After Wandering the Wilderness, Are the Phillies Ready to Reach the Promised Land?

In a season marred with over ninety losses, a heroic pitching performance stood out for the Phillies. But the man who through a no-hitter for an otherwise dismal team did not return the following season. Instead, he was dealt in a trade that turned around the franchise. 

No, I'm not talking about Cole Hammels and the 2015 Phillies. This is the story of Rick Wise and the 1971 Phillies. 

When you look closely, there are a lot of similarities between the Phillies of the early 1970s and today's Phillies. 1971 marked the first of three seasons in a row when the Phillies lost more than ninety games. Likewise, the Phils lost more than ninety games in each season from 2015 through 2017. 

But even in the early 1970s there was hope. After obtaining Steve Carlton in the Rick Wise trade, the Phillies began to inject new life into the major league team from its farm system. Larry Bowa debuted in 1969. He was followed by the Bull, Greg Luzinski, in 1971, and Bob Boone and Mike Schmidt in 1972. Those players formed the nucleus of the team which began to turn things around in 1974. Complimented with smart trades, this core won over 100 games in 1976, and the first of three NL East Division championships in a row. Eventually, this was the team that won the franchise's first World Championship in its ninety-seven year history in 1980. 

The Cole Hammels trade netted Jorge Alfaro, Nick Williams, Jake Thompson and Jerad Eickhoff. Williams and Alfaro made their major league debuts this year, and look like they are here to stay. Eickhoff, when healthy, has been a staple of the Phillies rotation since 2015.  Add homegrown rookies Rhys Hoskins, and JP Crawford, along with Aaron Nola, and the Phillies seem to have another young nucleus of a team that can compete for years to come. 

The early 1970s Phillies teams, however, would seem to counsel patience for modern fans. After failing to reach the Mendoza Line in his rookie season, it took a while before Schmidt showed signs of becoming the Hall of Famer he eventually was. Even then, it took until 1976 until the Phillies fully turned the franchise into a winner. 

Will it take two more seasons before the current Phils compete for post-season glory?  Well, the modern team has an advantage that the early 1970s team did not: free agency. Indeed, it was not until the Phillies landed Pete Rose through free agency that the team finally reached the pinnacle of success. At that time, free agency was new. The shackles of the reserve clause were just being thrown off. Rose was the gem of an early, sparse free agency market. 

But the next two years will see a highly talented pool of free agents becoming available. And the Phillies have a pile of money available to venture into the free agency market. A combination of shrewd and lucky moves just might push this team into contention earlier than we dreamed back in 2015. 

Will the current Phillies follow the path of the 1970s team and bring another World Championship to Philadelphia?  Time will tell. Until then, we can enjoy the talent of the youth movement, and dream of things to come. 

William J. Kovatch, Jr. 



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