Philadelphia Baseball History

With the 2018 season behind us and the Winter Meetings about to open, it seems like a perfect time for some hot stove discussion on the Phillies.  Watching this team contend for most of the season, and remain in first place until August, was certainly a thrill. But the late season collapse laid bare the Phils’ inadequacies. Young pitching, led by Aaron Nola, kept the team competitive. Poor hitting and defense, however, doomed the Phillies’ early success. Indeed, I felt less confident at the end of this season than I did at the end of last season, where an August and September surge led by the young players gave me hope.  What is clear is that this team needs more than just one player. While I may be pleased should the Phillies acquire Bryce Harper or Manny Machado, that would simply not be enough to address the most serious of holes in this roster.  Starting with the biggest concern, the Phillies’ defense was just horrible. Much of that has been blamed on players playing ou

Much of what has hurt Dick Allen in reaching the Hall of Fame has been his reputation in the press of creating racial divisions on the teams for which he played. This is a reputation that has been perpetuated unfairly. To the contrary, Allen has been caught in a world where American society in general, and baseball in particular, has had to come to grips with racial discrimination. While white America preferred to sweep the problem of racial discrimination under the rug, players such as Allen were outspoken, refusing to let the issue be covered up. It is his outspokenness, when many Americans preferred to turn a blind eye to societal ills, that handicapped Allen’s chances of being inducted into the Hall, and which to this day haunts his candidacy.  Some have called Allen Philadelphia’s Jackie Robinson. And rightly so. Allen’s career was marred by racial discrimination by fans in Philadelphia. His endurance of this mistreatment, while acting as one of the greatest power hitters o

Let the whining begin! I just read an article by Jon Tayler casting aspersions on the Phillies for taking advantage of the market to sign Jake Arrieta to a team-friendly deal, and thereby becoming one step closer to making the play-offs. Tayler accuses the Phillies of engaging in that new dirty word in baseball, “tanking.” The word “tanking” has some seriously negative connotations to it. It creates the notion that a team is essentially throwing games in order to play the rules to get high draft picks and more pool money.  But before getting judgmental, consider who this nomenclature helps. It is designed specifically to arouse fans’ emotions, to push their teams to sign high-priced free agents. That’s right, if you are not signing high-priced, then according to certain sportswriters you are tanking. And who does signing high-priced free agents help?  Sports agents. Sports agents negotiate the deals for the players, and take a cut of the salary as their fee. The higher th

I was on Facebook pursuing a group dedicated to baseball when I saw someone had posted a picture of Mark McGwire as a Cardinal. Immediately under the photo, someone posted a comment that said, “cheater pants.”  I posted that I thought McGwire and Sammy Sosa didn’t get a fair shake. My reasoning is that there was a lot of blame to go around for the steroid era, which included the fans. It was amazing to me how many people responded by denying history and hurling insults at me for daring to defend a cheater. But I stand by what I said. A lot of people were complicit in the steroid era, including the fans.  Let’s go back in time to set the context. The baseball strike of 1994 was catastrophic. Not only did we lose months of baseball, but the Commissioner also cancelled the World Series. Once the strike was settled and the players returned, the fans did not. Baseball, losing popularity, was in a crisis.  Then, something amazing happened. Baseballs were leaving ball parks in drov

This year's off-season has been marked by big name free agent ball players remaining unsigned through the beginning of Spring Training. The situation has left some players and their agents crying foul against the owners. In addition, the union has found itself in conflict with the Commissioner over proposed rule changes allegedly intended to enhance the pace of play.  The emergence of these issues raises the question of whether a labor dispute is brewing for baseball. Starting with the issue of unsigned free agents, this is a problem with two root causes.  The first is the way baseball's economic and salary rules operate.  The second is how teams currently value players. From the point of view of the ball player, if he shows his abilities and talents on the field, he expects to be rewarded.  In particular, baseball's rules can keep a player tied to one team for up to six years after being drafted.  Initially, the player has three years to earn a spot on the team's