Or crying. It could go either way with this group.
The storied franchise is marching toward a legendary number of misery that will cement
our place as the losingest (dictionary.com says that is in fact a word) franchise in the history of pro sports. In less than a few weeks, the Phillies will reach loss number 10,000!!! Now that is something legends are made out of . . . sad ones at least.For all the kids following along, The Phightin' Phils 10-6 loss to the Cleveland Indians last night ended their interleague play for the year and began the count into single digits. According to Countdownto10000.com and Baseball-Reference.com, last night's defeat leaves us nine away from the historic numeral of our consistent inconsistency.
To be fair to the Phillies, when you have been playing baseball for over 120 years, you are bound to pile up in the loss column. But this has been an abysmal team for its entire history with the exception of an eight-year stretch from 1976 to 1983 when the Phillies stayed above .500 and made six postseason appearances, two appearances in the Fall Classic and one World Series parade. The Phillies have only made the playoffs NINE times in total and their last time playing baseball in October (aside from your extended regular season schedule) was back in 1993 when they captured the city's spirits on their ride to the World Series and then ultimately saw Gary Carter crush every Philly fan's hearts, as well as the pitch from then-closer Mitch Williams, with a dramatic series-ending, championship-clinching, heart attack-inducing home run. I have heard that the Phillies last chance for a legit championship-run went down the drain when baseball went on strike in 1994.
Since the strike, baseball has not been kind to people wearing red pinstripes and the once-faithful fans that followed them. So what happened to our team? Why are we still a dreadful team to follow after a fourteen year absence from the postseason?
Most people point to the management of the team from members of the front office. Some point to the pocket pinching collection of owners that have remained anonymous to fans and the media. More fingers point to the players and coaching staff. My answer?
EVERYONE!
You do not come this close to 10,000 defeats and you have one person to take the blame. This organization has been designating scape goats for the last several years and it makes for one sad ending and then the Phillies paint us a picture that they hope convince us of change when they are really taking the same old tired dog, give him a hair cut, paint over his fur and try to sell us a new puppy. Years ago, the one move that made sense was ousting manager Terry Francona, who was such a pushover for all the players and never produced a Phillies team with 80 wins despite all-star talent on the roster (Sure, Terry went on to win the Series with the Sox and end the curse, but the talent on that roster was incredible and the Yankees gift wrapped them a 3-0 comeback. Just look at the Phillies roster in 2000 and ask me how they could lose 97 games).
The Phillies replaced Terry with Larry Bowa, one of the best shortstops to ever play in his era and someone whose glove belongs in the Hall of Fame. Bowa immediately took a less talented line-up then the year before and a questionable pitching staff into a pennant race into the final week of the season. Philadelphia finally had a baseball team to be proud of. A few years later, the Phillies signed first baseman Jim Thome to a major free agent deal and helped bring the kind of excitement to the Vet that hasn't been seen since 1993.
This is where the top-to-bottom effect had taken place within the organization. The Phillies owners made a commitment to spend a lot of money for a winner, General Manager
Ed Wade went out, traded for stars and brought the free agents in and the players played to the Manager's liking. Unfortunately, injuries bit the Phillies in a few seasons or they were desperate for what fans called "the additional piece" to this championship puzzle. Ownership never allowed for additional salary added to the payroll, the General Manager never touched the telephone during the deadline unless he was in a selling position and the Phillies faded down the stretch.Scape goats were then thrown to the fire. Curt Schilling and Scott Rolen were sacrificed to the media and traded off in years before (The two players have three championship rings between them since their exit). The ill-tempered Bowa was let go two games before the end of his contract and the Phillies brought in player-friendly manager Charlie Manuel. Fans created the popular website FireEdWade.com and their dreams came true when the organization dropped the blade on Wade's neck and brought in the successful and well-known baseball executive Pat Gillick. Meanwhile, the Phillies are still stuck in their inconsistent and mediocre ways.
Allow me to show you how the top-to-bottom effect has delivered us another mediocre team despite all-star talent.
Ownership: The dark cloaks that disguise our owners as they walk the streets have helped them save face because . . . we don't know what they look like. Ownership again has decided against paying top dollar for cream-of-the-crop free agents, eating salary to move a bad contract and adding salary mid-season. They are the reason Ed Wade's hands were always tied as they sat on and later sacrificed their farm system's best talent.
Random Note: Years ago, when everyone was excited about the upcoming Phillies season after some significant moves in the offseason, Larry Bowa mentioned shortstop Anderson Machado, who was among the top of baseball's minor league prospects, and how he could even be better than current all-star shortstop Jimmy Rollins. In the end, Wade sat on him and the Phillies shipped him away in a minor deal to Cincinnati. He has been out of baseball since 2005.
Front Office: Pat Gillick's arrival was a celebrated one for a short period. Then fans realized
his nickname was "Stand Pat" and realized we brought in another Ed Wade with a better resume. Gillick last year started a fire sale and proclaimed the team was two years from contention. The players, whether they took it personal or not, went on a tear and battled for the wild card before coming up empty. This offseason, the owners gave Gillick some money to make several moves in the offseason. They could not keep up with the bidding war on Alfonso Soriano and went after little known players like Wes Helms and Rod Barajas.Gillick was ready to sign reliever Joe Borowski but terminated the deal when Borowski failed his physical. Gillick then caused some excitement when he acquired work horse pitcher Freddy Garcia in a trade, even forgoing the necessary physical in order to bring him over from the Chi-Sox. The significance of these two? Borowski signed with the Indians and is second in the American League with 20 saves while Garcia won one start and is currently on the DL with shoulder problems. Gillick now has his own fan-made website.
Manager: It has been publicized that the players love playing for Charlie Manuel.
Easy-going Uncle Charlie is such a break from the bat-out-of-hell Bowa. However, Manuel has not familiarized himself with how to manage a team in the National League since his arrival for the 2005 season. Manuel has easily screwed up sending the best line-up out there, juggling his pitching staff and understanding how to handle the double switch (a mainstay in the NL). Aside from Milt Thompson, the rest of the coaching staff hasn't reached the players and third base coach Steve Smith has made us miss the late Jon Vucovich even more.A good manager is said to help you win 5-10 games a year. A bad manager will lose you the same amount.
Manuel has probably cost the Phils more games this season than fingers he can count on.
Players: This season, we had the best line-up and deepest rotation in the National League East. The players got us off to a rocky start in the beginning of the year. All-stars Chase Utley and Ryan Howard produced very little, the starting rotation couldn't go deep into games and thus exposed the undermanned bullpen. The Phillies' problem has been fundamentals all year, not playing small ball and relying on their small ballpark and big hitters to get the jump on the opposition.
It is not one thing troubling the Phils. It is everything! They are not making smart baseball moves when the owners decline adding salary with a team selling out a beautiful ball park every night. They are not making smart baseball decisions when the GM gets a certain amount of funds and pays the wrong players. And they are not playing smart baseball when they have another dreadful April and have to make leaps and bounds in order to get back into the pennant race. I have heard on 610 WIP about how the Phillies are building an American League roster, bringing American League players, with an American League Manager, an American League GM and playing in an American League stadium while trying to win the National League East.
Perhaps when they reach 10,000 . . . we'll get the parade we've been asking for.
QUICK NOTE
Congratulation to Sammy Sosa for becoming the fifth member of the 600-Home-Run Club. Many people accuse Sosa of steroid use and shaming baseball's integrity. I have a funny thing about life where I try to have faith in people. I choose to believe that Sosa is clean of any performance enhancing drug use and I was happy to see him come back this year and hope he sticks around after this season is done.
Sammy Sosa and Mark McGuire helped save baseball and pump up the game's popularity since the strike of '94. The home run chase was exciting and caught the interest of people who had slim-to-no interest in baseball. McGuire wasn't a media darling and, as fate would have it, hit number 62 against Sammy's Chicago Cubs. Sammy being there made it a more memorable moment and gave it the story book ending that you can't get anywhere else except the world of sports.
So congrats to Sosa for hitting 600 and I hope you keep your word and hit another hundred.NBA FINALS UPDATE (a week late)
My last update was last Tuesday when the Cavaliers were preparing for game 3 against the Spurs. They completely deactivated guard Larry Hughes and used spark-plug point guard Daniel Gibson in his place. Unfortunately, Gibson lost his shooting stroke but the Cavs kept it close.
How did they do this you ask? By following my instructions with playing Eric Snow in better situations. Snow came in and controlled the tempo in the fourth quarter and easily kept the Cavs in range to take game 3. Unfortunately, Anderson Varejao took an ill-advised spinning hook against Tim Duncan and the refs failed to call Bruce Bowen for a foul on a 3-point shot that would have sent LeBron James to the free throw line for three free throws and the ability to tie the game.
Game 4 wasn't even close. So congratulations to the San Antonio Spurs for ring number four in the last nine years. Now we have a French Finals MVP in Tony Parker who is having the best year anyone can ask for after making the all-star team for the first time and is ready to marry Desperate Housewives star Eva Longeria.Must feel good to be on top . . .
Our 42 of the Day
Last Sunday was Father's Day and I hope
everyone enjoyed their day with Dad
Last Sunday was Father's Day and I hopeeveryone enjoyed their day with Dad
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