Phils memorabilia a Phantastic hit

The Phans parted with their phunds big time yesterday in a cap/T-shirt/sweatshirt-buying frenzy that looked as if it might set its own record.

"It is clearly the single biggest event in the history of our company, which is pretty amazing," said Mitchell Modell, chief executive officer of Modell's, a sporting-goods chain that is 119 years old. Stores opened before daybreak yesterday to lines of championship-starved Phillies faithful eager for memorabilia.

"When it's 28 years of not having a championship, they can't get enough," Modell said. "They just can't buy enough merchandise. I've never seen anything like this in my life."

Modell would not talk specific numbers - "we're a private company" - and neither would Howard Smith Sr., vice president of consumer products for Major League Baseball, who was a little more circumspect about how the day was going. He said the "greatest hot market ever" - involving selling associated with the World Series - was Boston in 2004. So far, he said, Philadelphia rivals that. "The pent-up demand is like none other," he said.

Smith said it was good for business that Philadelphia won. Sales would not have been as good in Tampa.

MLB ordered hundreds of thousands of "clinch" hats, the hats Phillies players wore just after they had won the game. They were selling out yesterday. (Don't worry, they will be available for months.) Smith does not like to compare cities, but he said there had been years when as many as 100,000 hats had to be destroyed.

The big sellers at Modell's were "Phinally" T-shirts and sweatshirts, at about $20 to $50.

Ian Farrell, 25, from the Fairmount section, was among the early shoppers, having stayed up all night after the game. Yesterday morning, he clutched two T-shirts, two hats and two pennants. "The extra, in case I lose one," he said.

Smith said the hot market in Boston lasted until opening day the next year. There, Major League Baseball offered special holiday versions of products. A Christmas hat and T-shirt were "wildly successful," Smith said. Expect to see Phillies versions this year.

"Desire for the product right now is over the top, and we're going to make sure we take care of our fans," he said.

TV retailer QVC Inc. planns to get into the act tonight with an 11 p.m. sale of memorabilia, including a $128 photo collage that included "authentic infield dirt." Cole Hamels, Shane Victorino and Mike Schmidt were to host.