The Philadelphia Phillies being back in the World Series means everything to the city. Their first playoff run in 11 years will come to an end in the the fall classic, which no one saw coming. The heroes of their last pennant-winning team — like manager Charlie Manuel, shortstop Jimmy Rollins and first baseman Ryan Howard — are delighted to see Bryce Harper and the 2022 Phils go on this magical run.

Howard dropped a huge take on Harper and this year's Phillies that will excite fans, according to Marcus Hayes of the Philadelphia Inquirer. “He's waaaay different,” Howard said of the superstar DH. “There's shades of '08 here.”

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Howard is of course referring to 2008, when the Phillies claimed their first championship since 198o. That era of Phillies baseball saw the team make the playoffs five consecutive seasons and the World Series twice. This year's team hopes it can maintain that level of success going forward.

Harper's postseason numbers are truly unreal. He has posted an OPS of over 1.000 in each series so far with 11 RBI and five home runs in 11 games. His clutch home run in Game 5 of the NLCS will go down as one of the greatest moments in MLB and Philadelphia sports.

These Phillies have not yet proven to be a perrenial playoff team like Howard's squads. However, they are showing a level of clutchness and ability to ride momentum that the 2008 team did, and it has captured the attention of the whole city. Against the Houston Astros, the Phils will look to cap off one of the most memorable posteason runs in baseball history with some more hardware.