The subject of this post comes from a conversation I heard on WIP a few weeks ago, when a frat-boy caller to Howard Eskin's show, after a Phillies loss dropped them to 2 games back with 40 to play, or something, snapped "Phillies are DONE," before changing the subject to TO's latest stupid statement. I've since used it every day to annoy my girlfriend after every Phillies victory as she, along with every other fan of the team, has written them off since opening day, and just about every day since.
And now, after today's victory by Houston clinched them the wild card and avoided a one-game playoff, that dumb frat boy is finally right. Despite a strong finish that included a road sweep of Washington and a 36-game hitting streak that Jimmy Rollins will take into next season, the Phils have fallen short of postseason play for 12th straight year.
Yes, Charlie Manuel's a below-average manager and as a GM, Ed Wade makes Charlie look like a genius. But hostile Philly fans are so blinded by their loathing of those two men that they fail to see how exciting their ball club is. On top of their amazing, two-year-old stadium, the Phils are young, they've got an ownership willing to spend on new players, and they're likely to build on this, their best season in years. And can't the naysayers see that this team didn't fold at season's end, like most previous Phils teams? "Winning games we used to lose" was something the Red Sox had to learn to end their drought, it's worth remembering.
When the majority of the Philly fan base wakes up from its Eagles haze in early February, they may just see a baseball team in spring training that's ready to contend. And this time, they might not be disappointed.
In the AL, Red Sox Nation will be able to take pride in equaling the Yankees' record, though more likely they're going to bitch about the asinine tiebreaker system that gave the Yankees the division despite the deadlocked records, when a one-game playoff would have been both a ratings bonanza and a potential classic, a la '78. But more likely, we're probably headed to a third consecutive New York/Boston ALCS.
And they're getting ready- Joe Buck even a spent a couple of minutes praising Joe Torre today- while announcing the Eagles-Chiefs game. No, can't resist the urge to kiss the Yankees' asses, even during football coverage.
Missing from the playoffs this year for the first time since '01 are my Twins, who scored so few runs this year that they made the Vikings look like an offensive juggernaut by comparison. The pitching is strong- in fact, they can probably go through the entire offseason without touching the staff- but the lineup is in need of a major upgrade. Jim Thome, perhaps? Quick, get Ed Wade on the line before he's canned!
Posted by Stephen Silver at October 3, 2005 02:21 AM