J.A. Happ Solidifies Philadelphia Phil’s Potential 2009 Playoff Rotation
If you didn’t know already, J.A. Happ is a machine on the mound.
Going into his 17th start, (a win) tonight against the Mets, Happ continued to write the same story he that has all season: seven innings, eight hits, walked two, struck out one, and allowed one run.
Happ is 10-2 this season, with a 2.59 ERA after 135.2 innings pitched. The kid always puts his team in a position to win. Happ has thrown two complete game shutouts and recorded 97 strikeouts versus 42 walks, better than a 2:1 ratio.
As a potentially playoff-bound team for the third year in a row, the maturation of Happ and Joe Blanton in the 2009 season, as well as the acquisition of Cliff Lee, makes Cole Hamels’ lackluster regular season bearable and gives the Phillies options in their playoff rotation.
Just imagine what their starting lineup will look like if Hamels is able to pitch in the 2009 playoffs the way he pitched in their 2008 World Series run.
If worst comes to worst, Charlie Manuel is going to have to decide who takes over the third pitching spot in the playoffs, but I would give Happ the nod.
Both guys eat innings and have low ERA’s, but Happ seems to have a knack for keeping the runs down and getting guys out, and his ERA is more than a point lower than Blanton (3.86 versus 2.59).
Blanton averages around 6 1/3 innings per start versus Happ’s 6 2/3 innings per start.
Happ also allows fewer home runs (22-13) and hits (153-102) than Blanton this season. In fairness, Blanton also has seven more starts than Happ.
Jamie Moyer and Pedro Martinez are savvy veteran pitchers who I would trust to get batters out, but that is also likely to turn into a scenario that puts stress on the middle relief.
It’s likely that with the short series, and the that fact four of the starters eat innings, that Moyer and Martinez find themselves as the long inning guys.
Brett Meyers pitched well in the in the 2008 postseason, but it seems silly for the Phillies to count on him for their 2009 playoff run.
The missing piece to Phillie pitching this season has been Brad Lidge. He needs to revert back to form for the Phillies to get into the playoffs and subsequently make a run.
Without a reliable closer to go to in the ninth inning, you are at the mercy of the baseball gods.
If and when Lidge and Hamels return to their form this time a year ago, look for the Phillies as a potential repeat champion in 2009.
Mets, Phillies Rivarly Never Gets Old
August 22, 2009 by Kevin Whitehead
Filed under Fan News
A new emerging rivalry in sports. Not Cardinals-Cubs or Dodgers-Giants. But the Philadelphia Phillies and their hated rival New York Mets.
About 100 miles away from New York and Philadelphia, there is a grudge between the scripted Mets logo and the star spangled Phillies. They just don’t mix.
In 2006, New York won the season series 11-7 and finished 12 games ahead of the second place Phillies. This was the first time both teams we’re legitimate contenders until the latter part of the season.
The Mets went all the way to the National League Championship Series but lost to the eventual World Champion St. Louis Cardinals. Little did the Mets know that the game ending 12-6 curveball from closer Adam Wainwright was the last sniff of the postseason they would get for the next two years.
The Phillies were chasing the Wild Card, but eventually lost by three games to the Los Angeles Dodgers.
The notorious Philadelphia theme remained constant. “There’s always next year.”
Well. next year came in 2007.
Now Ryan Howard was fresh off his MVP year where he hit .313, 58 home runs, and 149 RBIs. This was the most home runs since Barry Bonds hit his record setting 73.
Second baseman Chase Utley was coming into his own, establishing himself as one of the best second basemen in the game.
The table was set for the Phillies to make a run for the Pennant.
Shortstop Jimmy Rollins really felt great about his team going into the 2007 campaign. He felt they had enough pitching and offense to open some eyes around the National League. In fact, he was so confident that he said that the Phillies were “the team to beat.”
The New York media ate it up.
Everyone between the 100 mile distance was estatic to hear such a proposition. The Phillies hadn’t made the playoffs in 13 years at that time. Rollins was calling out a team that was the National League’s best club with an astonishing 97 wins.
Bad enough, the Phillies went 11-14 in the first month of the season making Rollins and the Phillies the laughing stock early in the season. But you know what they say,
“It’s a long season.”
Starting at the top, Jose Reyes was becoming one of the most dynamic players in the game. Getting hits, stealing bases, and dragging bunts. He set the table for a potent middle of the lineup which included David Wright, Carlos Beltran, and the ageless Carlos Delgado.
For yet another year the Phillies had their eyes on the Wild Card. By the All-Star break they were 44-44, 4.5 games back of the division leading Mets. It seemed unlikely.
After the All-Star break, the Phillies really turned it on. They swept the Mets twice, and one sweep was a four game set. In that quad set, the Phillies had three comeback wins off a very anemic bullpen that included Scott Schoeneweis, Pedro Feliciano, and of course Billy Wagner. The Mets bullpen’s weakness would cost them many pivotal games down the stretch.
The Mets had a seven game lead with 17 games to play. The Mets faltered. They started losing games consecutively while the Phillies were on a hot streak—both teams were going in opposite directions.
Then on the very last day of the season, the Mets were losing to the Florida Marlins 7-0 before the Phillies-Nationals game even started. The Phils knew they could control their own destiny, for the first time all year.
The Phillies would eventually beat the Nationals between Jamie Moyer and closer Brett Myers to win the National League East.
They would later be swept by the record setting, white-hot Colorado Rockies in three games.
Just getting a taste for meaningful games in South Philadelphia, the Phightin’s were coming into their own.
In 2008, Carlos Beltran took a page out of Rollins’ book and said the Mets we’re the “team to beat” after acquiring former Cy Young and strikeout king Johan Santana.
Just like 2007, the Mets had early success, especially Johan Santana. Coming from the superior American League, Santana was shutting teams down one by one including the left-handed heavy Philadelphia Phillies.
During the September stretch run, the Mets and Phillies exchanged first place three times. However the Phillies would win the National League East on September 27th to win their second consecutive division title.
From there, any Major League Baseball fan knows what happens next.
The Phillies would beat the Milwaukee Brewers in four games, the Los Angeles Dodgers in five games, and the Tampa Bay Rays in five as well.
Behind the brilliant pitching of Cole Hamels and Brad Lidge and the timely hitting by Rollins, Shane Victorino, Utley, Howard, Jayson Werth, Pat Burrell, Carlos Ruiz, and of course Matt Stairs, the Phillies won their second World Championship while the Mets watched.
A victory for the team, the city, and especially the fans who have endured so much.
As the unwritten 2009 season unfolds, one constant remains the same. The Phillies have not folded under high pressure situations.
So, Philadelphia would like to pass off a new motto for the New York Metropolitans.
“There’s always next year.”
My First Major League Game: August 13, 1957
August 22, 2009 by Andrew Godfrey
Filed under Fan News
Connie Mack Stadium formerly Shibe Park was the site of my first major league game in August of 1957 when the Pirates shut out the Phillies 6-0.
I have written about seeing my first major league game before but now I have found the boxscore from that game online at baseball-reference.com.
Finding this boxscore was like finding gold since the boxscore reinforced my memories of that game.
I was 12-years old at the time and can remember men bringing brown bags into the stadium that looked like they had bottles in them. It turned out those bottles had alcohol in them.
One of my most vivid memories is watching the players catch fly balls during batting practice just beneath the left field stands where we were sitting.
If only I had known the players better back then it would have been even more special especially seeing Richie Ashburn who would later enter the Baseball Hall of Fame after retiring five years after this game.
The attendance on the night of Tuesday, August 13, 1957 was only 14,129. The game lasted only two hours and twelve minutes.
The Philadelphia Phillies were still in the NL pennant race at the time of this game and were 10 and-a-half games behind the first place Milwaukee Braves.
This game really meant nothing to the Pittsburgh Pirates who were mired in last place and 29 and-a-half games behind the Braves.
Warren Hacker (6-4) started the game for the Phillies while his mound opponent for the Pirates was Bob Friend (8-15).
The Pirates scored first when future Hall of Famer Bill Mazeroski hit a two-run homer in the second inning. That was the first major league homer I had ever seen. I can still hear the ball hitting the tin roof over the left field stands where we were sitting 52 years later.
Three years later Mazeroski would hit the game-winning homer in the seventh game of the 1957 World Series defeating the New York Yankees. That brought back memories of that August night in 1957 when Mazeroski had hit the home run at Connie Mack Stadium.
Mazeroski would hit a two run double in the top of the seventh inning to make the score 4-0.
Bob Skinner, who would later become manager of the Phillies and the San Diego Padres, singled in a run in the top of the eighth inning. Hank Foiles also singled in a run that inning that ended the scoring for the game with the Pirates defeating the Phillies 6-0.
Bob Friend hurled a complete game two hit shutout that night to take the win.
One of my memories of the game were that the Phillies fans booed their own players during the game. They had reason to boo considering their hometown team had only two hits in the game.
Three future Hall of Famers played in the game including besides Mazeroski, Roberto Clemente, and Richie Ashburn.
1957 was just the third season of Clemente’s major league career and he hit .253 and stole no bases that season in 111 games. His lifetime stats show he had only 83 stolen bases in 18 seasons with 12 being his career high for a season.
Ashburn was not a power hitter by any means having only 29 homers in 15 seasons. He fell 436 hits short of 3000 hits. He played the inaugural 1962 season for the Mets. He retired after that season at the age of 35.
He would go on to become a color analyst for the Phillies in their broadcasting booth before dying 12 years ago.
Granny Hamner and Harry Anderson had the only hits in the game for the Phillies.
The Phillies made three errors in the contest but none of them resulted in runs being scored.
The rest of the season would turn around for the Pirates who were 22-20 the remainder of the season after being 40-72 after the game that night.
On the other hand the season took a turn for the worse as the Phillies who were 59-53 after the game were the worst team in the NL the rest of the season with a 18-24 record.
Since that night I have only seen nine more major league games in the last 52 years.
My last game was on June 10 of this year when I saw the Cubs-Astros game in Houston at Minute Maid Park. It was my first time to see a game since 1991.
The game at Connie Mack Stadium is the game I will remember the most because it was the first one for this 12 year old kid that has followed baseball ever since then.
Boxscore of the game that night:
http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/PHI/PHI195708130.shtml
Note: Baseball-reference.com has boxscores going back till about 1953 for anyone searching for a certain boxscore. The usual disclaimer applies saying that I have no financial interest in Baseball-reference.com.
Philadelphia Phillies: How Will This Season End?
August 21, 2009 by scott eisenlohr
Filed under Fan News
There is something to be said about being challenged in the regular season, to do well in the postseason.
Remember the 2007 Colorado Rockies? As a Phillies fan, you will not forget.
They won 21 of 22 games in September to win the Wild Card, then swept the Phillies in three games and swept the Diamondbacks in four games.
What happened in the World Series? They got swept by the Boston Red Sox, who beat the Cleveland Indians in seven games in the ALCS.
Paul Hagen of the Philadelphia Daily News wrote a story in the Aug. 21 edition titled: “Phillies Would Be Wise to Keep Their Foot on the Gas in NL East.” In it he wrote:
“Here’s what has happened over the last 10 years to the team that finished with the biggest lead in its division:
None won the World Series.
One made it that far.
Four lost in the League Championship Series.
Five were bumped off in the first round.”
What’s going to make the difference this year? The Phillies have to stay hungry. Charlie Manuel needs to keep the team fresh and focused, and players like Chase Utley have to continue to study film, run out every play, and play heads up baseball.
Having Cliff Lee in the rotation doesn’t hurt.
But this is still a team predicated on the home run. When the Phillies win 8-1 as they did in the series finale against the Diamondbacks, they only had one run not produced by a home run.
With this team, runs come in bunches. They currently have four players with 25 or more home runs: Ryan Howard leads the way with 32 home runs and counting, Jayson Werth 28, Raul Ibanez 27, and Utley 25.
Nobody on Comcast Network asked Lee about the Phillies prodigious offense, but the Philly newspapers mentioned it. As a starting pitcher, it is nice to have that run support.
But as a fan, can you have it all?
I want the Phillies to win the National League East running away.
If I remember correctly the 1993 Phillies team, which made it to the World Series and lost to Toronto, led wire-to-wire.
The Phillies have been in first since the end of May.
They currently lead Atlanta and Florida by six-and-a-half games.
Ryan Howard isn’t going to cool down. Raul Ibanez will surely get back to hitting and raise his .289 average back over .300.
Cole Hamels has to return to domination and Brad Lidge has to regain his confidence.
If so, the team will go far.
But would you, as a fan, be happy with .600 ball, an 11-game margin over the second-place team, and be swept out of the playoffs in the first or second round?
I am happy with this season as it now. The Phillies are starting to dominate the East and I don’t see them slowing down.
The rest is gravy.
As much as I have been pushing for a Phillies-Yankees World Series, I figure this:
If the Phillies don’t make it or win the World Series this year, they will be in it next year.
They are that good, but a lot can happen in a baseball season.
Just ask the Mets.
Go Phillies!
More Cole in the Fire: Former Phillies Ace Hamels Needs To Warm Up on the Hill
August 21, 2009 by Kevin Whitehead
Filed under Fan News
There’s a new ace in town. And his name is not Cole Hamels.
Last year’s World Series Most Valuable Player has yet to find a groove in the 2009. And there is a combination of answers for his struggles. Could be control, velocity, location, confidence, or just a matter of teams scouting Hamels’ tendencies in certain counts.
He’s been inconsistent. Riddled with bad luck at times. But for a left-handed pitcher of his caliber, he should be able to work through these struggles and return to a top flighted pitcher.
For his problems to go on for this long, there must be something inside Hamels that has led him to this elongated stretch.
Hamels just doesn’t have that fire out there on the mound. As a calm, cool, and collected guy out of San Diego, CA. “Hollywood Hamels” needs to dig deep moving into September.
As World Series Champions, teams get up to play the Phillies. Teams will look for other ways to beat the champions because of their superiority. Maybe study an opponent more or have a more focused mindset throughout the game.
The problem is Hamels knows this.
For an entire offseason, the Phillies have made it lucid to maintain intensity for every team high or low in the standings. They’re all coming after the big dogs of the National League.
Hamels has found himself in turmoil between himself. After literally cruising through September and October baseball last year, simply the game of baseball is catching up with him. Merely the fact that you cannot be perfect all the time.
Hamels was 9-8 with a 3.32 ERA and 154 strikeouts in 2008 though Aug. 15. This year he is 7-7 with an ERA 1.37 points higher.
If Hamels can get back to his winning ways, a one-two punch of Lee and Hamels will be tough to beat.
Repeat success is not impossible, but inevitable.
Philadelphia Phillies Mighty in Sweep of Arizona Diamondbacks
August 20, 2009 by kevin mcguire
Filed under Fan News
How else would you expect the Phillies to put the exclamation point on a series like the one they just played against the Diamondbacks? The Phillies flexed their muscle in the three game set and completed a sweep of the dismal Diamondbacks with a dominating 12-3 defeat of Arizona.
The offense wasted no time giving starting pitcher Joe Blanton a lead to work with. After Blanton put the Diamondbacks down in order to start the game Shane Victorino put the wheels in motion with a one out triple to deep center field.
After Chase Utley walked Ryan Howard hit a double to right field with no shift in play by Arizona. Victorino scored and Utley advanced to third base. Two batters later Ben Francisco brought Utley and Howrd home on a single to right center field to give the Phillies a quick 3-0 lead.
Arizona rallied against Blanton and picked up their first run in the top of the second inning and chipped away with a pair of runs in the fourth inning to tie the game.
Blanton would help his own cause in the bottom of the fourth though by picking up his first run batted in since his memorable World Series home run in game four of the 2008 World Series. Blanton grounded out but Jayson Werth scored on the play to give the Phillies a 4-3 lead.
From there the rout was on.
Werth hit a two run home run in the fifth inning to extend the Phillies lead to 6-3. In the sixth inning catcher Carlos Ruiz hit a lead off home run to left field. Blanton followed with a single, his first hit of two on the night, and Jimmy Rollins followed that with a single.
Two batters later Utley singled to score Blanton and Howard connected for a three run home run that landed in the Diamondbacks’ bullpen. Howard’s homer put the Phillies up 11-3. The Phillies added one more run in the seventh inning to cap the scoring for the game.
Blanton had an interesting night. His two base hits aside, he pitched eight innings while striking out just four batters. He yielded 10 hits and three runs although he had some shaky defense behind him, but he threw just 97 pitches. He likely could have pitched a complete game but Charlie Manuel opted for Chad Durbin for the ninth inning, probably just to get some work in.
The starting pitching (and starting pitching like relief appearance by Jamie Moyer) was incredible in this series.
It should be expected that the Phillies would beat the Diamondbacks as the two teams are on different playing fields right now, but the Phillies did what they need to do. That is to take advantage of games against clearly inferior opponents.
While the Phillies put the finishing touches on a three game sweep the Florida Marlins lost another game in Houston. The Marlins fall into a tie for second place with the Atlanta Braves and both teams sit six and a half games behind the Phillies.
This weekend the Phillies head to New York for a weekend series with the Mets and the Marlins travel to Atlanta for a key weekend series against the Braves.
Mapping a Road to the Phillies’ World Series Return
August 20, 2009 by scott eisenlohr
Filed under Fan News
Following the performance by Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Cliff Lee, a 2-hit, 11 strikeout, no walks and one unearned run in an 8-1 Phillies win over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Wednesday, Phillies fans must have felt incredibly good.
The win pushed the Phillies lead over the Marlins to 5.5 games and gave the Phillies a season-high 19 wins over .500 and .581 winning percentage. Heck, the season-long lead by the Dodgers, who narrowly hold the best record in the National League, have only a 3.5 lead over the Colorado Rockies.
Pictorially, as I sometimes do, I will show each opponent the Phillies must beat to make it and win the World Series.
Simp-Lee Amazing: Philadelphia Phillies beat Arizona Diamondbacks 8-1
August 19, 2009 by kevin mcguire
Filed under Fan News
He did it again.
For the second time since joining the Phillies, Cliff Lee pitched a gem, resulting in a two-hit, no earned runs complete game, handing the Phillies a stress-free victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Just for good measure, Lee tacked on a pair of base hits to make up for the two hits he allowed in the game.
The rest of the Phillies’ offense was not too shabby, either. Jayson Werth hit a pair of home runs, with the first bouncing off the brick ivy-covered wall in center field. Chase Utley got the scoring started in the third inning with a two-run shot off of Diamondbacks starter Dan Haren.
Two innings later, Ryan Howard connected for a three-run home run to give the Phillies a 5-1 lead, and Werth followed with his first home run of the night to make it 6-1.
Werth had a 3-for-4 night and saw just 10 pitches in the game. Each player in the starting lineup recorded a base hit except for third baseman Pedro Feliz.
The new fan favorite in the starting rotation flirted with a no-hitter for a while. Arizona second baseman Ryan Roberts led off the fourth inning with a hot shot down the third base line that could have been called a hit, but with the no-hitter intact, the hometown scorekeeper opted to give Feliz an error. It was a tough call to make, but the basic rule of thumb is you want the no-hitter to be broken up by a no-doubt-about-it hit.
Lee took that no-hitter into the sixth inning. First baseman Chad Tracy entered the game to pinch hit for Haren, and as fate would have it, he broke up Lee’s no-hitter with a single right up the middle and into center field.
Phillies fans gave Lee a partial standing ovation, as they have come to respect his abilities and work ethic in his brief stint with the club.
When all was said and done, Lee pitched a complete game, struck out 11 batters, walked none, and allowed two base hits. He did hit one batter, and one run scored that was unearned.
For Lee, it was his 12th career complete game and his second career multi-hit game. Lee went 0-for-5 in interleague games with the Cleveland Indians this season, but with the Phillies, he is currently hitting .385 with five hits in 13 at bats. Of those hits, two are doubles.
Do not epect to see that kind of offensive firepower forever, but enjoy it now.
The Phillies are now 31-29 at home and increased their lead in the NL East over the Florida Marlins with the win. Florida dropped a game in Houston, which puts them five 5 1/2 games behind the Phillies.
Comparing The Cliff Lee and CC Sabathia Trades
August 19, 2009 by Brian Mahoney
Filed under Fan News
The Cleveland Indians have made dreams come true for two National League teams and nightmares for most National League hitters in the grand scheme of two seasons.
In 2008, the Indians traded heralded ace and reigning American League Cy Young award winner CC Sabathia to the Milwaukee Brewers for several young prospects, including outfield stud Matt LaPorta. This move shook the NL playoff race, as the Brewers were riding with a chip on their shoulder as the underdog.
They already had a young talented ace in right-hander Ben Sheets. Sabathia proved to be worth more than the Brewers bargained for, as he posted jaw dropping statistics.
Sabathia’s 11-2 record and 1.65 ERA in 17 starts helped the duo become a force down the stretch, as the Brewers fought through August and September with a 30-23 record; just enough to taste the 2008 post season as the Wild Card contender.
However, Sabathia was overused in the latter part of September and showed fatigue in a Game Two implosion against the eventual World Champion Philadelphia Phillies.
Speaking of the Phillies, déjà vu came in 2009 near the trade deadline, as the Indians traded another reigning American League Cy Young award winner in Cliff Lee away to the City of Brotherly Love.
So far in four starts, much love has come Lee’s way.
Lee has more base hits from himself at the plate than runs allowed in his four starts, for starters. He’s 4-0 with a minuscule ERA below 1.00. Through 33 innings, he has struck out 34 batters.
Though he struggled somewhat with Cleveland early in 2009, Lee has proved himself a greater value than anyone could ever imagine. Phillies fans are saying Roy “Who?” after acquiring the 30-year-old lefty.
With a rotation deeper than the 2008 Brewers, the Phillies look to soar in strong pursuit of a repeat. It’s becoming quite possible with Lee and Cole Hamels as his partner in crime.
Hamels, who became the October sensation as NLCS MVP and World Series MVP will look to refurbish his recent lackluster performances. The rotation always has right hander Joe Blanton on the mound, young J.A. Happ quickly becoming a force, and the return of the illustrious Pedro Martinez, a former Cy Young winner himself.
Indians fans have not seen a World Series championship in 61 years. If anyone from that fan base had a desire to see Sabathia win it all last year, they have a chance to see Cliff Lee lead the Phillies to an impressive run this year.
Perhaps Lee and Sabathia (now with the New York Yankees) will face off in the 2009 World Series?
Remembering When and How the Phillies Started Getting Good
August 19, 2009 by scott eisenlohr
Filed under Fan News
Following this Phillies season, enjoying a 4.5 game lead over the Florida Marlins in the National League East, I have been thinking about something the past week or so.
When did the Phillies start to get good? After thinking and giving credit to Pat Gillick, I thought back further.
The Larry Bowa years as manager was when they started getting good and the Phillies started getting respect around the league and picked up more fans.
You know your team is good when you watch late-night television and seeing a rapper wearing your team’s cap.
Bowa managed from 2001-04, a year before Ryan Howard and Chase Utley played full time for the Phillies.
But after the 1993 World Series, the Phillies had just one second place finish in the National League East, coming in 1995. Most of the times, they finished anywhere from third to fifth place.
In 2000, under manager Terry Francona, the Phillies were 65-97 and finished fifth.
Bowa, a former All-Star shortstop for the Phillies, was hired in 2001. He returned a no- nonsense attitude not seen since Dallas Green in 1980. At that time, Green was the manager of the Phillies only World Series championship.
The 2001 team finished 86-76 and finished second. Bowa’s only losing season was in 2002, when the team finished 80-81 and finished third.
Even though Howard and Utley did not start playing full time until 2005, Jimmy Rollins took over the shortstop position from Desi Relaford in 2001 and hit .274.
Excitement grew in Philadelphia when the Phillies signed free agents Jim Thome in 2003, then Billy Wagner in 2004.
But the fans of Philadelphia still were not used to a winning team. They were more excited, including myself, of the distance of Thome’s home runs and whether Wagner could hit 100 MPH on the radar gun when he closed a game.
Maybe it was the expectation, but with two games left in the 2004 season and the Phillies in second place at 85-75, Bowa was fired.
If I remember, it was said he was too tough on his players.
Out stepped Bowa and in stepped Charlie Manuel, a player’s manager.
Thome was traded; Aaron Rowand anchored himself in center field in 2006. After two more second place finishes, the Phillies finally broke through and won the National League East in 2007.
Rowand left as a free agent in 2008, as Shane Victorino took over in center field.
Former General Manager Pat Gillick, during his time in town, brought in Jason Werth, Greg Dobbs and traded for Joe Blanton, Matt Stairs and closer Brad Lidge.
All the pieces fit and in 2008, the Phillies won the World Series.
I surely don’t know if the Phillies will repeat in 2009. My gut tells me no.
But maybe that is the Phillies fan in me. Disaster. Defeat snatched from the hands of victory.
But they will win the National League East. I think they will win the National League pennant, and go to the World Series.
A matchup with the Yankees would be sweet, but the Yanks would be heavily favored.
Just looking back a bit, I submit that in 2001, the Phillies started getting good.
And there ain’t no going back…at least until 2011.