Tom Durso, from the road on a business trip in California, asks, "WTF is up with the Phillies?" Well, Tom, if you can hear me, my opinion is that the current cold streak is just part of the ebb and flow of a 162-game season.
No one in their right mind would have predicted that the team would stay as hot as it was on the previous homestand for the rest of the season, it's just not possible. I think the team came down to earth a bit. To put it another way, the team is now experiencing a little bit of a hangover from one of the better parties they've ever had. Personally, I have no doubt the Phils will get it back on track again, and soon.
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Yesterday's post certainly sparked some serious discussion. For one thing, Becky has made me face the facts that The Search may never end. Thank you Becky for bringing me to reality.
Another point of discussion was regarding my comment that nearly all 610 WIP hosts are interchangeable. That comment may be a bit too "flip", and to be more accurate, I should probably explain further... Essentially, when it comes to Ed Wade and the Phillies, it seems as if all of the hosts/co-hosts make the issues black and white: either the team gets to the World Series or the entire organization is a bunch of losers. Jeff Martin stuck up for his former instructor, and I can't argue with the fact that Macnow is a good fella -- heck, I couldn't pick him out of a crowd of two -- but during the hour or so I listened to, Macnow wasn't even open to the fact that Ed Wade may have made a good move or two in his tenure (signing Thome and trading for Wagner are two that immediately come to my mind, and there are more).
Is Ed Wade the best general manager ever? No. Is Charlie Manuel the best manager ever? No. But niether one are the devil [well, Charlie Manuel is, sort of] and sometimes I think WIP personalities and their listeners lose sight of that fact and forget how far the Phillies have come since the late-1990's. Sure, I'm worried that this group of Phillies won't achieve the types of things we thought and hoped they would, but at least they have people interested in the team again.
And finally, the largest source of conflict among my readers was Bobby Abreu. I've said it before and I'll say it again, Bobby Abreu is one of the most polarizing and perlexing sports personalities there is today.
There is no doubt that Bobby Abreu is a very good baseball player, and there is no doubt that a lot of general managers would trade away many a good prospect in order to get a player like No. 53 on their roster. And really the bottom line is that the "never wrong but always wronged" fans in Philadelphia should go down on bended knee and give thanks for the fact that Abreu plays for the Phightin's.
But, deciding where Abreu fits into the spectrum of talent and value of all the player's in major league baseball is certainly no easy task, no matter how you much of an effort-level you use.
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Speaking of Philadelphia sports fans, last night in a local Main Line watering hole, I witnessed a group of people belt out a good ol' fashioned "E-A-G-L-E-S Eagles!" chant during the NBA's Game 7. Too funny.
