May 12, 2010; Philadelphia, PA USA; Philadelphia Flyers forward Danny Briere (48) scores a power play goal past Boston Bruins goalie Tuukka Rask (40) during the 2nd period of game six of the Eastern Conference semifinals at the Wachovia Center in Philadelphia. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports
LOS ANGELES - The notion of the Phillies winning three straight games to stun the Dodgers and advance to the NLCS seems mostly impossible to many.
To some, it's like one out of a million.
But, as Llyod Christmas once said, "So, you're telling me there's a chance? YEAH!"
There is one guy in Philadelphia who would know what it takes to overcome such long playoff odds.
"I know it's arrogant and I know it's tough to explain but when you feel like you are a better team you really believe you can come back from it," said Flyers G.M. Danny Briere, who was a key piece to the memorable Flyers comeback against the Boston Bruins in the 2010 Eastern Conference semifinals, a series in which the Flyers trailed 3-0 before rolling off four straight wins, including overcoming a three-goal deficit in Game 7.
Briere is a bit of a baseball fan. He attended Game 2 at Citizens Bank Park along with several members of the current Flyers team.
As someone familiar with great environments in Philadelphia from his playing days, he felt it was good for the players to get over there just to experience what it's like when the whole city is rallying around you.
But he also knows what the Phillies are experiencing right now.
Last year, when the Phillies lost to the Mets, Trea Turner said it felt like the Phillies were beating themselves by getting themselves out at the plate.
He was singing a different tune after Game 2.
"We got nothing to lose now," Turner said. "As much as a lot of people like to say it's over, we're not going to quit until they tell us to go home.
"We've got a great team. We've won three games in a row before. We've swept good teams. We've played good baseball. We've got to find that and find it quick, but I've felt that we've played pretty decent these last two games, we just haven't had enough to get the win. I don't feel like we're really beating ourselves."
It's a very similar mindset to what Briere said existed 15 years ago with the Flyers.
"We were in shock, we couldn't believe we were down 3-0," Briere said. "We felt like we should have been up 2-1, or at worst, down 1-2.
"I've been on teams where we were down 3-0 and you knew it was just a matter of time. You are trying to save face and not get swept, but you knew you weren't getting past that round. But that (2009-10) Flyers team was different. And we knew it."
Nick Castellanos said something similar. You may have missed it because all anyone wanted to talk about was his comments about the environment at the ballpark, but he, too, believes in the team's ability to shock the world.
"I think we have one of the most talented, if not the most talented locker room in Major League Baseball," Castellanos said. "So that, there, gives me confidence."
Talent is important, for sure. A wide disparity likely prevents any delusions of an epic comeback from happening, no matter if the trailing team is in the optimal mindset for trying to beat the odds.
But that's not the case here. Many believe that the Dodgers and Phillies are the two best teams in the sport. That they are playing in the NLDS is an unfortunate way of having the chips fall, but they were likely going to have to beat one another at some point to get to where they wanted to go, so now was as good a time as any.
So, the Phillies do have the talent that it would take to pull off such a feat. But they need to have something else that hasn't really been evident in the postseason since Game 2 against Arizona in the 2023 NLCS.
"We were very loose," Briere said. "Until Game 7."
That game was it's own individual roller coast ride, but the fact is, the Flyers were able to just start being themselves and not deal with the pressure of expectations because, the bar had been reset so low.
It went from winning the series, to winning a game, to winning a period, to winning a shift. It had to start small to build back up to success.
"When you have nothing to lose, you don't look ahead anymore," Briere said. "I know it's cliche but it really is one game at a time. Because, let's be honest, if the Phillies can't win tonight, they can't win three games, right?
"(With the Flyers) we just focused on what was in front of us and what we could control in the moment. You can't get lost in the big picture."
The Flyers did that in Game 4, winning in overtime. They played a near-perfect road game to win another nailbiter in Game 5,
Danny Briere splits the defense and scores a beautiful goal vs the Bruins during the 2010 playoffs
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And they dominated the Bruins back in Philly in Game 6.
Then, they had to go back to Boston for Game 7 and fell behind 3-0 in the first period.
Infamously, coach Peter Laviolette called a timeout to settle the team down, James van Riemsdyk scored a fluky goal that lit the spark.
"We were livid," Briere said of being in the locker room down 3-1 after the first period. "Everybody was pissed off. But years later, I started to wonder what it was like in the Boston locker room? They were up 3-0 in the series, then let us tie it and then they were up 3-0 and then let us score a goal and we're back in it."
Briere said something small like that can start to make doubt creep into the opposition's mind. Even if it was a lucky play to give the Flyers life, sometimes that's all you need.
"That happens and they had to feel the Flyers coming," Briere said.
Scott Hartnell and Briere scored goals in the second period to tie it and Simon Gagne netted the game-winner in the third period.
May 14, 2010: The Flyers come back from a 3-0 1st period deficit to beat the Bruins 4-3 in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals.
The Flyers were down 3-0 in the series before pulling off four straight wins to advance to the ECF.
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So maybe all the Phillies need is a bounce to go their way in Game 3, and it abruptly changes the course the series was headed.
Maybe they do something they haven't done with any consistency through the first two games - like hit - although they have a higher OPS (.600) than the Dodgers do (.564) through the first two games.
Maybe they find a way to better navigate the middle innings. The Dodgers have scored all nine of their runs in this series in the sixth (2) or seventh (7) innings.
Or maybe not. Maybe the Phillies are deluding themselves into believing that they can beat the best team in the sport and defending champion three times in a row.
"Just live in the moment," was Briere's advice.
It's cliche but it's accurate.
The clock is ticking ever so closer to getting to the point where we'll find out if the Phillies can buy themselves enough time to sow some seeds of doubt in the Dodgers, or if the clock will strike midnight on their 2025 season.
For what it's worth, Lloyd Christmas and Mary ended up together. Yeah, it was another hackneyed Hollywood ending. But if the Phillies are to author one of their own, at least they're in the right place to get started.
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