Oh No, Our Phillies Are Folding!
Here in Philadelphia, many of us are more inclined to believe four meaningless games in September rather than the 150 games that preceded them.
Oh No, Our Phillies Are Folding!
Frank Fitzpatrick, Inquirer Sports Columnist
I don’t care how many division titles the Phillies have won in succession, you can’t take the Philadelphia out of Philadelphians.
Despite the greatest regular season in Phillies history, a couple of meaningless losses in meaningless games has much of this city’s fan base in a red-(and-white)hot panic mode.
Hey, that’s how we roll.
We aren’t built for sustained success. We don’t believe good things will happen until an hour after they do. Even if we didn’t personally endure 1964 or know anything about Black Friday, the residue of those baseball disasters boils in our DNA.
You can hear it in the voice of homegrown broadcaster Chris Wheeler every time a late rally threatens a Phillies lead. You can hear it in the tone of agitated talk-show callers, read it in terror-filled Tweets.
Just as surely as Midwesterners are cheerily optimistic, Philadelphians are dark-souled pessimists. The negativity drapes our city like some gigantic Klaes Oldenburg work.
That’s not necessarily a bad thing. We are not saps. We are not born suckers. You can’t fool us, because we never trusted you to begin with.
So when the Phillies drop four straight immediately after clinching another NL East title, you can hear a collective “Here we go!” ring through the city. Suddenly, every minor flaw becomes a major concern.
Chase Utley is done. Hunter Pence is lame. Roy Halladay is arm weary. Cole Hamels is worrying about his next contract. Ryan Howard is not only hurt but he chokes in the big games. Michael Stutes is back on planet earth. Antonio Bastardo’s confidence is shot. Brad Lidge has no fastball.
The sky is falling! The sky is falling!
Maybe this September swoon means something. Maybe it doesn’t. We won’t know until October. That’s what makes postseason baseball so intriguing.
So relax. Take a deep breath. Have a beer. Smile.
Your Phillies just might win another World Series -- assuming those choking dogs don’t lie down again like they did against the Giants a year ago.
Don't matter to me if the Phillies were undefeated going into this series... To lose 3 in a row to these pathetic third-tier Nationals is putrid and the Bleeping team should br embarrassed with themselves to play so poorly vs garbage like Washington— Ashburn072- This hitting problem is not new. This is serious. They have gone from amazing in the first half of 2009 to very inconsistent by the end of that year. They got Milt Thompson fired in 2010 scored eleven the next game and returned to this downward spiral immediately. They got spoiled by their awesome hitting in 2008 and have lost the fundamentals that made it possible. Many players become very selfish following a WS ring and they start playing for stats and big money. This goes for all sports. Jimmy and Shane would be better off hitting for OBP instead of the fences. Sure would make Ryan's and Chase's jobs easier. And the pitchers? Our big three have lost many, many excellent outings for lack of run support. Two to one, three to two and so on. I don't think any of them have a serious chance for CY Young. If some one doesn't shake the hitters out of these bad habits they will fail. Yes, they could lose in the first series. If they don't wake up they will NOT see the worlds series this year. Bank it!— Neil B
- I don't like the looks of the team right now either, but let's hope they're having their slump at just the right time, posed to rebound somewhere around October 1. Anyone have stats on how long these (all too frequent) batting freezes tend to last?— bmack
E-mail Frank here or follow him on Twitter. Reach Frank at ffitzpatrick@phillynews.com.
