The end of Amaro's era - and Gillick's - with the Phillies

In this Phillies season of ending eras, two more came to a close Thursday at Citizens Bank Park. Only one of the two was made official. Ruben Amaro Jr. was shown the exit, ending his seven-year run as general manager and a 20-year stretch with the organization. By opting out of being part of the announcement, Pat Gillick also submitted his symbolic resignation as team president.

The two men up front to explain the decision were incoming president Andy MacPhail and John Middleton, the suddenly very visible and vocal leader of the Phillies' ownership group. They are the men responsible for trying to reverse the second great fall in franchise history.

Gillick and Amaro, on the other hand, played a huge part in the second great run in the franchise's history, a span from 2007 through 2011 that included five division titles, two National League pennants, and a World Series title. They also, however, had their fingerprints all over the recent decline. We do not know where MacPhail and Middleton will take this franchise, but they will do well to repeat much of the work that was turned in by Gillick and Amaro.

Listen to Middleton and he obviously has unbridled faith in MacPhail.

"Let me tell you what I think and what I've told Andy he needs to do," Middleton said. "He needs to hire himself."

Middleton's long-winded point was that the Twins hired MacPhail as an unknown and unproven GM at the age of 31 and celebrated two World Series titles during his tenure. He noted that MacPhail was "constantly pushing himself to get better." The part-owner was over the top in his praise of MacPhail. Yes, it's impressive that he had two World Series rings before he turned 40, but it should also be noted that he has not won another title since 1991.

Gillick, 78, admitted that in roughly 45 days he will officially relinquish his title of team president. He said he is unsure about what he will do next. His legacy is safe here. He was the GM when the team won it all and held only a special adviser's title during most of the great fall.

Amaro, 50, has a more complicated history here. He collected a paycheck from the Phillies for 22 of the last 24 years. During that time, he was a player on one team that went to the World Series, an assistant general manager on another team that won a World Series, and the general manager of a team that went back to the World Series the following year. He's a Philly kid whose father with the same first name also played with and coached for the Phillies.

Those things alone should account for some good feelings about his work, and they did from Middleton.

"Ruben has a long history with the Phillies," Middleton said. "He started as a bat boy in 1980, continued as a player. He was here for our glory years. As an assistant general manager for 10 years, he helped and contributed significantly to rebuilding the organization from the depths of the late '90s that led to the world championship in 2008.

"As our GM, he won three consecutive division titles and the 2009 National League pennant. Along the way, he assembled one of the greatest pitching rotations in baseball history."

Still, what he will be remembered for most around here will be his work since 2011, when the Phillies' kingdom rapidly crumbled. Some of that is deserved. He made some awful decisions along the way, but when former team president David Montgomery used to defend Amaro by saying the Phillies made group decisions, it was true.

Gillick, in fact, was emphatic about the most important role of any general manager or baseball leader.

"No, I don't think the job has changed and I am in the minority on that," he said. "The job is about hiring the right people. You can talk about everything you want to talk about, but it's hiring the right people and slotting them in the right spots so they can be successful. That's the whole gig."

Maybe that was Amaro's downfall. The advice on what he should have gotten in return for Cliff Lee from Seattle obviously was not good. The Ryan Howard signing turned into a disaster, although it's fair to wonder how much Montgomery had to do with that decision. Gillick said he could not comment when asked if Amaro's hands were tied on some things. Making Jonathan Papelbon the highest-paid closer in baseball history backfired from a clubhouse chemistry standpoint, and there were lots and lots of other mistakes as well.

Ill-advised comments did not help Amaro's cause either.

Middleton admitted he was not pleased when Amaro said in late May that "fans don't understand the game." That came after his offseason claim that the Phillies would be better off without Howard, a true statement that would have been better left unspoken.

Oddly, Amaro may have done some of his best work in his final days here.

"I had the chance to watch him personally navigate through the trade deadline and I think the organization is going to bear the fruits of his labor for years to come," MacPhail said.

Gillick, in fact, believes Amaro altered the opinions of some with the trades he made.

"I think they have a lot more positive feeling about Ruben and the direction the club is headed than they would have said at the beginning of April," he said.

Perhaps, but the feeling that it was time for him to go had not really changed. And MacPhail finally placed the stamp of disapproval on Amaro's body of work on Thursday.