The Heart of The Phillies

 

 

I’ve been a Phillies fan as long as I can remember.  I remember going to the Vet with my father as a kid to see guys like Mike Schmidt, Lenny Dykstra, John Kruk, Darren Daulton, Curt Schilling, and Mitch “Wild Thing” Williams.  Most of those guys all played on the same team.  Mike Schmidt is still one of my favorite Phillies of all time, but the rest of that list is the first team I fell in love with as a kid.  Schmidt retired a Phillie, he spent his whole career in Philadelphia.  Dykstra retired with the Phillies, but started with the Mets.  Kruk only spent a short time in Philadelphia, he came up with the Padres and played for the White Sox for a year or two after leaving Philly.  His time with the White Sox was not memorable.  Dutch left a few years after the World Series run in 94 to go to the Marlins.  Schilling was probably the best player on the team in 93.  He started with the Orioles.  He left Philly after some bad seasons for the team.  He was still the only bright spot during those years.  Other than him Mike Lieberthal was our best player.  Schilling left to go to the Diamondbacks.  He won a World Series with them in 01.  After that he went on to the Red Sox and played for a few more years where he was part of two World Series teams.  I always cheered for him and was happy for his success.  Wild Thing left right after the World Series.  He was run out of town by the fans after giving up that (this still hurts to think about) home run to Joe effing Carter.

Around the year 2000 some new players were playing for the Phillies.  Scott Rolen was at 3^rd and he was supposed to be the new Mike Schmidt and Jimmy Rollins was at short stop.  We had guys like Bobby Abreu and Jim Thome playing in the field as well.  It should have been a great time to be a Phillies fan but we sucked still.  Rolen left, we traded Thome, and eventually traded Abreu.  The one that stuck around was J-Roll.  In 2007 Rollins won the MVP.  The first MVP won by a Phillies player since Mike Schmidt.  2007 was also the first year the Phillies made the playoffs and won their division since 1993.  At the beginning of that season Jimmy said the Phillies would win the division.  All of a sudden all the years of being a Phillies fan were about to pay off.  The team in 2007 came from 9 games back in September to pass the Mets for the division lead.   We had guys coming into their zone.  A new era of Phillies greats, Ryan Howard, Chase Utley, Cole Hamels, Shane Victorino, Pat Burrel, Carlos “Chooch” Ruiz, and Jayson Werth.  The Phillies were swept that year in the first round by the Colorado Rockies.  It was hard to watch, but it was the first time I could remember having hope for the next season.

The next season happened and Jimmy Rollins predicted the Phillies would win 100 games.  At the end of the season the Phillies once again won the division.  However the only way they would win 100 games would be to make to the World Series.  The record at the end of the season was 92-70.  Heading into the World Series that season they had 99 wins.  4 wins later and they had lifted the trophy and were World Champions for the first time in my life.  Jimmy did more to get the team to the playoffs than predict wins.  He had key hits along the way to lift the team when they needed it most.  In game 5 of the NLCS he led off the game with a home run.  The Phillies never looked back. 

The Phillies never reached the peak again after 2008.  In 2009 they lost to the Yankees in the World Series.  In 2010 they lost to the Giants in the NLCS.  In 2011 they lost to the Cardinals in the NLDS.  It was all disappointing.  The core never changed during those 5 years of playoff appearances.  Victorino, Hamels, Howard, Utley, Werth, Chooch, and most of all Rollins were keys to our success.  Sure the Phillies added pieces.  We brought in Cliff Lee, Doc Halladay, Roy Oswalt, Jonathan Papelbon, Hunter Pence, and Raul Ibanez to help get the team back.  In 2011 the Phillies won 102 games.  None of that mattered.  Life as a Phillies fan changed.  We went from the fans of a team that lost 10,000 games as an organization to a team that has won the World Series and competed with the top teams in the league.  Our expectations changed.  We were no longer happy with winning a few games a year.  Now we expected playoff runs.  Then making the playoffs wasn’t enough we needed deep October runs in the playoffs. 

 Now in 2014 I would be happy to make the playoffs, but I’m just happy winning a few games here and there too.  As long as we win against the Nationals, Braves, and Mets, I am usually a happy person.  But in 2012 Werth left the Phillies.  That stung a lot.  He was a key guy in our 2008 run through the playoffs.   He was one of my favorite players.  Now I have to watch him do the things he did for Philly for the Nationals in the playoffs.   Maybe after he retires I’ll be able to be happy for his accomplishments since he left Philly, but now it hurts too much.  Then Victorino left a couple of years ago.  He won a World Series with the Red Sox.  Cliff Lee left and came back.  Doc lost his speed and shut it down.  Oswalt was dealt away.  Papelbon seems to be willing to tear this team apart from inside the clubhouse.  Pence was traded to the Giants and has won two World Series.  Burrel went to the Giants and won the World Series in 10.  Ibanez left and had a good year or two with the Yankees.  Meanwhile we have kept the core together or Hamels, Chooch, Howard, Utley, and Rollins.  Even after the last 3 years of losing we could still look forward to seeing these guys put on the Red Pinstripes and play ball.

After yesterday the one player that was there through the bad and then the good and then the bad again was traded.  Jimmy Rollins not wearing a Phillies uniform in 2015 might be the hardest thing I will have ever been asked to do as a fan.  Regardless of all the locker room drama that you may hear about Jimmy Rollins he is a Philly guy.  This has been his team and he gave all for them for 14 seasons.  I wanted him to go out the way guys like Jeter, Ripken, and Schmidt did, with the teams that gave them a chance.  I knew and was willing to accept that Howard, Hamels, Chooch, and even Utley were on the trading block this season.  I know the Phillies need to rebuild if they want to compete again in the near future.  I guess deep down I knew it was a possibility that Rollins would be traded too.  I really just didn’t want to believe it.

If the others are sent away in the off season it will certainly be the beginning of a new era in Philly.  I hope that we might find the next Jimmy Rollins or the next Mike Schmidt in that group of youngsters.  Maybe they don’t even play in the Phillies system yet.  Maybe they will be acquired through one of these trades.  Win or Lose I will always be a Phillies fan.  There are just too many memories to walk away from for me.  Too many visits to the Vet with my dad.  Too many trips to Wrigley with my grandparents to see the Cubs play the Phillies.  Too many trips to Citizens Bank park with my wife.  I don’t know who we will cheer on in 2015 but it will be the guys wearing Phillies uniforms.  At least I know they will never trade the Philly Phanatic.  Man I love that guy.