S.O.S. Phillies are S(t)inking

Imagine you are playing poker with your buddies. The hand you've been dealt flat out stinks. No good cards at all. Maybe if you exchange a card or two with the dealer something will turn out. Luck would have it that the cards you get in exchange are worth absolutely nothing and you have to fold. Meanwhile those cards you traded in go on later to help your buddy win a couple hands.

Now, I'm not a poker player at all, but I have to imagine that this is kind of what the feeling is with the Phillies organization at this point. As we all know, the Phillies are in a state of turmoil and the fans are getting more and more restless. Of course the angry fans will say they know what to do and that the general manager Ed Wade is incompetent at his job, as well as the manager Charlie Manuel, and the players themselves. Heck, things are so bad with the organization right now the hot dog vendors may not be up to their job either! It is painfully obvious what needs to be done with this team. Royal flush everything.

You can start with the ownership or the general manager. As much as I would love to see the team sold to an owner we can put a face too, I realize that will not happen anytime soon. So we start with the general manager. Ed Wade's job security is now a published issue as the rumors of a firing are out there in the media. I personally believe it is year's overdue. Wade has failed to bring in players who will push this team to the playoffs in his tenure here. Not once. Every other team in the National League East, except the Montreal Expos who have been in a league of their own, has been to the World Series! What is worse is the Florida Marlins have won the whole thing twice. Twice! And they passed the Phillies in the standings along the way to their second championship run, literally. Want to know how? By bringing in key players at the trade deadline. Jeff Conine single handedly eliminated the Phillies from the playoffs on that push a couple years ago. Some Phillies fans clamored for Conine to come to town. We can also analyze the managerial situation.

The Phillies used to have a guy by the name of Terry Francona. Now, I realize he now owns a World Series ring, but I must say that I could have managed the Red Sox to a World Series championship with that lineup and pitching. Francona was a guy who coddled and nursed his team, including Scott Rolen. The team floundered year after year and the organization claimed they needed a guy to light the fire for this team. So they bring in fan favorite Larry Bowa. Bowa found a way to have a winning record each season he was here, and came close to the post season twice. Mistakes were made though and it was publicized that the team did not like him because he was too hard on the players when they didn't live up to the expectations of them. Pardon me if I don't cry. So the organization decides to go back and get the player-friendly manager, Charlie Manuel. Wade will tell you that Manuel is experienced at the professional level by saying he's managed over 1600 professional games and won over 90 games with Cleveland a few years back. With Jim Thome, Albert Belle, Roberto Alomar, Manny Ramierez, David Justice and more all in one lineup it is no wonder so many games were won. One World Series appearance and they lost to the Atlanta Braves, the biggest postseason chokers in history. Also, Manuel managed a bunch of those games in Japan and in the minor leagues. Jim Leyland, the popular fans pick for Phillies managerial successor to Bowa, must be sitting at home laughing at the team now (as I'm sure Bowa would be too). The Phillies brought in guys on a "world wide" search for Bowa's successor, but the feeling is Manuel was Thome's buddy and that is how he got the job. The team used Bowa as their reason for failing the past few years. Guess what guys. You can't blame Bowa anymore, but you can still blame the manager.

The philosophy with the club in terms of their players is generally "they will come around and everything will be alright." They also claim that certain young players are untouchable in their farm system and team. The problem is, the Phillies don't have a good farm system anymore. And the players the fans are told will be great fail to produce. Chase Utley is the best example. Because Manuel likes to keep his players happy he continues to play Placido Polanco at second base, even though it is widely known that Utley is the second baseman for this team ten years from now. David Bell has been underachieving at third from day one. Sit Bell, move Polanco to third, play Utley at second. If Polanco complains that's too bad. Utley is being robbed of prospering on a daily basis with this team and until a manager with the ablility to realize what's best for the team's chances of winning comes in, as opposed to keeping everyone happy, he will continue to be denied.

I know I'm covering a lot of ground here with what is wrong with the team, but that is just the sad truth. There are a lot of things wrong with the team. Ever since the team backstabbed their manager I have been turned off and disgusted with these players. Well that is not true. I've been disgusted with this team's efforts ever since...1994?

Time for a new hand to be dealt.