PHILADELPHIA – From losingest team to longest game, the Philadelphia Phillies are World Series champions.

Strange as that sounds.

Strange as it was.

Brad Lidge and the Phillies finished off the Tampa Bay Rays 4-3 in a three-inning sprint Wednesday night to win a suspended Game 5 nearly 50 hours after it started.

Left in limbo by a two-day rainstorm, the Phillies seesawed to their first championship since 1980. Pedro Feliz singled home the go-ahead run in the seventh and Lidge closed out his perfect season to deliver the title Philly craved for so long.

“It’s over,” Phillies shortstop Jimmy Rollins said. “It’s over, man.”

Bundled in parkas and blankets, fans returned in force to Citizens Bank Park and saw the city claim its first major sports championship in 25 years. No more references needed to those sad-sack Phillies teams in the past and their 10,000-plus losses.

It was among the wackiest endings in baseball history, a best-of-seven series turned into a best-of-3 1/2 showdown when play resumed in the bottom of the sixth inning tied at 2.

How bizarre? Series MVP Cole Hamels was a star in Game 5 – and he never stepped on the mound Wednesday night.

Two Rays relievers warmed up to start, and there was a pinch-hitter before a single pitch. “God Bless America” was sung rather than the national anthem and the seventh-inning stretch came quickly.

For Philly, it was more than a World Series win. It was a bit of redemption for all the losses, the jokes, the slights.

Finally, something to celebrate.

How much did Philly fans want a champion to call its own?

Well, the sports hero they point to with the most pride isn’t even a real person – Rocky Balboa.

Yo, Adrian … the Phillies did it!

Lidge went 48-for-48 on save chances this year, including two this week. He retired two batters with a runner on second, striking out pinch-hitter Eric Hinske to end it.

Lidge jumped in front of the mound, landing on his knees with arms outstretched. Catcher Carlos Ruiz ran out to jump on him, and teammates sprinted to the mound to join them as towel-waving fans let loose.

A generation ago, it was Tug McGraw who went wild when the Phillies won their first title. A few days after country singer Tim McGraw scattered his dad’s ashes on the mound, it was Lidge’s turn to throw the final pitch.

Despite low TV ratings and minus the majors’ most glamorous teams, fans will always remember how this one wrapped up. And for the first time in a long while, kids saw a World Series champion crowned before bedtime.