That was the last game Raul Ibanez played in as a Phillie.

Game 5. NLDS. Phils-Cardinals.

So close. Yet, so far.

So it was with mixed emotions that Phils fans watched the now-Yankees back-up outfielder hit not only a game-tying home run in the bottom of the ninth to tie Game 3 of the ALDS against the Orioles, but also the game-winning dinger in the bottom of the 12th.

Frankly, if you didn’t get goosebumps watching that, you’re emotionally dead inside.

Unless you’re an Orioles fan. Then, last night probably killed you anyway.

Of course, the big storyline from last night’s game isn’t that Phillies fans wish Ibanez had done against Chris Carpenter last year what he did last night against the O’s.

Go ahead and celebrate, Raul. Mandatory Credit: William Perlman/THE STAR-LEDGER via US PRESSWIRE

The big story is that Ibanez was brought to the plate in the ninth as a pinch hitter for the struggling Alex Rodriguez, a move that could have been hugely controversial had Ibanez not come through.

But Ibanez came through, unlike last year against the Cardinals.

Yeah, I’m still holding onto that bitterness a bit.

But there’s no way to get mad at Ibanez. It’s too good a story. Ibanez’ performance was one for the ages. And after the game, Raul seemed to appreciate the moment.

“It was a great experience. We do it as a team. We stay after it,” Ibanez said. “I’m blessed to come up and have the opportunity like that. We do it together. It’s about a team and about winning.”

By all accounts, there are few guys in baseball who are nicer and friendlier than Raul Ibanez. He’s one of the good guys, and deserving of this moment, especially when you think about his career arc.

All of his Major League success was late in coming. He didn’t become a starting player and productive run producer until he was in his early 30s.

He’s the very definition of a late bloomer. So it would only make sense that his heroics would come so late in Wednesday night’s Game 3.

If you’re a Baltimore fan, however, last night’s loss is a punch to the gut. Everyone knew the Orioles had made it into the playoffs with a little bit of smoke and mirrors, but still, Ibanez’ heroics had to hurt.

Heading into Game 3, the O’s had won 16 straight extra-inning games, and were 76-0 this year when leading after seven innings. Those are numbers that are simply unsustainable.

Still, the fact that it was Raul Ibanez who ended those streaks had to be a shock.

At 40 years old, he was used mostly as a fourth outfielder for the Yanks this year, but still managed to hit 19 HRs in 130 games and 425 plate appearances, posting a slash line of .240/.308/.453. He’s earning just over a million dollars this year on a one-year deal.

Alex Rodriguez, by the way, earned $29 million this year, and is still owed $114 million through the year 2017.

Kinda puts the Ryan Howard contract in a bit better light, no?

So, even though it was the Yankees, every Phils fan watching last night’s ballgame had to feel good about the outcome.

Raul Ibanez, for one more night at least, got a chance to be the hero.

And this time, he delivered.

Darren Daulton would want you to follow the O’s. Trust me. Mandatory Credit: Howard Smith-US PRESSWIRE

Without a team in the playoffs for the first time since 2006, we Phillies fans don’t quite know what to do with ourselves right now.

How do we act this month? What do we do with all this spare time? Do they still run regular television shows at night in October? How productive will we be at work this month without the nagging weight of migraine headaches and nervous ticks ravaging our bodies?

If you’re like me, you’re going to miss all those things over the next 30 days.

But have no fear! There is one team in baseball that Phils fans can and should be able to rally behind, if only because they harken back to one of the most beloved Phillies teams of all time.

The 2012 Baltimore Orioles are the 1993 Macho Row Phillies… only without the mullets and anabolic steroids.

(OK, that steroids thing is just speculation on my part, but someone’s going to have to explain to me how Lenny Dykstra, Darren Daulton and Dave Hollins all managed to have the two and three-year bursts of uber-production they had in the early ’90s.)

This comparison popped into my mind when Hardball Talk’s Craig Calcaterra wrote this blog on the Orioles’ GM Dan Duquette. It seems as if Duquette is getting a lot of props for bringing players like Nate McLouth, Jim Thome, Omar Quintanilla, Randy Wolf and Joe Saunders on board.

And while those moves have all panned out, I’m pretty sure not even in Duquette’s wildest dreams did he ever imagine he’d get the kind of production he’s gotten from those players. However, many of the folks leaving comments on his blog seem to think Duquette deserves a ton of praise for those moves, prompting this tweet from Calcaterra…

Commenter giving Duquette kudos for McLouth, Thome, Wolf and Saunders moves. Yes, success, but how often do those moves = playoffs?

— Craig Calcaterra (@craigcalcaterra) October 1, 2012

The answer, of course, is that it doesn’t happen a lot.

Jumping ’cause they happy. Mandatory Credit: Joy R. Absalon-US PRESSWIRE

The best example of Duquette’s good fortune is embodied in the smallish frame of outfielder Nate McLouth. In 52 games with the Orioles this year, McLouth has an OPS+ of 118. In 2010 and 2011, he had an OPS+ of 79 with Atlanta.

A turnaround like that just doesn’t happen that often.

The reason you should be rooting for the 2012 Orioles is that, like Duquette, Phillies general manager Lee Thomas lucked out on some similar low-end players in the 1992 offseason.

Thomas brought aboard Pete Incaviglia, Milt Thompson, David West, Larry Andersen and Danny Jackson, all of whom were major contributors to the Phils’ unlikely World Series run. None of them were acquisitions that anyone thought would be worth a darn.

Yet Incaviglia hit 24 HRs in just 402 plate appearances. Thompson played spectacular defense in left field as Inky’s platoon mate, and provided decent pop with that bat. West and Andersen both posted 2.92 ERAs out of the bullpen and Jackson came out of nowhere to pitch over 210 innings to a 3.77 ERA.

The ’93 Phils, like the ’12 O’s, were not the most talented team in the league, not by a longshot. But they had a decent nucleus in Dykstra, Daulton, Hollins, Kruk, Schilling, Greene and Mulholland. And the O’s have a decent nucleus in Matt Wieters, Adam Jones, Nick Markakis (although he’s injured) Jason Hammel, as well as one of the best bullpens in the American League.

And, like the ’93 Phillies, lady luck has been on the Orioles’ side. They are 28-9 in one-run games, and an unreal 16-2 in extra innings. They have not lost a game this year that they have led after seven innings.

So, if you’re looking for a team’s bandwagon to jump on, please get on board and join me on the O’s wagon before it’s too late.

Enjoy a glimpse of the current day 1993 Phillies, only without the mullets, tobacco juice and bubbly personality.

Eric Hartline-US PRESSWIRE

It was reported yesterday that Juan Pierre was considered desirable by the Baltimore Orioles for the last three weeks of the season.  By the close of business yesterday, the Phillies had walked away from the table, or the computer, or back room of a shady bar guarded by a Phanatic holding a bat with a nail in it, or wherever they sit while wordlessly sliding pieces of paper across the table to opposing GMs.

If you thought the wheeling and dealing was over because something called the “Trade Deadline” had passed, then you are sadly mistaken.  Ruben Amaro lives in a world without deadlines or rules or some of the “more bullshit” laws.  During September, teams on the fringe of the playoffs are only going to become more starved for that final piece to give them the edge, and he knows this, probably.

The issue is, people are now considering the Phillies a “playoff team.”  Of course most of those people are people whose livelihoods depend on other people who like the Phillies buying their newspapers or going to their web sites.  But tonight, the team that was once 10 games out of the Wild Card and saw Kyle Kendrick pitch five no-hit innings and has Michael Martinez on it will be playing to break even and  make what is starting to be universally accepted as a “playoff run.”

So maybe we need Juan Pierre more than the Orioles?  No.  But we apparently need him more than whatever we’d get from the O’s.

As Michael Baumann pointed out when this story was still considered “news,” the Orioles offer must have been ludicrously low for Amaro to walk away.  Or his value of Juan Pierre is ludicrously high.  Something, in this situation, is ludicrous.  It’s up to us to figure out what [EDITOR'S NOTE: No it is not].

The Orioles are trying to fill a Nick Markakis-hole in their outfield, and love Juan Pierre for it in the same way that the Reds went gaga for his veteran leadership earlier this year.  The Phillies have a wealth of outfielders just waiting for a chance in Dom Brown, Darin Ruf, Nate Schierholtz, Laynce Nix, and a hot dog somebody dropped from section 144, and all of them have a better arm than Pierre.

Back in the spring, Pierre was deadlocked in vicious contention with Scott Podsednik, the guy everybody favored to make the team.  ”Scotty-Pod,” we’d call him.  His fan group would be guys dressed up as beans.  Or whales.  Or soulless, alien clones of themselves called the “Pod People.”

We were all excited about it; selling out Podsednik jerseys, finding eight feet of green material to make a bean costume that can fit our awkward figures, wishing we had last names that sounded like three random syllables crammed together.  But in the end, it was Pierre who the Phillies believed would have the best affect, and Scotty-Pod wound up in Boston to round out his legacy.

To Pierre’s credit, the guy has put together a season that makes the deal he signed with the Phillies beneficial for the team.  But he’s not going to get a one-day contract to retire with the Phillies, so if they can steal a low-level prospect or even just get somebody from the Orioles to come pick up that hot dog in exchange for Pierre than maybe they should think about that.

But they have not.  And now that we’re doing what we’re doing, Ruben thinks that at the moment, keeping Juan Pierre is the best move for this team.  So let’s stop talking about this so loudly before somebody gets a Phanatic nail-bat to the head.