Phillies fans eager to someday see J roll right into the playoffs
January 26
2007
Two schools of thought
have apparently emerged among the Phillies players these days, sometimes
making themselves heard in the same
article. On one hand there seems to be a group of players eager to call
the team the front-runners in the NL East -- the other camp is either quiet
or represented solely by Aaron Rowand. Rowand says that talk is
cheap.
A brief review. The Phillies last won the NL East in 1993. In the 13
seasons since, they haven't won the division or sniffed the playoffs and
have finished an average of more than 19 games behind the division-leader.
| Year | Games Behind |
| 1994 | 20 1/2 |
| 1995 | 21 |
| 1996 | 29 |
| 1997 | 33 |
| 1998 | 31 |
| 1999 | 26 |
| 2000 | 30 |
| 2001 | 2 |
| 2002 | 21 1/2 |
| 2003 | 15 |
| 2004 | 10 |
| 2005 | 2 |
| 2006 | 12 |
Last season the Mets won
the NL East by 12 games, which was the largest margin for any
division-winner in baseball. In every division except the AL West, the
third place team was closer than 12 games to the division-winner. In the AL
West the Rangers finished third, 13 games out.
The Phillies had a share of the lead in the NL East a total of zero days
last year. The last time that any team other than the Mets had a share of
the lead in the NL East was April 5, 2006, and it was the Braves.
The Phillies were a much improved team by the end of the season in 2006,
playing with much of the same group that will see action this season. And
they came up short. With ten games left for the Phillies to play, they were
basically tied with the Padres and the Dodgers and the team who played the
worst was going to be left out of the playoffs. The Phillies finished three
full games behind both of those teams. It wasn't the starting pitching that
was the problem for the Phillies in those last ten games in '06 -- the
starters threw to a 3.99 ERA. The Dodgers and Padres combined to go 17-3 to
end the season and the Phils just couldn't keep pace.
But no matter how it happened, you didn't see the Phillies make the playoffs
last year. You haven't for a long time. You saw them get close and lose.
Those other teams in their division? I've seen those guys win a lot.
As a fan, you would certainly much rather have the players on the team
thinking they were the favorites to win the division than the favorites to
finish third or whatever. I think it would bother me if I was a Mets fan,
though, after blowing away the rest of the league last season. Or a Braves
fan that has just seen their team's record of 14-straight division titles in
a row snapped. If you include their time as the Blue Jays and the
Quakers, the Phillies have made the playoffs nine times in 123 years.
The Braves have made the playoffs nine times since 1996. Not sure if the Marlins have any fans, but if they did they
might point out that the Fish have won the World Series twice since the last
time the Phillies made the playoffs.
Virtually everyone would agree that the Phillies are better in 2007 than
they were in 2006. They're going to need to show everyone how much better
on the field, though, and it's going to take a long time. When they make
their push it won't matter even a tiny bit what anyone thought three months
before the season started.
I can't wait to watch.
But if the only choices are to call the Phils front-runners or to say that
talk is cheap, I'm with Aaron Rowand.
Cole Hamels is ready to re-focus on what he loves and that may involve not going out drinking until three o'clock in the morning. I'm pretty sure, but not positive, that he didn't mean leaving to start drinking at 3 AM.
A book about Chris Coste's '06 season was sold to Random House but "the movie thing is going slow."
This article talks about the lighter Jimmy Rollins and the importance of a quick start for the Phillies. I would prefer 9-15 to a third straight 10-14 April. Really I would.
Arthur Rhodes will join the Seattle Mariners in a minor league deal and try to make the team in spring training. I know it's not a popular opinion among Phillies fans, but I would have liked to have seen the Phillies bring back Fultz or Rhodes given their lack of left-handed options and experience in the pen.
Does it make you feel real comfortable that a year ago at this time Cole Hamels' back problems were so bad he could barely get out of bed? Me neither.