Well, we’re now 125 games through the 2007 baseball season and yet again the Phillies are mired in the middle of their standard mediocre-average season. While it is true that at 66-59 they are only 1 game off the National League Wild Card hunt, the cumulative effect of 1 playoff appearance in the last 24 seasons is beginning to wear on me and hundreds of thousands of other Phillies fans. Unfortunately, I’ve grown used to this summer roller-coaster that my emotions are forced to endure.
However, what I heard today on 610-WIP really had me scratching my head (if not slightly annoyed). The mid-day guys (Gargano & Martarano) spent most of their afternoon bemoaning the fact that if the Phillies do (yet again) fail to make the playoffs that we should all in some way give them a “pass” for a good season. While I freely ackowledge that they have been beseiged by injures, I am having a hard time characterizing this season as a success when the main act has yet to be concluded. To briefly recap, their bullpen has been dreadful, the landscape of their starting pitching has been inconsistent (at best) and Charlie Manuel is still fumbling his ways through games each night. While there is a lot to like about this team (Ryan Howard, Chase Utley, Jimmy Rollins & Cole Hamels) – there is still the 10-ton gorilla in the corner ….. PLAYOFFS? PLAYOFFS!
I can just hear it now, first week of October – Phillies have been eliminated from the playoff hunt (after yet another 85-77 season) & David Montgomery is being interviewed on Daily News Live:
David Montgomery: “You know Michael …. we endured more injuries than any team in the league, we have a great core of young players here and Charlie had this team playing till the very end!”
Michael Barkann : “David, do you forsee any changes to your roster or coaching staff for next year?”
David Montgomery: “I don’t think so Michael, Charlie & his staff have done a great job! We think we have one of the best player-managers in the big leagues. Remember, if we hadn’t lost Cole Hamels for 3 weeks in August & September, we’d all be talking about the first round of the playoffs right now!”
Uggh! This management doesn’t get it! Do I think they want to win? Sure, they all seem to be good people down there. The Phillies run a pretty good organization and do lots of great things in the community. However, I don’t believe that “simply being average” grates on their nerves the way it does the rest of us! Now, if the Phillies some how manage to make the post-season, I’ll be more than happy to let Ruben Amaro come on 610-WIP and whine about how the media and the fans don’t give them enough credit. But until that happens, don’t dare use injuries as yet the latest excuse in a long series we’ve had to listen to each and every October for the last 13 years.
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