Sports

PHILLIES WIN WORLD SERIES

Phinally.

It took 28 years and the most surreal, 46-hour rain delay in World Series history, but the Phillies are at long last champions again after toppling the pesky Rays 4-3 Tuesday night in the resumption of Game 5.

“It’s very hard to control my emotions,” closer Brad Lidge said after touching off the delirium at Citizens Bank Park with a scoreless ninth. “This is incredible. I couldn’t be happier right now.”

Philadelphia hadn’t won a major pro sports title since the NBA’s 76ers back in 1983, but a frigid-but-frenzied capacity crowd didn’t seem to mind waiting out the weather an extra two days to complete the final 3½ innings. And what a furious 3½ innings they were, packed with seven relievers between the two teams and enough big plays, timely hits and controversial decisions to fill practically an entire playoff series.

Third baseman Pedro Feliz’s single through the middle off ex-Met reliever Chad Bradford in the seventh was the difference, scoring pinch-runner Eric Bruntlett from third after Pat Burrell opened the inning with a double high off the wall in center field.

Lidge, taking the baton after reliever J.C. Romero pitched 1 scoreless innings, then struck out pinch-hitter Eric Hinske with one on in the ninth to start the champagne corks popping.

It was Lidge’s 48th consecutive save, completing a perfect 48-for-48 debut with the Phillies. It also completed a perfect postseason at home by Philadelphia (6-0) and enabled original Game 5 starter Cole Hamels to walk away with the series MVP award at the tender age of 24.

“I always thought we’d win the World Series,” screamed Phillies manager Charlie Manuel, who was even more emotional Tuesday night than after the death of his mother during the NLCS two weeks ago. “I knew we could beat anybody in the league.”

The heroics by Feliz, Romero and Lidge allowed Major League Baseball to exhale after Monday night’s embarrassing debacle, which commissioner Bud Selig belatedly suspended amid a wind-swirling downpour.

“[Manuel] did a great job of keeping us mentally prepared [during this week’s layoff],” Phillies shortstop Jimmy Rollins said. “No one ever shut down. We didn’t have the attitude of starting over. We knew it was the bottom of the sixth, so we acted like it.”

That was obvious as the Phillies jumped out immediately, taking advantage of Tampa Bay manager Joe Maddon’s weird decision to stick with right-handed reliever Grant Balfour leading off against Geoff Jenkins, a lefty pinch-hitting for Hamels.

Jenkins promptly drilled a 3-2 fastball from Balfour off the scoreboard wall in right-center. After Rollins bunted him over, Jenkins gave the Phillies a 3-2 lead when Jayson Werth’s shallow fly dropped in center field over the Rays’ drawn-in infield.

The euphoria would be short-lived, though, as Tampa Bay’s Rocco Baldelli – whose availability for any game is in doubt due to mitochondrial disease – blasted the first pitch he saw from Phillies reliever Ryan Madson in the seventh over the fence in left-center.

The Phillies appeared to be in even deeper trouble when Tampa Bay’s next hitter, Jason Bartlett, singled to knock Madson from the game and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt. But Rays third-base coach Tom Foley committed a costly blunder when he waved Bartlett home from second base on an ensuing infield single by Akinori Iwamura.

Phillies second baseman Chase Utley appeared to goad Foley in the move by faking a throwing to first base, then Utley took advantage by firing a throw to the plate to get Bartlett by at least three steps.

The Rays would get a runner to second with one out in the ninth, but Lidge escaped to make the Mets’ worst nightmare – their NL East blood rival winning the World Series – a painful reality.

“We had ups and downs like other teams,” Rollins said, “but through it all, we never lost confidence and stayed determined.”

bhubbuch@nypost.com