Phillies Post-Mortem

Well, we just got to watch the Giants celebrate their first World Series title in 56 years.  The City by the Bay gets its first ever baseball championship.  Yes, the San Francisco Giants are the 2010 World Series champions.

Once upon a time, Bry idolized Will Clark to the point of insanity

I like the Giants.  In fact, when I was 9 years old, my most valued item was a 6-hour VHS tape, FULL with nothing but Will Clark at-bats.  In 1989, with the Phillies mired in a run of last-place seasons, I almost felt like it was my team that got swept by the Oakland A’s in the World Series.  Hey, at the beginning of the playoffs, I even put $10 on the Giants at 11:1 to win it all, so I had a financial interest in watching this team win.  [Yes, it was kind of an “emotional hedge” knowing that they would probably face the Phils in the NLCS.  But, value is value, no matter what color you wear.]

And, yes, the Phillies have given us meaningful baseball into late October for three straight years and have given me the greatest sporting moment of my life just two years ago.  But, still, somehow, it hurts.  I literally think about that Ryan Howard called third-strike constantly.  I can’t get it out of my mind.  I can’t shake the feeling of emptiness, regret, and loss.  One championship is great (and, trust me, I’m not complaining), but the White Sox and Marlins both have championships in the past decade.  Multiple championships by the same group of players puts you in the history books as more than an anecdote.  And, what hurts the most is that it is almost inarguable that the Phillies–OUR TEAM–had the best team in baseball.  And, we had to watch a World Series played by two other teams.  Yes, this one hurts.  I’ve finally managed to pull it together and write a “post-mortem” on the Phillies season.  I don’t know where this is going to take me because feelings are unpredictable, but either way, it’ll be raw emotion and gut reactions.

What Happened?
First of all, I don’t know.  I really don’t know how this Giants team could have won that series.  But, then again, the Texas Rangers are saying the same thing today.  Hell, even the Padres are probably

These guys just weren't themselves this October

saying “if we had just won TWO of those ten straight that we lost in mid-September…”  Yes, it defies logic that the Giants are the World Series champions, but I will not take anything away from them.  They played fantastically.  I have said time and time again, on this website and off, that:  free throws win basketball games, third-down conversions with football games, and TWO-OUT RUNS win baseball games.  The Giants were phenomenal at not only getting two-out runs, but at stranding opposing runners on base.  That is a recipe for victory in the postseason, and the Giants did just that all October.  But, more specifically to the Phillies, (as Doogan pointed out in his most recent post). the team just didn’t hit.  Plain and simple.  Utley was bad (or hurt).  Rollins was hurt (or bad).  Ibanez was bad and hurt.  Victorino was undisciplined; Werth was underwhelming.  The big guy, contrary to everything you’ll hear or read, was actually swinging the bat pretty well.  But, the fact is that he didn’t drive in a single run (which I think is more of an indictment of the top of the lineup than his postseason).  They did not hit.

Uncle Charlie
Uncle Charlie was absolutely not outmanaged, by any means, by Bruce Bochy.  Charlie Manuel may have made a couple questionable moves, but he is not the reason the Phillies lost the NLCS.  And, trust me, I’m not quick to defend postseason managerial moves because I am getting grey hairs watching some of these decisions.  Bruce Bochy managed scared and reactionary, particularly in Game Six.  He took his starter out after only 6 outs, counted on a journeyman left-hander, Jeremy Affeldt to get the next six outs, the first three, in trouble, against the heart of the Phillies order.  He then went to a 21-year old starter on two days’ rest for 6 more outs.  And, finally, the one that really gets me:  he goes to Tim Lincecum in the eighth on one day’s rest with a whole fleet of reliable right-handed relievers in the ‘pen.  The media has praised this move as a gutsy, win-at-all-costs kind of gamble.  You know what it really was?  Stupid.  And, you can say “hey, it worked,” except for the fact that it didn’t work.  Lincecum gave up two hard-hit line drive singles before Bochy had to go to Brian Wilson to get out of a jam with a line-drive double-play.  Bochy nearly cost his team the most important game of the year.  But, for whatever reason, the baseball gods picked the Giants this year.

The Most Memorable Moment of the 2010 Postseason
The Giants won the World Series for the first time in San Francisco.  The Rangers won their first ever home playoff game, their first ever playoff series, and their first ever American League pennant.  But, unless you live in or around Arlington, TX, or San Francisco, CA, the moment that will be remembered from the 2010 postseason was given to us by a Phillie.  No matter how it ended, we will always have the “remember exactly where you were when…” moment with Halladay’s no-hitter.  And, it couldn’t have happened to a better guy…

No matter how it ended, no one can ever take this away from us

Thank you, Roy
I have written a couple pieces entitled “Thank You, ____,” in which I try to appreciate and bring to light the “good guys” of sports (I even wrote one about the quarterback of the loathesome Dallas Cowboys a couple years ago).  Too much of our sports fandom revolves around final scores and division standings.  And, when we do acknowledge that these are just human beings out there, it is usually to point out their failings (i.e. gun possession, drug abuse, domestic violence) or personality traits we don’t like (i.e. arrogance, selfishness).  I like to try and take the “they are just human beings playing a game” stance to describe the good in people.  Roy Halladay threw a no-hitter in his very first playoff performance and what did he do?  He thanked his catcher; he praised his teammates; he gave the credit for the historic performance to the fans.  Not one “my stuff was just on tonight” or “I really had to dig deep.”  And, any of those comments would have been justified.  He DID throw a no-hitter.  Baseball is a series of individual contests disguised as a team game.  Roy Halladay got 27 Reds out without allowing a single base hit.

The Season, as a Whole
On the whole, the Phillies had a fantastic season.  It’s hard to quibble with a team that won 97 games, had the best record in all of baseball (for the first time in their 127-year history), swept the Reds in the Division Series, and then lost a tough 6-game NLCS to the eventual World Series champs in which the Phils outscored the Giants overall.  Throw in the ridiculous number of injuries sustained throughout the course of the season, and you have to say that this team accomplished a lot this year.  It wasn’t what we all wanted or expected when the postseason began, but let’s not let three one-run losses cloud how great this team was.

Now, What?
And, finally, as the pain of the playoff losses subside and the weather starts to chill, we, like all baseball fans across the country,  must turn to the business of the MLB offseason.  Despite falling short and growing old, the Phillies are actually in a pretty good position going forward.  The backbone of this team (and most championship teams) is the starting pitching, and that will return in tact for another go at it in 2011.  The reason Oswalt was better than Cliff Lee is because he is not a free agent and will be back for at least the 2011 season and probably the 2012 season as well.  Roy Halladay is still in his prime and is locked up.  Cole Hamels is just entering his prime and will also be around for at least a couple years to come.  Brad Lidge and Ryan Madson were lights-out for most of the year in the back of the bullpen, and they are both back.  Ryan Howard and Chase Utley form one of the best 3-4 combinations in baseball and they are locked up for a long time.  So, all of the main pieces are in place for another run.  There is no doubt that the Phillies are the favorites to win a 5th consecutive NL East and possibly a 3rd pennant in 4 years next year.  Even without knowing anything about the hot stove activity, it would not be crazy to consider this team one of the handful of favorites to win it all next year.  So, that is the good.

With these three in the rotation, the Phils should be dominant again in 2011

Here is the bad:  Jayson Werth is all but gone (which is certainly not a good thing, but not necessarily devastating if you are like me and believe strongly in Dominic Brown).  Jimmy Rollins, Placido Polanco, and Raul Ibanez are all showing signs of beginning to lose the inevitable battle with Father Time.  And, a bit of a nit-pick here, but the middle of the bullpen could use some serious upgrading, particularly the left-handed specialist that used to be named J.C. Romero.

So, what do we do?  First of all, you don’t listen to the “paid-by-the-overreaction” type analysts who say that Phillies cannot possibly compete with all of those left-handed hitters.  That is lunacy because Utley is better against LHs, Howard is much improved, and, less we forget, most pitchers in the league are right-handed.  However, you do need to cost-effectively address the issue that Werth was more valuable to the Phillies than his sheer numbers might indicate because of the fact that he crushes left-handed pitching, and he hits everyone well enough to warrant a spot right in the middle of that lineup.  Furthermore, replacing him with Dom Brown just adds another left-handed bat.  So, what do you do?  You go sign a guy like Marcus Thames, Austin Kearns, or Bill Hall to platoon with Brown, while letting Francisco platoon with Ibanez.  It is not particularly hard to find a corner-outfielder who only needs to come in and hit left-handers.  Then, you go out and sign a reliable left-handed specialist (or LOOGY, as they’re called in elitist sabermetic circles), like a Ron Mahay, Joe Beimel, or Will Ohman (all of whom are free agents and can’t possibly be looking for mega-millions).  If you have to, inquire about the asking price of a Javier Lopez or a Sean Marshall.

There is one other concern that might not be talked about much around the country, but anyone in Philadelphia knows might be a serious issue.  Davey Lopes has announced that he will not be back as the firstbase coach next year, citing contract issues as the reason.  The Phillies have decided that it isn’t worth shelling out an extra $50,000 – $100,000 for the best base coach in baseball?!?  Maybe there’s another side to the story, but if it’s an issue over his contract, I think Ruben might be making a mistake here.  Yes, firstbase coaches are not very high on the coaching totem pole, but Davey is different and should be compensated.  He is basically a “baserunning coach,” and he’s the best in the business.  I think that, of all the offseason moves that are bound to come for this team, this one might have the most greatest negative impact.  I hope Ruben comes to and realizes that Davey is too valuable to let walk for a couple thousand bucks.

But, other than that?  Roll out the balls and play the games.  This team is loaded and the window is still open.  I’ll go to war with this roster right now.