Red October picks back up with Phillies taking on Braves
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Red October is alive and picks back up Tuesday afternoon as the Phillies prepare to take on the Braves in Game 1 of their divisional series. It's a best-of-five series, which means later this week, playoff baseball will be here in Philadelphia for the first time in more than a decade.
Friday will be the first time Phillies fans get to enjoy playoff baseball inside Citizens Bank Park this year.
It will be worth the wait, especially knowing the Phils are renewing their rivalry with the Braves starting Tuesday afternoon.
What a time to be a Philadelphia sports fan.
At 5-0, the Eagles are the only remaining undefeated team in the NFL
The Union are the top seed in the major league soccer playoffs after finishing first in their conference.
And the Phillies just upset the St. Louis Cardinals to earn a spot in the national league divisional series.
"There's a lot of excitement in the city, especially going to the games, coming from the games, it's a whole bunch of excitement," Amin Jordan from Philadelphia said.
The energy of the playoffs is palpable.
Red October billboards have been popping up all over the city and fans have been buying merchandise to match their excitement.
"As soon as they win, it is like you're jumping up and down," Frank Ditillio, owner of Sports Outlet, said, " it's like, 'Okay, what are you going to order next? What's coming? Should we open longer hours?'"
Meanwhile, the team is in Atlanta getting ready to take on a familiar foe.
After finishing 14 games behind the Braves, the Phillies say they are excited for the chance to pull off another upset.
"Ever since I was a kid, I've been dreaming about this moment. So to have the opportunity tomorrow, to know that the team trusts me enough to do this, it's very special to me, it means a lot to me," Diego Ettedgui translates what Ranger Suárez's interpreter said in Spanish.
"We care about the success that each other are having," Rhys Hoskins, the Phillies' first baseman, said. "That's something that can become contagious on the team, especially as you get closer to goals that you set out to strive for throughout the year. And it just makes it sweeter, makes you want to do it more, fight for the guy that's next to you, the guy that's behind you."
And Phillies fans are hoping history repeats itself.
The last time these two teams met in the postseason was nearly 30 years ago when the Phillies beat the Braves on their way to the World Series.
The Phillies would go on to lose that World Series to the Toronto Blue Jays.
The Phillies will have to win 3 of 5 against the Braves to get back to the NLCS.
The first pitch for today's game is scheduled for 1:07 p.m. Tuesday.
