Philadelphia Baseball History

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 ...

It’s the off-season again, and we are heading into the Major League’s Winter Meetings.   Not surprisingly, there are rumblings of “tanking” being heard across the land, and proposals on how to combat this evil.   But before falling for the arguments and the proposals, consider the true source of the accusations.   Are teams really risking their box office draw by being bad?   Or is “tanking” just the latest ruse meant to benefit marginal players reaching free agency years. Free agency is a ticket many players see to greater wealth.   A player spends a few years under the control of their team.   Then, once they have a track record of being a consistent major league player, the door is open to negotiate multi-million dollar contracts.   And of course the representatives of the players, the agents who negotiate their contracts, like this arrangement, as they get a cut of their employees’ pay.   Financially, then, there is an incentive among e...

Live In the moment.  You hear that advice from a lot of self help gurus. Don't dwell on the past.  Don't worry about the future. Be happy with the now. This is advice that Phillies fans need to take to heart.  In the second month of the season, the Phillies are seven games above .500.  Sure, there have been a lot of games where the Phillies have been blown out.  But there have been an awful lot more of really exciting games where the Phillies have eaked out victory. It has been fun to watch young players trying hard to keep their spot on the major-league roster. It has been fun to see a starting rotation that has performed above expectations.  It has been fun to see a bullpen that has become consistently reliable.  It has been fun to see those who made allegations of tanking be proven wrong. Is this pace sustainable? Are the Phillies playing above their heads? In the long term can they compete with the Nationals and the Mets for the whole season? ...

At 18-14, this Phillies team has been fun to watch.   Some might even say surprising.   Although, for those who were paying attention in Spring Training, this early season success isn’t that surprising.   This was a team that, according to some pundits, was supposed to be tanking.   Yet the Phils sprinted out to a 10-3 record in the early Spring, and it looked like they didn’t know that they were supposed to lose.   Now, just as the early Spring Training success signaled cautious optimism, so too should this early season success.   There are still over 100 games to go in the regular season.   Nonetheless, watching the pundits react with surprise has been amusing.   Sportswriters, quite frankly, are not known for original thought.   Pre-season prognostication of gloom and doom appeared to be nothing more than lazy group think.   Many of the predictions were based on the dismal 2015 season.   Indeed, ESPN in one article noted...

            Tanking.             Really?             Let me get this straight.   The Phillies front office neglected its minor league system to a point where it was one of the worst in baseball.   The skill and talent from the team that once dominated the National League East got old, got injured, and the talent pool from the minor leagues was not able to replace it.   And now that the Phillies are doing what they can to fix their minor league system, they get lumped into a discussion about tanking?             Let’s take a step back and talk about tanking.   It is an allegation that a team is not working to put together a staff that could be competitive on the major league level specifically for the purpose of taking advantage of highe...