NEW YORK — It’s nothing new that the Phillies are thetalk of baseball. Get to the World Series two years in a row and win the NL
East three straight years and there’s a tendency for others to do a little
gabbing. That’s just the way it goes.
Still, the Phillies could not have imagined that some of the guys on other clubs as well as the national media types would be talking about them the way they have over the past couple of weeks.
As Charlie Manuel says, “Not good…”
It’s bad enough that the team has been shut out twice in a row by the Mets and three times in the last four games, but it’s not worrisome. Teams go through those offensive funks every season and the Phillies are no different. Sure, the hitters “stink right now,” as Ruben Amaro Jr. put it on Wednesday, but stink happens. The 15 runs in the last eight games swoon will be corrected because all that stuff evens out.
But what should folks be worried about with these Phillies? Well, there’s a bunch of things. It’s never good when the manager complains of listlessness and malaise from the team during the slump. The fact that Manuel closed the clubhouse doors for a little chat after the latest loss to the Mets is a pretty good kick in the pants—probably a better reality check than the 13-0 on the scoreboard the past two games.
Eventually, however, the Phillies will hit. There’s no fear in that. Sure, it might start with one of those home run feasts the team is known for where the majority of the scoring comes from a few bombs, but whatever. It’s worked so far. Instead, the fact that other teams and making fun of the Phillies is a big warning sign of where the team is…
They are a big-market club just like the Yankees and Red Sox.
Look no further than the message on a t-shirt seen in the Rockies clubhouse this week with a not-so veiled shot at the Phillies:
“We have: 84 home games, Tasers, Roy Halladay, Your signs.”
[Note: word is the guys behind the shirt are from the popular site, Zoo With Roy. They sent one to Rockies' manager Jim Tracy and outfielder Ryan Spilborghs had one in his locker. See, you never can have enough quality t-shirts.]
Put it this way—they aren’t making up shirts disparaging the Royals or the Pirates. Nope, that only works for the Yankees and Red Sox, which should serve notice to the Phillies that they are one of those teams. Sure, they knew as much already considering it’s tough to go to the World Series two years in a row without going unnoticed. But maybe the Phillies were unaware that other players, teams and fans saw them as arrogant.
C’mon, admit it… if Shane Victorino was on another team you’d look at him the way you saw Matthew Barnaby or Danny Ainge.
Remember when Phillies fans took delight in being the spoiler? Those were trite and sad times that did nothing more than to illustrate how mediocre the team was. Like there was that series at the Vet in 1986 where the Mets came in with a chance to clinch the NL East only to go away with the champagne still on ice. Or there was that Labor Day game where Curt Schilling beat the Yankees with 15 strikeouts. Ultimately they were defiant, fist-in-the-air moments that added up to nothing.
Taking pleasure in slowing the trip of people going somewhere doesn’t change the fact that you are still a loser.
That’s not the Phillies anymore. They are the team going somewhere while a bunch clubs like the Mets are trying to ruin the fun. They’re making up t-shirts and everything.
So what’s the plan? How can the Phillies turn 84 home games, tasers, Roy Halladay and the opposition’s signs into quiet respect and humble goodness instead intense dislike and unrepentant arrogance?
Tough one, huh?
How about this: when another manager tells the media that your team is a bunch of jerks, don’t rub his nose in it and tell him to, “quit crying.” If someone wants to be a jerk there’s no sense matching that behavior. Nobody wants to watch a jerk competition[1].
Another good idea is to not trade former American League Cy Young Award winners. That’s just the height of arrogance, isn’t it? Imagine believing your team is so good that it can send away a pitcher who produced the greatest postseason in team history since Grover Cleveland Alexander for a bunch of prospects. How are the teams that don’t have any Cy Young Award winners going to view that?
And how are they going to react when they get two shutouts in a row against you?
If the Phillies had legit trade bait aside from Domonic Brown, I’d suggest trading to get Cliff Lee or Roy Oswalt and wait for the bats to come alive. I’d also try to remember that what comes around goes around. Nothing lasts forever, folks. Someday the Phillies will be back trying to knock off good teams going somewhere.
Anyway, we’re here at CitiField waiting to see what Charlie has to say a day after his meeting. Be back soon…
[1] There are more pithy ways to describe this contest that are more suitable to the popular nomenclature, but we’ll just leave that for Meech or Deitch.