Danny

Brad Lidge is on his knees on the mound at Citizens Bank Park, arms raised, as catcher Carlos Ruiz comes in to meet him on Wednesday night, October 29, 2008 — seconds after the final out of Game 5, the Philadelphia Phillies' 4-3 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays that clinched the World Series. Game 5 took three days to finish. On Monday, October 27, Shane Victorino's two-run single staked Cole Hamels to a 2-0 lead before the rain became a downpour; Carlos Peña's single tied it 2-2 in the top of the sixth, and the game was suspended — the first suspended game in World Series history. Commissioner Bud Selig had ruled beforehand that no title would be decided in a rain-shortened game. Resumed Wednesday before 45,940 fans, the bottom of the sixth opened with pinch-hitter Geoff Jenkins's double, and Jayson Werth's bloop single scored him for a 3-2 lead. Rocco Baldelli tied it again with a one-out homer in the seventh, but Jason Bartlett was thrown out at the plate to end the inning — Chase Utley faked a throw to first on Akinori Iwamura's grounder and fired home to Ruiz for the tag. Pat Burrell doubled off the center-field wall to open the bottom of the seventh, his only hit of the Series, and pinch-runner Eric Bruntlett scored the winning run on Pedro Feliz's single through the drawn-in infield. Lidge took the ninth: Evan Longoria popped out, Dioner Navarro singled, pinch-runner Fernando Perez stole second, Ben Zobrist lined out to right, and pinch-hitter Eric Hinske struck out swinging on an 0-2 slider. It completed a perfect season for Lidge — acquired from Houston in November 2007 in the same trade that brought Bruntlett, he converted all 41 of his regular-season save chances and all seven in the postseason, 48-for-48 with a 1.95 ERA. Cole Hamels was the Series MVP, Ruiz batted .375 and drove in Game 3's winning run, and the title was the Phillies' second, their first since 1980 and Philadelphia's first major sports championship since the 1983 76ers. ⚾ Lidge converted all 48 of his save chances in 2008 and finished the season on his knees on the mound — is his 2008 the greatest season a closer has ever had? 👇️