Werth, a free agent this offseason, relates the Phillies' sense of inner calm to a different sporting venue: He got a glimpse of it when he went to see the Flyers play the Chicago Blackhawks in the Stanley Cup finals in June.

"I'm sitting there going crazy at this [hockey] game, with this nervousness and anticipation and anxiety and all the emotions that fans go through,'' Werth said. "Then I look at the guys out on the ice and they're calm and collected. They have a job to do no matter how many people are pulling their hair out in the seats. It's hard for fans to really have a sense of that. But it's just different for us as players, because we're out there and we're in control of the situation.''