Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski gave an answer in Tuesday afternoon's meeting with the media that baseball fans of all ages would likely enjoy hearing.
Dombrowski was asked about how he deals with the unpredictable sprint that is the postseason, after so much goes into building a team and winning enough games in the marathon regular season to reach the playoffs.
"Unfortunately that's just the way it is," Dombrowski acknowledged. "I mean you prepare, you do everything you possibly can. Our guys, I feel totally confident they'll be as prepared as they possibly can be fundamentally, pitching wise, hitting wise.
"But that's how the game goes. You just never know what you run into."
Dombrowski is in his third postseason with the Phillies, but has previously been the top baseball executive for the Montreal Expos, Florida Marlins, Detroit Tigers and Boston Red Sox. He's won pennants with the Marlins, Tigers, Red Sox and Phillies. He has World Series rings from the 1997 Marlins and 2018 Red Sox.
"I've been a part of a lot of postseasons at this time, and sometimes you win games that you don't think there's any way you're going to win that matchup," Dombrowski admitted. "And there's other times you think 'Wow, I feel really good about this. We like our edge here.' And then you lose that game.
"I mean, your stomach gurgles a little bit more in the postseason than it does in the regular season, because you realize any time a bloop base hit gets in there that it could cost you if it's against you," Dombrowski said. "And if it's for you, it's a positive."
The Phillies witnessed how quickly things can turn against you in the 2023 postseason. Dombrowski admitted he believed when the Phillies returned home with a 3-2 lead over the Arizona Diamondbacks in the NLCS, they would win and return to the World Series for the second year in a row. Instead, the Diamondbacks outplayed the Phillies for two games at Citizens Bank Park, and deservedly won the NL pennant.
Two years ago, though, the Phillies were the last NL team to get into the playoffs and upset the St. Louis Cardinals in the NLWCS. Dombrowski said "I didn't see many people pick us to win against the Cardinals when we were there."
Noting that it was before some current media members were alive, Dombrowski then went back to the 1997 World Series. The Marlins won one of the greatest World Series ever played on a walk-off single by Édgar Rentería in the bottom of the 11th inning of Game 7 over the franchise now referred to as the Cleveland Guardians.
The best pitcher for the Marlins in 1997 was Kevin Brown, who went 16-8 with a 2.69 ERA across 237 innings pitched in the regular season. Brown got the ball for the Fish in Games 2 and 6, squaring off with Chad Ogea, who had a 4.99 ERA in the regular season. But things didn't go as expected in either game.
"We had Kevin Brown, who was basically the best pitcher in the National League that year," Dombrowski recalled. "Versus Chad Ogea, who was the fourth, fifth starter for Cleveland. And we lost both those games at home, and we still won the World Series."
Dombrowski, now 68, also pointed to the instant-classic that was Game 1 of Monday's doubleheader between the New York Mets and Atlanta Braves Monday. The Mets eventually won what Dombrowski called "one of the best games I've ever watched" 8-7, punching their ticket to the postseason. As great as the game was, though, the two fanbases watching it likely needed to take blood-pressure medicine during the final innings.
The trials and tribulations of October are what makes you love and hate baseball, sometimes simultaneously.
"As much as it makes my stomach twist a little bit at that time, that's also the enjoyment of our game of baseball," Dombrowski said. "That's what makes it so fun for people, because you just don't know what's going to happen."
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