Philadelphia Phillies: Are Chase Utley’s Injuries Making Ruben Amaro Smile?

The Philadelphia Phillies’ dream season is on the rocks.  The uber-prospect and rightfielder is injured and struggling.  The superstar second baseman and linchpin of the offense is beginning to show his age, and his 2011 season seems more and more in doubt each day.  The third baseman is having issues, the closer has suffered his annual injury, and suddenly Mount Rushmore, the once-in-a-lifetime pitching rotation is all the Phils have going for them.

It is beginning to look like even if the Big Four pitch as well as expected, the offense will not be able to give them any run support and the bullpen will not be able to come in close the door.

So why do I get the feeling that general manager Ruben Amaro and manager Charlie Manuel are smiling? 

Today’s word, children, is a big one that any Philadelphia sports fan knows all too well, and that word is:  

“Expectations”

Expectations are what got Donovan McNabb run out of town despite arguably the most successful quarterback tenure in the 75-plus year history of the Philadelphia Eagles. 

Expectations are the reason why Philadelphia 76ers fans have a bittersweet taste in their mouths regarding Allen Iverson.

Expectations are the reason Pat Burrell and Bobby Abreu were generally loathed by Phillies fans despite enjoying very successful careers in Philadelphia.

And expectations are what threatened to be the absolute undoing of Ruben Amaro and Charlie Manuel just one month ago, with the attention of the world turned towards one of the more remarkable pitching staffs that baseball has ever seen.

After all, Major League Baseball is a funny game.  Year after year baseball teaches us that no matter how you draw it up on paper you simply never know what it is going to take to finish the season on top of the world.  The examples of unfulfilled promise, and unmet expectations, abound in just the last 15 years alone. 

Despite the most well-paid rosters in the history of professional sports, the New York Yankees have won only one World Series in the last ten years, and have been a shadow of the team they were in the 1990’s, when they weren’t paying their players as much, but had far better chemistry, cohesion and depth.

The Atlanta Braves had the last greatest rotation in baseball history, and emerged with only one World Series victory in a sport in which pitching is thought to win championships.  On the other side of the spectrum, the Cleveland Indians of the 1990s produced a wealth of offensive stars and future Hall of Famers, and came away with not a single championship.

Meanwhile, upstart teams in Arizona, Florida, Anaheim, Chicago and San Francisco have come out of no where to win championships when people least expected it.

All of which, frankly, put the Philadelphia Phillies on the wrong end of the expectations game as recently as one month ago.

On the day that the Phillies’ called the first press conference to display their Big Four (plus Blanton) pitchers to the world, the impossibility of the expectations that had been placed upon the team and the city was palpable. The media was giddy, the fans were psyched, and the team was frankly embarrassed by the barrage of questions featuring words like “greatness” and “of all time” and “ever.” 

Indeed, the tone of that first presser was set by the near-constant need of the Four Aces to dial down everyone’s enthusiasm. Cliff Lee had to remind the media that they hadn’t won anything yet.

“I think we haven’t thrown a single pitch as a group yet,” Lee said. “So it’s kind of early to say we’re one of the best rotations in the history of the game. Obviously, we’re a very talented group, and there is potential for all of that. But it’s just that, it’s potential.”

In response to a question regarding what the group was like when they were alone together, Cole Hamels had to point out that they’d really only spent about two hours together to that point.

While all of the enthusiasm was justified, to a certain degree, the enthusiasm was also raising the bar for the season quite high.  In fact, it may have been raising the bar impossibly high.

And that is where expectations rear their ugly head.

After all, when people expect your rotation to be potentially the best rotation of all time, what does it take to meet those sorts of expectations?

Would Halladay, Hamels, Oswalt and Lee each have to win 20 games, like Dave McNally, Jim Palmer, Mike Cuellar and Pat Dobson did for the 1971 Baltimore Orioles?

Would “R2C2” all have to finish in the top ten in ERA in the league, like Mordecai Brown, Ed Reulbach, Jack Pfeister and Carl Lundgren did for the 1906 Chicago Cubs?

Would Mound Rushmore have to dominate the Cy Young Award voting the way Tom Glavine, Greg Maddux and John Smoltz did in the 1990s?

Finally, the biggest question of all: Would anything less than a World Series championship have been considered a failure for the 2011 Philadelphia Phillies?

And that is where the problem arises, for two reasons.

First, as discussed above, the World Series is a crapshoot.  The team that is favored at the beginning of the year is rarely the team that wins, and the team that the conventional wisdom says has the most talented team very rarely wins.

But second, and more importantly for Charlie Manuel and especially Ruben Amaro, all the hub-bub surrounding the Fab Four was obscuring a simple truism regarding the way in which Amaro had conducted the 2010-2011 offseason: by signing Cliff Lee to a huge contract to bring together this amazing pitching staff, Amaro was answering a question that wasn’t being asked while leaving unanswered several questions that were.

In 2010, the Philadelphia Phillies offense was in decline. Oh sure, the team finished second in the National League in runs per game, but the team’s overall numbers were down across the board. The Phils’ power numbers were down, the team on-base percentage was at a five year low, and the offense struggled through several prolonged slumps. Overall, the Phillies scored 772 runs, their fewest runs scored since 2002.

Meanwhile, the Phillies’ pitching staff was the finest that it has been in a while.  In fact, in a long while.  In 2010, the Philadelphia Phillies’ pitchers gave up 640 runs, the fewest runs the Phillies have allowed since…anybody?…1983!  Prior to that, the last time the Phils gave up fewer than 640 was in 1980.

On balance, this makes Ruben Amaro’s off-season gambit a risky one: ignore an inconsistent, aging, and perhaps even declining offense, and bolster the team’s one major asset. 

And it isn’t like Amaro merely maintained the status quo with the Phillies’ offense.  He actually let go of Jayson Werth, who admittedly was overrated in Philly and not worth what the Nationals decided to give him, and failed to do anything whatsoever to replace him.

Frankly, one month ago the Philadelphia Phillies, and more specifically, the expectations set by the Philadelphia Phillies, were a ticking time-bomb for Amaro.  After all, this is a city that gets disgruntled when the Eagles merely make the playoffs, or when the Phillies merely have a winning record.

Here’s an illustrative example of what Phillies fans had in store for themselves this season just one month ago: look at the season Cole Hamels had in 2010.  Hamels was stellar by any measure last season.  He pitched 208.2 innings, he struck out over a batter per inning, he allowed fewer than a hit per inning, and his 3.06 ERA sparkled, especially in a hitters’ park.

But he went 12-11 on the year, and enjoyed five games in which he gave up one earned run or less and came away with either a no-decision or a loss.

And that was with Jayson Werth, and with the offense a year younger than it will be in 2012.

What was going to happen when suddenly all the Phillies’ pitchers were getting no-decisions and losses as a reward for well-pitched games.  What was going to happen when the Greatest Rotation in the History of Baseball was suddenly pitching for a team struggling to make the playoffs because the offense couldn’t put any runs on the board?

Calamity.  An avalanche of despair as the sky-high expectations came rocketing back down to earth.  And Phillies fans never have to ask who to blame; they always know.

That was, of course, a month ago, and a month has changed our world quite a bit.  As my buddy Will so eloquently put it in an email today:

I think we’re f****d. I don’t know what we did to offend the baseball gods (oh, wait, yes I do), but in the less-than-estimable words of Glenn Macnow, they sure seem to want to pick a fight with us.

OK, so we have the best rotation in baseball. That’s a great start. Let’s recount our spring so far.

• Dom Brown goes 0 for 156, then gets a hit, then breaks a bone. Out at least 6 weeks.

• It is announced that Chase Utley, who should have had surgery in November, has a knee “ailment.” I’d bet my one remaining t**ticle that he isn’t playing by June.

• Brad Lidge, who came into Spring Training healthy for the first time since we got him has “biceps soreness.” Isn’t that something that pitchers get in August? Oh yeah – his fastball has topped out a 88mph this spring.

• Polanco leaves today’s game with a hyperextended elbow. Remember how good he was last year BEFORE he hurt his elbow?

Why do I have a feeling that we’re going to be the laughing stock of the league this year? Particularly of Rangers and Yankees fans.

That pretty much sums up the outlook of the Phillies fanbase right about now.  Our train is on a one-way trip to Panic City, and picking up steam in a hurry.  Where once we had boundless optimism, we are now beset by grief-stricken gloom and doom.

So why are Ruben Amaro and Charlie Manuel probably smiling right about now?

Take a look at who Will and Glen Macnow have decided to blame for the gloom and doom.

The baseball gods.

After all, this is kismet.  This is fate.  This is destiny.  This is the karma of the Philadelphia Sports Fan, whose hopes and dreams are always dashed right when they are the most ripe.

The avalanche of Great Expectations has come crashing down in the City of Brotherly Love, and it has somehow swept right past Amaro and Charlie, and they remain unscathed. 

And now, expectations are hilariously, preposterously, impossibly low for this Philadelphia Phillies team, almost to the point that they will be impossible to not meet.  If Utley is playing by the end of May, if Domonic Brown can hit his weight in a platoon with Ben Francisco; if Jesse Barfield’s kid can play second base; is Wilson Valdez can be as sure with the glove as he was last season; if Raul Ibanez can produce any runs whatsoever; if, Heaven forbid Ryan Howard can be the MVP of this team, and Jimmy Rollins can stay on the field, and Shane Victorino can get on base . . .

We’re going to have a pretty good team.  And at this point, that is all the Phillies fans want and expect.

If I were Ruben Amaro, I’d be smiling, too.

Read more Philadelphia Phillies news on BleacherReport.com

Power Ranking the Top 100 Philadelphia Phillies of All Time

Presidents Day has passed.  Pitchers and catchers have reported.  Soon there will be cracks of the bats and gloves in Clearwater, Florida, and the 2011 Philadelphia Phillies will take the field with a view to making history.

For years now, Philadelphia has enjoyed the services of several of the finest players ever to put on the Phillies uniform—guys like Jimmy Rollins, Ryan Howard, Chase Utley and Cole Hamels.

But in the last couple of years, the Phillies have really upped the ante, acquiring Cliff Lee, Roy Halladay, Roy Oswalt and Cliff Lee again in an effort to put together the finest rotation in not only Phillies history, but perhaps baseball history as well.

What better time, then, to take a look at the history of the Philadelphia Phillies and reflect upon the top 100 Philadelphia Phillies of all-time.

It is a list that could very soon be turned on its ear.

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Derek Jeter, Buster Posey And The 2010 MLB Team-by-Team Hall Of Fame Tracker

Derek Jeter has been the subject of much debate in the off-season so far, ranging from his value as a fielder in the Gold Glove voting to his overall value as a player and icon to the New York Yankees.

Here’s a debate that won’t rage long with respect to Jeter: there can be no doubt that Derek Jeter is a no-brainer, first ballot Hall of Famer.

Now that the 2010 season, playoffs, post-season, and award season are all in the books, we have everything we need to take an extended team-by-team look at today’s players and their Hall of Fame potential.

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Philadelphia Phillies: 10 Big Answers to 10 Big Questions for the 2011 Season

What’s that bad taste in my mouth?

No, it’s not left-over Thanksgiving turkey. It is the taste of left-over October Turkey, as in, the bad taste that has been left in my mouth since watching Ryan Howard end the Phillies season with his bat in his hand as he watched a full-count strike three go by him.

Isn’t it crazy how quickly we forget that the Phillies finished the 2010 regular season red-hot and with the best record in baseball?

Looking ahead to the 2011 Phillies season, the Phils have a lot of unanswered questions, the most important of which is: can we do it all again next season?

Let’s have a look.

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Jayson Werth’s Free Agency: Is Hitting 5th for Philadelphia Phillies Difficult?

Jayson Werth’s free agency and impending contract is one of the hot topics in Philadelphia these days. Recently, Werth’s agent Scott Boras (maybe you’ve heard of him) was on talk radio and had the following to say about his client and his time in Philadelphia:

“I think, hitting in the fifth spot in Philadelphia is very difficult. To have the people behind you, certainly [Ryan] Howard and [Chase] Utley enjoyed having Jayson behind them. It’s hard to score a lot of runs. When you’re scoring 100 runs from the fifth spot, you’ve done something pretty unique.

“For a guy with great speed and stolen base efficiency—over the last five or six years, it’s one of the best in baseball—you’re talking about a situation for him where he’s performed very, very well offensively and frankly had very good production numbers even though he’s hitting in the fifth hole.”

So, granted, Boras is just trying to create value for his client. And yes, it’s clearly harder to score 100 runs from the five-hole than it is from the one-to-four holes, but in what universe is doing that in Philly harder than anywhere else in the National League?

Obviously, a lot of guys had off years, but isn’t “American League-like” an adjective often used to describe the Phillies lineup?

What other NL team has a Carlos Ruiz type in the eight-hole? Are we missing something?

At the end of the day, is this a truth about Philly? Or is this just Boras being Boras?

On the one hand, it would be easy to say his point is that although hitting in Philly’s fifth spot is better than most NL fifth spots, it is still not the third spot (where Boras thinks he would normally be hitting). So he’s arguing that because Utley and Howard were in front of him, he was really unable to truly showcase his three-hole talent (speed). Yet he still scored 100 runs, which is impressive.

Basically, he’s arguing that Utley and Howard have inflated runs numbers (particularly Utley) while Werth scores less runs than he should due to his slot in the order. So imagine what he’d score hitting third! He’s trying to counter the impression that Werth has inflated numbers due to the Phillies’ “AL lineup,” etc.

It does work a bit with the runs argument, but the alternate argument is that he should be knocking in 100 RBI in his sleep with those guys ahead of him.

But let’s go deeper.

In one sense, he actually does have a very good point (as much as I hate to admit that).

The natural trend in baseball is that hitters perform better with more men on base, and they perform better the further along the basepaths they are.

Thus, a hitter’s batting average should be higher with a man on first than with the bases empty, and higher still with a man on second, etc.

Now Philadelphia has two guys in Chase Utley and Ryan Howard who have a tendency to clear the bases.  Hitting fifth behind Ryan Howard—who regularly leads the league in RBI and hits tons of home runs, but also strikes out a ton—is going create a lot of bases-empty plate appearances. In the alternative, it will create a lot of two-out plate appearances for Jayson Werth.

Consider this: Jayson Werth batted in the first inning 67 times in 2010 (which strikes me as high for a five spot hitter), which in all likelihood were at-bats where there was at least one out and probably two outs.  Mix in the fact that there are likely men on base AND outs if the five spot hitter is batting in the first, and we all know how well Werth does in those situations.

In those 67 at-bats, Werth hit .094 with a .413 OPS and one home run with 10 RBI.

That’s just one example.

The irony, of course, is that this doesn’t necessarily hold up, because…anyone?

Given what we know about Jayson Werth’s hitting with runners in scoring position (appalling) compared to his hitting with the bases empty (wonderful), he goes against the trend in baseball, and really Werth wants to hit without guys getting on base ahead of him. He wants Utley and Howard to clear the bases. He wants Howard to strikeout or hit home runs.

So, really, when Scott Boras says that hitting fifth is difficult in Philadelphia, what he is really saying is “Jayson Werth has a hard time hitting in Philadelphia because the guys ahead of him get on base so damned much. If the hitters hitting ahead of him were less talented, and he had more bases empty plate appearances, his performance would go through the roof.”

Or something.

At the end of the day, Scott Boras is only interested in overstating Jayson Werth’s value to get some team to pay way too much money for him.

The fact that he makes a relevant point on the way to that is, suffice to say, a coincidence.

Asher B. Chancey lives in Philadelphia and is a co-founder of BaseballEvolution.com.

Read more Philadelphia Phillies news on BleacherReport.com

BaseballEvolution.com: Aaron Hill and the 2010 Dave Kingman Award

When Gus Zernial of the Chicago White Sox and Roy Smalley of the Chicago Cubs won the inaugural Dave Kingman Award way back in 1950, the level of analysis that went into the award was pretty primitive. 

Did they guy hit a lot of home runs? If so, did he have a really low batting average and also a strangely low RBI total? 

Okay, good. Here’s your Dave Kingman Award. 

As baseball enjoyed its statistical revolution of the last 30 years, the Kingman analysis became greatly enhanced. To home runs and on-base percentage we were able to add runs created, OPS, OPS+, adjusted batting runs, WAR, and a host of other offensive statistics, to say nothing of the tacitly present defensive factor, measured by fielding runs, plus/minus, ultimate zone rating, and defensive WAR. 

Indeed, the statistical revolution has brought us into a new era of Dave Kingman analysis, which is really great, because there have certainly been season in which the Kingman candidates have abounded, and simple reference to home runs and on-base percentage haven’t given us the necessary information we’ve needed to parse the Pedro Felizes and the Chris Youngs. 

Where we’ve needed more, we’ve gotten it. 

And so it is, then, that we turn our attention to the 2010 Dave Kingman Award, with an eye towards determining, once again, who in Major League Baseball more than any other player was truly doing the least with the most. 

Let’s have a look: 

Mark Reynolds, Arizona Diamondbacks 

Reynolds will perpetually be a Kingman candidate because of his traditionally high home run and strikeout rates, combined with his traditionally low batting average. This season was no different for the Diamondbacks third baseman, as he hit 32 home runs, but managed only a .198 batting average with 211 strikeouts. 

After becoming the first player ever to strike out 200 times in 2008, he became the first player ever to do it twice in 2009, and in 2010 became the first player ever to do it three times. 

Reynolds was particularly bad in 2010, however. After driving in 102 RBI and scoring 98 runs in 2009, those numbers dropped to 85 and 79. He also had a 150 hits in 2009, and that number dropped to a shocking 99 hits in 596 plate appearances in 2010. The adage regarding strikeouts being just as detrimental to a player as any other out does not apply, it would seem, to Mark Reynolds. 

Brother needs to put some bat on some balls. 

Nevertheless, Reynolds remains just outside of being considered a Kingman clone for a simple reason: in 145 games, Reynolds took 83 walks in 2010, which raised his OBP a surprising 122 points above his batting average. 

There is value there, and while it is not great, it is enough to keep him out of the inner Kingman circle. 

Carlos Pena, Tampa Bay Rays 

Everything we just said about Mark Reynolds pretty much goes for Carlos Pena. He had the same curious combination of below .200 average and above .300 OBP, he hit a shocking number of home runs for a guy who doesn’t seem to make contact with the ball all that often, and he finished with fewer than 100 hits in 144 games. 

Pena is also a pretty bad defensive player, though this is not his reputation. Nevertheless, in this season, he is too good to win the Kingman. 

Adam Lind, Toronto Blue Jays 

It is simply unbelievable that Adam Lind could have consecutive seasons as disparate as the ones he had in 2009 and 2010. Lind went from 35 home runs, 114 RBI, and a .305/.370/.562 to 23 home runs, 72 RBI, and a .237/.287/.425 without even seeing a significant decrease in playing time. He scored almost 40 fewer runs in 2010 (93 vs. 57) and had 44 fewer base hits. 

I mean, what in the name of Jonny Gomes 2006 is going on here? 

In any other season, Lind would likely have walked away with the Dave Kingman Award handily with 23 home runs and a .287 on-base percentage. Throw in his -8.65 adjusted batting runs (second worst for any major leaguer with over 20 home runs) and his 0.1 WAR (wow), and he’d be a shoo-in. 

As it is, he isn’t even the best Kingman candidate in the American League, nor is he the best candidate (spoiler alert) on his own team…

 

Ty Wigginton, Baltimore Orioles 

There are certain things that baseball fans never understand, certain pieces of conventional wisdom that all baseball insiders follow but baseball outsiders can’t comprehend. 

For me, this is that thing: why is it that from time to time a team with no hope of making the playoffs will have a veteran player drastically over-achieve their career performance during the first half of the season and not immediately sell high on that player. 

This year we saw that with two players: when Carlos Silva came out of the gate lights out for the Chicago Cubs, winning his first eight games, the Cubs sat idly by patting themselves on the back for having found such a diamond in the rough. 

Even when it became clear that the Cubs season was going to be a train-wreck (I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt and say mid-May even though, for me, it was mid-March) and they were going to be dealing some players, they held on to Carlos Silva like he was found money. 

Had it been me, as soon as he got to 5-0 and I would have been on the horn with every general manager in baseball offering to give him up to any team willing to take his salary off my hands. When a guy like Silva (career WHIP: 1.397) comes out and looks like the next Derek Lowe for two months, you Sell Sell Sell!!! 

The other player we saw that with in 2010 was Ty Wigginton. Hey look, what do I know? There is a chance that when the 30 year old Wigginton came out and hit .288 with a .934 OPS over the first two months of the season with 13 home runs, 32 RBI, and 23 runs scored on the worst offensive team in baseball, it meant that he had finally figured things out. 

Had it been me, though, again I would have been on the horn with every team in baseball that needed a corner infielder for the fourth, fifth, or sixth spot in their lineup. If you think the Orioles couldn’t have gotten a tasty Double-A pitching prospect, or even a middle infield defensive specialist, in return for the hot hitting Wigginton from a desperate playoff-cusp team, you’re crazy. 

And what, possibly, were the Orioles holding him for? Was the 2011 season going to be built around this guy? 

As it was, the Orioles held on to Wigginton, and enjoyed the business end of a four month stretch from June 1st to the end of the season in which he hit .231 with a .640 OPS and nine home runs the rest of the way. Well play, Mr. Angelos, well played. 

Not only did the Orioles not get anything in return for two months of Wigginton hotness, they also found themselves in possession of a Kingman candidate. 

Aramis Ramirez, Chicago Cubs 

The 2010 National League Dave Kingman Award, and 2010 Major League Baseball Kingman Finalist, must be Aramis Ramirez of the Chicago Cubs. 

Not only did this guy suck on both sides of the ball, but he also $16.75 million to do it. 

As they say in melodramatic action movies when either an infectious disease or an object from space threatens to kill everyone on the planet: 

My. God. 

That Aramis Ramirez didn’t suffer one of the worst full seasons of all time is a testament to his second half. We here at BaseballEvolution.com have an Alex Gonzalez of the Marlins Award for the player who tails off the most after a great first half; in 2010, Ramirez was the bizarro Alex Gonzalez. 

On July 8 of this season, just days before the All Star Break, Ramirez had a .195 batting average with a .254 OBP and a .350 slugging percentage. To that point, through 59 games, A-Ram had nine home runs, 30 RBI, 18 walks and 52 strikeouts. 

Aramis was downright respectable in the second half, though, hitting 16 home runs, 13 doubles, and a triple while batting .285 with an .880 OPS the rest of the way. 

Imagine: despite that performance, he was still our Dave Kingman Award Finalist for the National League. The reason why is simple enough: on the season as a whole, Ramirez finished with the third fewest adjusted batting runs of any player with over 20 home runs in baseball, and fewest in the National League, with -7.93. He enjoyed (or didn’t enjoy) a negative WAR at -0.7, and his .294 on-base percentage was still terrible. 

Indeed, it was a year of which Dave Kingman would have been proud. 

Aaron Hill, Toronto Blue Jays 

Ah, Aaron Hill. I hate to dog an LSU Tiger like this, but Aaron Hill’s 2010 season was a historic one from a “doing the least with the most perspective.” 

Hill’s conventional stats are bad enough on their own to justify giving him the 2010 Kingman Award. Combined with his 26 home runs, Hill had 70 runs, 68 RBI, 22 doubles, 108 hits, and 41 walks. His batting average was a ridiculous .205, and his on-base percentage followed suit at .271. His OPS was a terrible .665, good for a 79 OPS+. 

His more advanced stats were also terrible: 0.8 WAR, -17.5 adjusted batting runs, and 56 runs created. 

But when you go deeper, you realize how terrible these numbers truly are for two reasons. 

First, in 2010 Hill became the sixth player ever to hit more than 25 home runs and have less than -15 batting runs (Hill went 26/-17.5). The other five were Tony Armas (1983), Vinny Castilla (1999), Tony Batista (2003 and 2004), and Jeff Francoeur (2006). 

Important, Armas and Bastista (twice) both won the Kingman Award in their respective years, while Francoeur was the runner-up, to Pedro Feliz, in the controversial 2006 voting. 

But wait… there’s more. 

In 2010, Aaron Hill also became the second player in the history of baseball to hit more than 25 home runs and have an OPS+ under 80, joining only Batista in 2003 (who somehow managed to go 26/73 in 670 plate appearances). 

And there it is: the essence of what it means to win the Dave Kingman Award. A rare combination of home run power and overall valuelessness. At least by this standard, Aaron Hill had the second best Kingman-clone season of all time. 

And for this reason, Aaron Hill is the 2010 Major League Baseball Dave Kingman Award Winner.

 

Asher B. Chancey lives in Philadelphia and is a co-founder of BaseballEvolution.com.

Read more Philadelphia Phillies news on BleacherReport.com

2010 NLCS: 10 Things To Think About During Game 5

The San Francisco Giants are now one game away from winning the 2010 NLCS and advancing to the World Series for the first time since 2002.

Everyone in Philadelphia is thinking the same thing today: if we’re going to come back from down 3-1, at least we’ve got Roy Halladay, Roy Oswalt and Cole Hamels with whom to try to pull it off.

Here’s some other thoughts as the Phillies face the brink of elimination, and perhaps the downside of a dynasty.

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NLCS 2010: 10 Things To Watch For in The Phillies vs. Giants Series

Another day has come and gone, and still no baseball. We hear that there will be a National League Championship Series played soon, but we are beginning to have our doubts. The NLCS allegedly starts on Saturday. We’ll see.

In the meantime, as we continue to prepare to watch baseball, here are some more things to think about ahead of Game 1.

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NLCS 2010: 8 Fun Facts To Read While You Wait

Alright, the NLCS field is all set. It is going to be the Philadelphia Phillies and the San Francisco Giants. The uniforms have been washed, the shoes have been shined, let’s throw on our Roy Halladay replica jerseys and get to the ballpark.

We’re going to be playing some championship baseball in just…five days?!?!?!

Uh, OK.

(Psst: who’s in charge of scheduling around here? Oh right; the networks.)

Anyways, in order to attempt to hold your attention for the next week while we wait for baseball to come around again (seriously, the All-Star break isn’t this long), I’d like to present 10 Fun Facts regarding the Philadelphia Phillies, the San Francisco Giants and the National League Championship Series.

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NLCS 2010: Philadelphia Phillies vs. San Francisco Giants Preview

If you are a fan of the Philadelphia Phillies, this isn’t really the matchup you wanted. If you’re a fan of the San Francisco Giants, this isn’t really who you wanted to see. But if you’re a fan of great pitching, great matchups and great baseball, well, this is exactly what you wanted to see.

The Giants knocked off the Atlanta Braves in Game 4 of the NLDS on Monday (Bobby Cox, we hardly knew ya) and move on to face the Phillies in the National League Championship Series for a chance to go to the World Series.

The matchup pits one of the best teams in baseball for the last five years against one of the best teams in baseball history. While the Phillies are looking to become the first National League team since the St. Louis Cardinals in the 1940s to make three straight World Series appearances, the Giants haven’t been to a World Series since 2002 and are still looking for their first championship since moving to San Francisco.

Here is a look at some of the ins and outs of the upcoming series.

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