Thanks to Gillick, Phillies dared to be great

Baseball is filled with delicious coincidences and, look, here comes one now.

On Sept. 23, the movie "Moneyball" will hit the theaters with Brad Pitt playing the role of maverick Oakland Athletics general manager Billy Beane. If it's anything like the best-selling book it's based on, it will take an illuminating look at Beane's attempts to outsmart richer teams, largely through pioneering statistical methods.

The day after tomorrow, a day shy of 2 months earlier, Pat Gillick will become just the fourth team architect inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame, joining Branch Rickey, Ed Barrow and George Weiss.

In the book, Beane is memorably depicted as a general manager who didn't watch games live, not wanting the conclusions he drew from the numbers to be muddled by what he observed on the field.

This is not a criticism of the innovative Beane, by the way. He simply copes with the limitations that come with his situation. He might behave differently if he worked for a deep-pocketed club. And the reality is that most teams, including the Phillies under Gillick, have borrowed at least some of his philosophies.

The thing about Gillick, though, is that even in an era when it sometimes seems impossible to get a real human being on the phone during a customer service call, he never stopped believing in the personal touch. Before acquiring a player, whenever possible, he liked to sit down with him, look him in the eye, get a sense of what he was all about. At heart, he always remained an old-time scout.

And it worked. Gillick became the first general manager of the expansion Toronto Blue Jays. Before he left, the franchise had five division championships and bookend World Series trophies. He helped Baltimore and Seattle make the playoffs. At age 68, he came out of semiretirement. Two years later, the Phillies made the playoffs for the first time in 14 years. A year later, they won it all.

That alone would be enough to justify his inclusion in Cooperstown. But during his brief time in Philadelphia, just three seasons running the show, he did something even more impressive. He helped change the mindset of an entire organization.

Before, the Phillies were a pretty conservative group. They'd occasionally make a splashy move, such as signing Jim Thome. For the most part, though, they were careful not to crawl too far out on the financial limb.

Gillick, in his understated way, came to town with his cowboys boots and Hawaiian shirts and shook up the status quo. He had the hammer because of the cred he brought from winning everywhere he'd been and because, honestly, the Phillies needed him more than he needed them at that point.

Gillick convinced management that it was all right to fail, even to fail spectacularly, from time to time. See: Adam Eaton and Freddy Garcia. It was part of the price of daring to be great.

Next thing you know, there's a parade down Broad Street.

Success begot success. The Phillies began selling out Citizens Bank Park every time the gates opened. Revenues increased accordingly. Suddenly, even the biggest names in baseball, names like Roy Halladay and Cliff Lee and Roy Oswalt, were in play. Suddenly, committing $125 million to keep Ryan Howard wasn't unthinkable. Suddenly, the Phillies were being mentioned in the same breath as the Yankees and Red Sox.

That's the result of a combination of factors. But it's not a stretch to say that Gillick helped put the forces in motion that led to this, that his greatest legacy to the Phillies is not the big, shiny trophy that was hoisted in 2008. It's his contribution to helping create a culture in which it's not unreasonable to believe that more could follow.

PHAIR AND PHOUL

Add Gillick: The Toronto Sun reports that, among those invited to attend Sunday's induction by Pat Gillick, is 58-year-old Howard Hart. They met when he was a beer vendor at Camden Yards and Gillick was the Orioles general manager. It's just another example of the inclusive approach of the former Phillies general manager and current consultant. "He treated me like I was his equal," Hart told the paper.

Tweetaholic: Last winter, veteran reliever Jason Grilli broke the news he was signing a minor league contract with the Phillies on his Twitter account. Now, he's announced that he's going to sign with the Pirates. "Black & Yellow! Black & Yellow! Black & Yellow! Cannot wait to join the new squadron," he wrote. The Phillies granted Grilli his release from the Triple A Lehigh Valley IronPigs, where he had a 1.93 ERA in 28 games, on Wednesday.

Trade winds: The New York Daily News reports that the Mets would not hesitate to trade Carlos Beltran to a division rival like the Phillies or Braves. And Yahoo Sports! posts that the Mets have given Beltran, who has veto rights, a list of teams to consider that includes the Phillies.

The Phillies have also been linked to Astros outfielder Hunter Pence, even though there was some question whether he was even available. Apparently both he and former Phillie Michael Bourn can be had in the right deal. "We're open-minded to listen on anything," general manager Ed Wade told the Houston Chronicle. "At the end of the day, we can always say no."

The invisible men: Ben Francisco opened the season as the everyday rightfielder. He has just one start, and a total of eight at-bats, since July 3.

Wilson Valdez at the start of the year was the first infield option of the bench in case of injury. With Michael Martinez having taken over that role, he's been on the field just twice with a total of four at-bats since July 9.

Righthander Danys Baez has pitched once since July 6. For the season, he's come into the game with the Phillies ahead by less than five runs just twice.

Righthander David Herndon has been called out of the bullpen just twice since July 6, once with the Phillies down by six in the fifth and once with his team losing by four in the seventh.

Boop's corner: The incomparable Bob Vetrone Jr. notes that the Phillies are 18-1 when Chase Utley scores a run and 11-1 when Michael Martinez crosses the plate.

AROUND THE BASES

Throwing up: After a fan fell to his death at the Ballpark in Arlington trying to catch a ball tossed to him by Rangers outfielder Josh Hamilton, other players have had to give the seemingly casual gesture more thought. "If you watch, I never throw it to the railing," Giants centerfielder Aaron Rowand told the San Jose Mercury News. "I throw it to the middle of the crowd. You lob it. You don't fire it, because you don't want to hurt anybody. And you make sure everyone in the area is looking at you when you throw so nobody gets blindsided on the side of the head."

Lights, camera . . . action?: Back-to-back nationally televised Rays home games helped highlight the shortcomings of Tropicana Field, but also provided a soap box for team president Matt Silverman to appeal for a new stadium. "Our situation has become a distraction," he preached. "It is affecting the clubhouse and it spills over onto the field of play. It damages the reputation of St. Pete and Tampa and it harms the Rays brand," he told the St. Petersburg Times.

Ozzie quote of the week: After losing to soft-tossing Royals lefthander Bruce Chen for the second time in 2 weeks Wednesday night, White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen's frustrations with his lineup boiled over. "Nothing more painful than losing the [expletive] game to Bruce Chen once again," he ranted. "[Expletive] pathetic. No [expletive] energy. We just go by the motions . . . A [expletive] approach at the plate for the 90th time."

NUMEROLOGY

 1: Team in the major leagues or Triple A, including the Mexican League, without a hitter with 10 or more home runs this season. That would be your defending world champion San Francisco Giants.

5: Shutouts by Rangers pitching, plus two more games in which they allowed just one run, during the 12-game winning streak that ended Wednesday.

13.8: Pitches thrown per inning by Pittsburgh's Jeff Karstens, the most efficient in baseball.

19: Times the Red Sox have batted around.

FINALLY

 Defending world champion Giants will make their obligatory trip to the White House on Monday, the day before opening a three-game series against the Phils at Citizens Bank Park. And the big question, of course, is what crazed closer Brian Wilson will wear. Maybe the Spandex tuxedo he wore to the ESPYs?

"He may have to break it out. But I don't know if they'll let him in wearing that," manager Bruce Bochy told Bay Area reporters, but adding soothingly: "I think it'll go all right. They're well behaved. They may not look it, but they are."

Come to think of it, no way Wilson would wear the tux again. He doesn't seem like the kind of guy to wear the same outfit twice, does he?