Philly harmonic

PHILADELPHIA – Save the jokes, the taunts and all those insults about the losingest team in sports.

The Philadelphia Phillies just won themselves a World Series.

If that sounds strange, it was strange.

Nearly 50 hours after Game 5 started but was stopped by rain, Brad Lidge and the Phillies finished off the Tampa Bay Rays 4-3 in a three-inning sprint Wednesday night.

“It was a crazy way to win it with a suspended game, but we did and it’s over,” 45-year-old Phillies pitcher Jamie Moyer said. “It has been a long wait, but it’s worth it.”

Left in limbo by a two-day storm, the Phillies seesawed to their first championship since 1980. Pedro Feliz singled home the go-ahead run in the seventh and Lidge closed out his perfect season to deliver the title Philly craved for so long.

Cheesesteaks, on the house.

“Who’s the world champion?” manager Charlie Manuel asked the gleeful crowd during a 90-minute postgame ceremony that lasted longer than Wednesday night’s action.

Bundled in parkas and blankets, fans returned in force to Citizens Bank Park and saw the city claim its first major sports championship in 25 years. No more references needed to those sad-sack Phillies teams in the past and their 10,000-plus losses.

“They could taste it just as much as we could,” Series MVP Cole Hamels said.

It was among the wackiest endings in baseball history, a best-of-7 series turned into a best-of-3 1/2 showdown when play resumed in the bottom of the sixth inning tied at 2.

How bizarre? Hamels was a star in Game 5 – and the ace never stepped on the mound Wednesday night; two Rays relievers warmed up to start, and there was a pinch-hitter before a single pitch; “God Bless America” was sung rather than the national anthem, and it was quickly followed by the seventh-inning stretch.

All because the game was suspended Monday night after rain made the field into a quagmire, washing out the foul lines, creating a puddle at home plate and turning every ball an adventure. Commissioner Bud Selig eventually called it – fans booed loudly when he presented the MVP trophy to Hamels.

For Philly, it was more than a World Series win. It got the whole city off the hook, actually.

Finally, long after Julius Erving led the Sixers to the 1983 NBA title, something to celebrate.

How much did Philly fans want a champion to call their own?

Well, the sports hero they point to with the most pride isn’t even a real person – Rocky Balboa.

Yo, Adrian … the Phillies did it!

“It’s over,” shortstop Jimmy Rollins said. “It’s over, man.”

Lidge went 48 for 48 on save chances this year, including two this week. He retired two batters with a runner on second, striking out pinch-hitter Eric Hinske to end it.

Lidge jumped in front of the mound, landing on his knees with arms outstretched. Catcher Carlos Ruiz ran out to grab him, and teammates sprinted to the mound to join them as towel-waving fans let loose.

“At first, I couldn’t believe it. And then the gravity of what happened hit me,” Lidge said.

“I believe this firmly, our guys are not going to be satisfied without playing in October from now on,” Rays manager Joe Maddon said. “And that’s a good thing. And that’s all because of this group of people this year.”

Tied at 3, Pat Burrell led off the seventh with a drive off the center-field wall against J.P. Howell. Chad Bradford relieved and one out later Feliz singled home pinch-runner Eric Bruntlett.

Rocco Baldelli’s solo home run off Ryan Madson made it 3-all in the top of the seventh. The Rays almost got more, but All-Star second baseman Chase Utley alertly bluffed a throw to first on a grounder over the bag and instead threw out Jason Bartlett at the plate.

Pinch-hitter Geoff Jenkins, the first batter Wednesday night, doubled and later scored on Jayson Werth’s bloop single.