Last night, the Philadelphia Phillies defeated the Houston Astros 3-0 to clinch their first playoff berth since the 2011 season. It was the ending of the longest playoff drought in baseball (the Mariners, who had missed 21 straight years had already clinched), and that means that there were sure to be some differences between now and the last time we had a Red October. Yes, the Phillies’ organization looked much different, but the world did as well. Just for fun, let’s look at some of the things that were going on back in October of 2011, the last time the Phillies played in a playoff game.
“Moves Like Jagger” Was A No. 1 Song
The 2011 hit by Maroon 5 was topping the charts the last time the Phillies made the playoffs. If the song doesn’t seem that old to you, just think about what Adam Levine has been in the news for recently. He’s had a whole career’s worth of music and tabloid drama since red pinstripes have been worn in an MLB playoff game.
Snapchat Had Just Launched
Most of us are now too old for Snapchat, but back in 2011 it was just getting released on the app store. It was pre-dog sticking it’s tongue out filter, pre-Snap streaks, pre-best friends lists (man, that caused some drama), and really ahead of the picture-sharing component of social media. If you started a snap streak with your best buddy the day after the Phillies lost to the Cardinals in the 2011 NLDS, that streak could’ve cleared 4,000 days by last night’s clinching. That’s a lot of filters.
Rebecca Black Released “Friday”
You guys remember “Friday”?? One of the objectively dumbest songs of all time that went super viral back in 2011? Yeah, I remember sitting in AP Chemistry my senior year of high school and my teacher playing that on the smart board every Friday. It still haunts my nightmares. Sometimes, it’s good that it’s been 11 years since something has been relevant.
They Were Still Dropping Twilight Movies
October of 2011 saw the release of “The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1” which I never watched, but assume was god awful just like the rest of them. If you went to high school at any point in the late 2000’s, you were bombarded by Twilight conversations from vampire obsessed teen girls. Feels like a lifetime ago, but the release date for that movie was just after the Phillies’ last postseason run ended.
“Take Care” Was Still In Production By Drake
Drake’s break out album that featured hit tracks like Marvins Room, HYFR, and The Motto. You realize what that means?? The term YOLO, which was made popular by the song The Motto, had just started to break into popular dialogue. Since then, it has become the coolest thing ever, the lamest thing ever, and now ironically stupid and funny to say. We’ve truly seen words come and go in shorter time than it took the Phillies to make it back to the postseason.
The Best Players In Philadelphia Were…
Michael Vick, LeSean McCoy, DeSean Jackson for the Eagles, Claude Giroux, Scott Hartnell, and Jaromir Jagr for the Flyers, and Andre Iguodala, Thad Young, Jrue Holiday, and Lou Williams for the Sixers. They are now: retired, retired, free agent soon to be retired, traded, retired, retired, and 4 quality NBA veterans all with different organizations. It’s been a lifetime since those players played in this city, and yet, they were all around for the last Phillies’ playoff appearance. What a ride it has been.
