Philadelphia Phillies: 5 Surprising Similarities Between 2008 and 2011
September 15, 2011 by Susan Cohen-Dickler
Filed under Fan News
When the Philadelphia Phillies won the World Series in 2008, it was a bit of a surprise. No one had picked them to win it all when the season began. In fact, Las Vegas odds had the Phillies at 20-1 making them a distant 10th overall.
2011, however, is a different story. The day that GM Ruben Amaro stunned the baseball world by acquiring pitcher Cliff Lee, his Phillies instantly became the odds on favorite to win it all.
Unlike the 2008 Phillies, the 2011 team has had title expectations from the start. There would be no sneaking up on anyone this year. In fact, to many without a World Series Championship, this season will not be considered a success no matter how many regular season games the Phillies win.
We have all heard about the differences between these two teams, mainly that the 2011 team wins with their starting pitching while in 2008 they did it largely with their bats. So this stat might surprise you: The 2011 Phillies current team batting average is .253. What was the regular season team batting average for that high-scoring, World Series winning 2008 team? It was .255.
Surprised? Well here are five more surprising similarities between the 2008 world champs and the 2011 wannabes.