Phillies fans are in mourning after losing to the Mets in the NLDS

The dogs at Rittenhouse Square had throw off their red headscarves. Their people left their red hats at home.

It was just the morning in October. 10, but it might as well have been November. 1. Red October was over.

The Phillies were eliminated from the postseason by the New York Mets on Wednesday, losing the series 3-1 to their division foe.

“We could have done it,” disappointed Ivana Gonzalez, a 33-year-old Brewerytown, she said Thursday morning outside her workplace at City Hall. “We can’t win against their bullpen?! What are we doing here?!”

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It shouldn’t work like that. The Phillies broke a decade-long playoff drought in 2022 and made a magical run to the World Series as underdogs. They struggled the following season, but exploded in Red October, crushing the rival Atlanta Braves. But then the bats went cold against the Arizona Diamondbacks and a return to the World Series remained out of reach.

This was supposed to be the year. The so-called “Day Care” players are now grown men with postseason experience. Bryce “The Showman” Harper seemed poised for another MVP-caliber season. A standing ovation last summer is said to have fixed Trea Turner. And the Phillies’ pitching came up with some of the best stuff in the league right from the start.

For much of the season, Philadelphians could be obnoxious in group chats, proclaiming to their out-of-town friends that the Fightin’ Phils have the best record in baseball.

And every time the Phillies stumbled in a regular season, when the bats went cold, a starting pitcher wobbled or the bullpen gave up a game — that was OK, the Phillies assured their fans, because you just wait for October.

And then October came and went in the blink of an eye.

“In October, the season starts all over again,” said Marty Goldis, a Reading Terminal Market customer who lives in Fairmount. “When it counted, things went downhill.”

Brian Phillips, co-owner of Famous 4th Street Cookie Company, nodded as Goldis spoke.

“It’s a disappointing end to what seemed like a magical season,” he said.

Both Phillips and Goldis said that while they were disappointed, they found last year’s elimination – at home, with a lead in the National League Championship Series, just one win away from the World Series – even more painful.

Kevin L. Brown, 57, of North Philadelphia, while drinking coffee and reading the newspaper, disagreed.

“(This year) hurts more because they only won one game,” Brown said. “I thought they would make it to the end.”

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There were almost no Phillies caps in the Reading Terminal Market on Thursday morning. A man wearing a blue and red Phillies cap distanced the accessory from the team’s fan base.

“It’s just a hat. “After last night, I’m not a fan anymore,” he said as he walked away from a reporter.

Other fans just shrugged their shoulders.

“At first I was excited, like I am every year,” said Calvin Williams, 69, of North Philadelphia. “There is nothing surprising here.”

On Chestnut Street in Center City, Lee Yogel was one of the few people showing off his Philly fandom with a red Phillies hat on Thursday morning.

“It’s disappointing,” the longtime Cherry Hill fan said. “The Mets blew them away, and I hate the Mets.”

Yogel, 63, has had a lot of disappointments from Philly Sports. But he is not ready to give up.

“We still have the birds,” Yogel said. But after a pause he added: “Hopefully.”