suffered losses in both games.
“I mean, I really can’t describe the disappointment I feel in myself,” Kimbrel said. “It definitely won’t be something I’ll ever forget. As humans, we should grow with the things that are offered to us in life. …They always say that you should have a short memory as a relief, but that doesn’t mean you’ll ever forget. You remember the times you were beaten. You remember what it feels like.”
Castellanos will remember his graduation. He became the second player in postseason history (joining the Yankees’ Reggie Jackson in 1977) to hit five home runs in three games. Castellanos hit a home run in his first plate appearance in Game 1 of the NLCS, but then went hitless with 11 strikeouts in his final 23 at-bats.
“It’s frustrating,” Castellanos said. “I think we underperformed as a team. … I think just because the potential of this team is so much greater than going home before the World Series. Last year when we lost Game 6, we were obviously disappointed because we didn’t win the whole game, but a lot of people said, ‘We did it.’ keep this team, we fell short of what we achieved the year before. To be honest, it’s a disgusting feeling.”
“Everyone has an uneasy feeling in their stomach,” said Schwarber. “It’s not how we imagined it would end, but there’s a lot of things to look back on. I’m sure a lot of people won’t like this. And we need to make sure we do everything we can this offseason to make sure we come out, and we know it’s going to be a challenging and tough year leading up to next year. But imagine us getting to that point and making sure that doesn’t happen.”
Harper said: “We’ll be back. We have a great owner and a president and general manager who will give us the best chance to win and be here every year. … We’ll be coming back.”