Anytime a team wins a world championship, the first question asked is always, “What’s next?” And not in the “I’m going to Disneyland!” sense, in the “Can you win another?” sense.

Well, it’s been over four months since Brad Lidge struck out Eric Hinske on a wicked 0-2 slider, and the Philadelphia Phillies are – believe it or not – still the reigning World Series champions. So the question now, of course is:

Can they win another?

I know it seems like a silly question. The reigning World Series champion almost never goes back-to-back, especially not lately and especially not if that team is in the National League. In the past 32 years, only the Yankees (’98-’00) and Blue Jays (’92-’93) have repeated as World Series champs. You have to go all the way back to the 1975-1976 Cincinnati Reds (the Big Red Machine) to find an NL team that won two titles in a row.

So the sensible answer to the question is, of course, no. And there’s good reason behind that. Pat Gillick – the baseball genius behind the 2008 championship – is gone, replaced by rookie GM Ruben Amaro. Jamie Moyer is yet another year older (I think he’s now qualifying for Social Security) and, with Raul Ibanez taking over for Pat Burrell in left field, the team is almost absurdly lefthanded. For Pete’s sake, the Phillies signed Chan Ho Park – Chan Ho Park!!! – to their pitching staff. And, now that they’ve reached the mountaintop, it will be enormously difficult to rev up the engine for a second go-round. It’s always tougher to repeat; the magic just isn’t there anymore.

All that being said, the Phils do have one tremendous advantage this season: the pressure’s off. This is a team that, for years, was expected to break out but, alas, never seemed to be able to. It started after a surprise second-place finish in 2001. It continued with the arrival of Jim Thome in 2003, and then Billy Wagner in 2004. The pressure built some more after Larry Bowa and former GM Ed Wade were fired, and the wizardly Gillick was brought in instead. After finally breaking through and making the playoffs with a miracle comeback over the Mets in 2007, the Phillies went three-and-out to, of all teams, the Colorado Rockies. Disappointment after disappointment, heartache after heartache – and all because the bar seemed to be set just a little bit too high.

There is no bar anymore. There is no pressure. The Phillies have finally accomplished what had long been expected of them, what a generation of Philadelphians had grown up without: a championship. They no longer have any pressure to reach the top. They’ve been there, and they know the way back.

The Phils are terrific when the pressure is off and they’ve been counted out (witness their astonishing come-from-behind division titles the last two seasons). Over the last decade, they have been sloppy when the pressure is applied, particularly early in the season (Phillies + April = AAAGGGHHHH!!!). But now nothing more is expected of them. Sure, there’s “win another one!” but, honestly, does anyone really expect that? I don’t think anyone in Philadelphia – a.k.a. Pessimism Land – really does. So I wouldn’t be surprised if they come out strong in April, have another good season and make a run at another title. For the first time in years, they can really let loose and just play baseball – something they’ve proven they’re awfully good at.