Philadelphia Phillies: 15 Greatest Outfielders in Team History

Earlier this month, when the Philadelphia Phillies acquired All-Star right fielder Hunter Pence in a trade with the Houston Astros, the team topped off what is now one of the most potent outfield combinations in the league.

Pence, Shane Victorino, and Raul Ibanez are, or have at some point been, statistically among the best in the league at their respective positions. Together, they create a highly solidified outfield on a team that is getting ready to enter the postseason as World Series favorites. 

Let’s take a look at how these Phillies outfielders compare to the best in the team’s long, and cherished history. 

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Jack Cust: Philadelphia Phillies Sign the 32-Year-Old Outfielder

The Philadelphia Phillies have signed 32-year-old outfielder Jack Cust to a minor league contract.

He will be assigned to the Phillies’ triple-A team, the Lehigh Valley IronPigs of the International League.

It is unknown in what capacity the power-hitting Cust will be used, however if he earns a promotion to the major leagues in September, it could very likely be as a pinch-hitter off the bench. The Phillies’ bench has been rather unimpressive offensively in 2011 and Cust might provide a boost.

He could also be used solely as minor league depth, as he has always been a solid hitter at that level.

The left-handed hitting Cust began the 2011 season with the Seattle Mariners, but was released on August 4 after hitting a meager .213 with three home runs, 23 RBI and 87 strikeouts in 67 games.

A first-round draft pick in 1997, Cust did not become a major league starter until 2007, at age 28. With the Oakland Athletics, he averaged 28 home runs and 76 RBI a year from 2007 to 2009, leading the league in strikeouts each of those seasons.

He also led the league in walks in 2008.

Cust began his major league career in 2001, playing for the Arizona Diamondbacks. He then had cups of coffee with the Colorado Rockies, Baltimore Orioles and San Diego Padres, before settling down in Oakland.

He is a .242 hitter at the major league level, with 105 home runs and 323 RBI in 670 games.

In the minors, he has a .285 average, with 204 home runs and 718 RBI in 1,147 games.

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Ghosts of Philadelphia Phillies Past: Shane Victorino and Ricky Otero

Another hugely successful week for the Phillies.  All they’ve done is win five out of six, complete a 9-1 cest coast road trip, and gotten into a brawl with their new nemeses, the San Francisco Giants.

Phillie of the Week: Shane Victorino

At the forefront of the week’s action was center fielder Shane Victorino.  Despite being moved all throughout the lineup, Victorino is having the best season of his career. 

He is currently batting .312 with 12 home runs, but perhaps more importantly, the switch-hitter is producing from both sides of the plate helping to keep the Phillies lineup balanced.  And as usual, he is providing his usual impressive baserunning and sterling defense in center field.

If you polled fans around the country about who their least favorite Phillie is, I’m guessing Victorino would be the most common answer.  While the rest of the Phillies seem to carry themselves in a businesslike manner, Victorino is somewhat demonstrative on the field.  This has occasionally drawn the ire of the Phillies’ opponents.

It probably wasn’t a coincidence that when the Giants wanted to make a statement on Friday, it was Victorino who was hit by a pitch.  Victorino didn’t take too kindly to the plunking, and incited a benches-clearing scuffle between the two teams.  Later on, Victorino had to be restrained as he repeatedly tried to charge into the fray.  Unfortunately, this resulted in a three-game suspension which he is currently appealing.

 

Ghost of Phillies Past: Ricky Otero

In 1996, the Phillies had a different speedster manning center field.  Otero had been obtained in an offseason trade with the Mets, and after Lenny Dykstra went down with an injury, Otero was given a regular job.

Batting leadoff for much of the 1996 season, Otero was actually somewhat of a fan favorite at first.  He was considered “pesky” on the basepaths, and his energetic style was a small highlight on a dismal team. 

Unfortunately, as one writer quipped, “Ricky can run, but he can’t hide.”  He batted a respectable .273 in 1996, but his .330 on-base percentage was far too low for a player who had almost no power.  In 411 at bats, he only managed 20 extra-base hits.

And while he might have been “pesky” on the base paths, he wasn’t that effective as a base stealer.  Throughout his Phillies career, he was caught stealing 13 times against 16 stolen bases.  Not a good ratio for a player whose strength was his speed.

Once it became clear that Otero was never going to hit well enough to be a major league regular, he was replaced as the center fielder by prospect Wendell Magee.  Sadly, of the two players, Otero probably had the more successful Phillies career.

Final Analysis

With so many stars on the current Phillies, Victorino sometimes gets a bit overlooked.  That is a bit of a shame as Victorino has arguably been the team’s offensive MVP this season.

It is almost taken for granted that center field is going to be a strength for the team.  That wasn’t always the case, as the team used to have to throw one-dimensional players like Otero out there and hope they contributed.

Originally published on my blog: Stranger in a Strange Land

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Philadelphia Phillies: 5 Biggest Questions for the Rest of the Season

As the best team in baseball right now, the Phillies are definitely the favorite to at least make it to the World Series, if not to win it all.

However, no team is above being questioned.

Actually, the Phillies are full of questions.

Even though I do feel that they are the favorites to win the World Series again, here are the five biggest questions that will face the Phillies for the rest of the season.

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Philadelphia Phillies’ 5 Minor Leaguers Most Likely to Contribute in September

Well, the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline has passed, and the Phillies sure made a splash in acquiring Hunter Pence. It came at a high price, though—the Phils had to surrender their two top prospects, first baseman Jonathan Singleton and starting pitcher Jarred Cosart, along with pitcher Josh Zeid and a player to be named later. Fortunately, the Phillies did get $2 million cash from the Astros as well in order to cover Pence’s remaining salary, but more importantly, not surpass the $178 million luxury tax threshold.

Now that it’s August, transactions news has seemingly cooled—for now. Possible waiver trades could occur at any point before the August 31 waiver trade deadline, but once September comes rolling around, that’s when the real excitement begins. Teams will be battling for division titles and wild cards, and rosters will expand from 25 players to 40 at the major league level, meaning that in September, minor league players on the 40-man roster will get a chance to make a name for themselves in the limited time they have to do so.

However, there are some players on the 40-man roster than might not necessarily make it to the big leagues just yet, for a variety of reasons. They could be too young, inexperienced, injured, or simply just not ready to handle the major leagues just yet. So, while one or two of the following players listed will be on the 40-man roster, there might be a few who aren’t, but could be when rosters expand at the beginning of September.

This list is of players who have not yet made their major league debut either, so players like Scott Mathieson, Drew Carpenter and Mike Zagurski will not be included (not like they would necessarily contribute anyway).

Here are five minor league players who the Phillies could see contribute once September roster expansion arrives.  

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Philadelphia Phillies: This Phillies Fan’s Biggest Fear

Okay, enough already.

The Phillies were already a staggering 36 games over .500, comfortably in first place.

They were already completing an extremely successful West Coast road trip with a record of 8-1.

They would already be returning home with the best record in baseball.

So when I saw the Phillies already down 6-0 in the third inning Wednesday afternoon in Los Angeles,  I wasn’t surprised.

After all, the Phillies had already won the first two games of this series against the Dodgers, and it’s always tough to sweep a team in their own ballpark.  Plus, this was the last game of the road trip—the “let’s just go home” getaway game.

Add to that, the Phillies had already played 19 straight games without a day off; this was the 20th.  So I was okay with losing that game on Wednesday; it just wouldn’t have been a big deal.

But a funny thing happened: They didn’t lose.

The Phillies mounted an improbable comeback, beating the Dodgers 9-8, and returned home after the best 10-game road trip in franchise history.  Say what?

Now, I know what you’re thinking.  You’re thinking that they won the game. That’s good, right?  So why is this crazy woman acting like it’s a bad thing.  What’s up with that?

I’ll admit it.  I’m uneasy.  You might even say I’m anxious.  Okay, I’m downright worried.

All this great pitching, all this suddenly timely hitting, all these wins and Hunter Pence!  It’s just too much for a fan to take.  I mean, we’re Philadelphia fans, and even though we won it all as recently as 2008, old habits die hard.  We need something to worry about.

As much as I agonized over those down-to-the-wire pennant races the last couple of years, I  realize now that they served their purpose.  We were so exhausted by the intense pressure to win every game that we didn‘t have much energy left to worry about what might be next.

Ah, I miss those days.

Are you getting my drift?  This year, with such a huge lead so early, we’ve got nothing but time.  Time to worry about someone getting hurt.  Time to worry that they’re peaking too soon.  Time to worry that the best team in the regular season often doesn’t end up winning it all.

It can’t be this easy.  It can’t go this smoothly, can it?  We just need a little angst to get us through. 

You know the expression that it takes some clouds to make a beautiful sunset?

Well, we need a couple of those.  Not big, bad dark ones.  Just a little fluffy white one passing through now and then.

So, I can’t believe I’m really saying this to my Phillies, but hey guys, can you do your fans a favor and lose a game once in a while?

Just not in October!

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Harry Kalas’ Legacy Continues: Statue to Be Unveiled at Citizens Bank Park

Recently, after watching nearly an entire Phillies game with my television muted, I realized something: I simply don’t care what they’re saying anymore.

Tom McCarthy, Chris Wheeler and Gary Matthews are fine, I suppose. But how can any combination of announcers compete with the voice I grew up with? I’m talking about the the voice that I feel asleep to when I was little, and the voice that kept me up late—sometimes until the wee hours of the morning when I was a teenager. That voice, unfortunately, cannot be unmuted.

The deep-baritone voice that is permanently cemented in my memory is one that can never be replaced. It went beyond the voice. It was the man behind the microphone, pure and simple. It was his genuine nature, his kindness, his passion, his enthusiasm and his bona fide love of the fans. He really did feel our passion “through and through.”

I’m alluding, of course, to longtime Phillies broadcaster Harry Kalas.

Although Kalas’ voice went silent in 2009, his legacy will never be “outta here.” And this weekend, the Phillies will take another step to commemorate their Hall of Fame announcer.     

The much anticipated statue of Harry Kalas will be unveiled this Sunday during a special ceremony at Citizens Bank Park.

The event will be part of the Phillies Alumni Weekend and will feature some special guests in attendance including members of the Kalas family and former Phillies.

The statue, which has been in the works since shortly after Kalas’ passing, was sculpted by Lawrence Nowlan, who leads Dear Harry, Inc., a fan-based group created to help fund the 7.5-foot bronze figure. Nowlan takes tremendous pride in being a part of the group’s efforts.

“Harry gave all he had to the fans here in Philadelphia,” said Nowlan. “For 38 years he treated us with nothing but love and respect. Being able to play a small part in cementing his legacy in our city and beyond has been a dream come true.”

The ceremony will begin at 1:10 p.m., just before the Phillies wrap up a three-game set with the Washington Nationals. Team president David Montgomery will accept the statue on behalf of the organization. It will, fittingly, be located near Harry the K’s restaurant in left field.

The statue will serve as a constant reminder of the man who got Phillies fans through both the good times, the bad times and everything in between. It will remind future generations who walk through the gates of the Bank how extraordinarily lucky we were to have such an amazing person in our lives.

And even though we no longer have Harry himself with us anymore, his memory will forever help us maintain the one thing he constantly reminded us to have: high hopes.  

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Philadelphia Phillies: 5 Ways August and September Could Wreck the Playoffs

The Philadelphia Phillies are on track to finish with the best regular season record in MLB, but that won’t matter once the playoffs start.

Actually, it could be a problem.

Consider these facts, based on an analysis of the 16 years since MLB introduced the wild-card format:

–  The team with the best record in MLB made the World Series in 7 of 16 years, winning only 3 times

–  The team with the American League’s best record made the World Series in 7 of 16 years

–  The team with the National League’s best record made the World Series in 3 of 16 years

–  The teams with the best record in each league made the World Series in the same year only twice (in 1999 and 1995)

The bottom line—for playoff teams, what happens during the last few months of the season matters more than regular season record.  Teams win the World Series because they have momentum, a healthy and hot lineup, and great matchups.

For the Phillies, August and September are all about avoiding these five worst-case scenarios.

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Is Anyone Better Than the Phillies? MLB 2011 Power Rankings

The earliest returns on this year had the Red Sox as the worst team in baseball, and the Indians, Royals and Pirates staring down the standings at their opponents.  While Boston has climbed back to the top of the East, a couple of those surprise teams have fallen off.

With MLB playoff races starting to heat up, it’s time to figure which teams rank in the top 10 in the MLB.  It’s also time to determine the best team, currently, in baseball with about six weeks left in the regular season.

 

Follow John on Twitter @johnbotelho16

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Philadelphia Phillies: Ranking Their Scariest Potential Postseason Opponents

With postseason schedules having been released yesterday, the stretch run of the MLB season is amongst us. Sitting atop the standings are the Philadelphia Phillies, who are four-and-a-half games ahead of the Boston Red Sox for the best record in the majors and eight and a half games over the Atlanta Braves for the best in the National League.

At this point in the season, it is safe to say that with a 13.5 game lead over the San Francisco Giants, who are five games behind the Braves for the wild card, a playoff birth is a all but a lock. It would take a monumental collapse, a la the 2007 New York Mets (except worse), to end up watching from the couch in October.

The same can’t be said for the rest of the NL and most of the American League, who will continue to fight it out for playoff births down the road.

In the Central, the Milwaukee Brewers seem to have taken control of the division, but with an experienced St. Louis Cardinals team sitting just five games back and almost two months of baseball to be played, anything could happen.

Over out west, the Arizona Diamondbacks took over sole possession of first place last night, sending the Giants into second place a half-game back.

The Braves appear to be in control of the wild card, but a few missteps and they could very well see themselves miss the postseason altogether.

Of these five teams all vying playoff position, who would pose the biggest threat to the Phillies? Only time will tell for sure. For now, let’s look ahead and break it down.

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