The 2023 season was a huge missed opportunity for Phillies

Normally there is no shame in reaching Game 7 of the League Championship series and falling short. 

That is what happened to the Philadelphia Phillies on Tuesday night in a 4-2 loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks, sending the latter to its first World Series since the 2001 season and ending the Phillies' chances of claiming their third championship. 

Instead of being viewed as a successful season with another deep playoff run, this should be looked at as a massive missed opportunity for the Fightins.

The series was theirs for the taking with a commanding 2-0 lead. But instead of seizing the moment the rest of the way, they let it slip out of their hands. 

They eliminated the National League favorite when they beat the Atlanta Braves in the NLDS, clearing their path to a second straight pennant. 

The Los Angeles Dodgers, another favorite to win the NL crown, was also eliminated in the NLDS, leaving Philadelphia with the best odds heading into the NLCS. Even more than that, all of the top contenders in the American League were also eliminated as Tampa Bay, Baltimore and Houston all fell short.

All Philadelphia had to do was get by an 84-win Diamondbacks team. 

If there was ever a year for the Phillies to win a championship for the first time since 2008, this was it. Especially when they bashed their way to a series lead in the NLCS and had a 5-2 lead in the bottom of the seventh inning of Game 4 with a chance to take a commanding 3-1 series lead. Then it all fell apart with a late Diamondbacks rally that evened the series and gave Arizona a second wind. 

Not even a decisive Game 5 win was enough for the Phillies to recapture the momentum as their once-powerful bats went silent at the worst possible time of the postseason.

Philadelphia managed just three runs in Games 6 and 7 at home with a trip to the World Series on the line. The Phillies still have a great roster with impact and All-Star-level players all throughout the lineup, but it is awfully difficult to keep getting back to this point in the playoffs.

It is even more difficult to get to this point where you are supposed to be the best team still standing.

You do not want to let those opportunities slip away when they present themselves. The Phillies allowed that to happen here.