Whoever says that baseball is a boring sport has never watched October/November baseball. And they definitely have never tuned in to a Phillies game.

The Phillies won Game 5 of the World Series with an 8-6 win that shouldn’t have been nearly that close. Cliff Lee wasn’t as sharp in this one as he was in Game 1, but he certainly outpitched AJ Burnett, who brought absolutely nothing to Citizens Bank park except extended batting practice for the Phils.

This is the kind of game that the Phillies needed to play in order to beat the Yankees. You can’t score 3 runs and hope to hold on. The top half of the Yankees order is relentless. The Phillies haven’t faced such a formidable 4 batter stretch in the playoffs in the last 3 years like they have Jeter, Damon, Teixeira and Rodriguez.

A couple of thoughts while I await a decrease in my heart rate.

1. Johnny Damon is some hitter. He works an at-bat and finds a way on base. The sense of deja vu after he hit that single in the 9th was enough to make me run from my TV and find the nearest bed to crawl under.

2. The Phillies can absolutely win this series, but whatever happens, they’ve given the Yankees trouble in all 5 games of this series. This is no one-sided affair. The pundits will write about how this was just delaying the inevitable. But the Phillies are not dead. Andy Pettite was hardly unhittable in Game 3, and Pedro is more than capable of pitching a gem in Game 6. After a devastating Game 4 loss, the Phils came out determined.

3. Larry Bowa is a peckerhead, seriously.

4. Until this World Series, I haven’t ever thought much of the New York Yankees. I don’t mean that I thought poorly of them, just that I literally don’t think about them much. There’s plenty of hate for the Mets, and the Yankees are typically just a fun diversion during interleague play. Now that we’re knee deep in a war with them, I realize that you can in fact despise both baseball teams in New York. Especially Jorge Posada. Total dick.

5. Was glad to see Melky Cabrera knocked from the World Series roster, even though he was a pathetic 1 for 10 in the Series. Another annoying Yankee. Far too cocky for his talent level. If he was a Royal, no one would have ever heard of him.

6. In September, Chase always seems to get tired, or at the very least LOOK tired. His number begin to wane and Phillies Nation begins to squirm. This year he followed that up with some troublesome defense in Game 1 and 2 of the NLCS. Now he’s in the World Series and he’s tying Mr. October for most World Series homeruns. We need to enjoy watching a guy who will go down as one of the greatest second basemen of all-time.