Monday, October 02, 2006
Season Review: Opening Day to the Trading Deadline
Wow what a season it was. For the second straight year, the Phillies will finish the year with a better record than a playoff team. This team has made major progress during Pat Gillick’s first year. Chase Utley and Ryan Howard became all-stars. Cole Hamels was fast-tracked to the majors and developed well. Brett Myers appears ready to pair with Hamels to provide a very good 1-2 punch. Geoff Geary was a solid, underappreciated reliever all year. Shane Victorino played his heart out after Aaron Rowand’s injury and will be fighting for a starting job next year. Chris Coste provided the most heart-warming story in some time in professional sports. A twelve year minor leaguer finally got his shot and performed well enough to earn a spot on the roster next year.
The Phillies began this year with lower expectations than in past years. The major additions by Gillick were Sal Fason, Alex Gonzalez, Abe Nunez, Flash Gordon, and Ryan Franklin through free agency. Aaron Rowand, Arthur Rhodes, and David Delluci from trades were brought in. Ryan Madson and Gavin Floyd earned jobs in the starting rotation out of spring training and Ryan Howard hit 11 home runs only foreshadowing an impressive sophomore season. Then came opening day. Personally, maybe my favorite day of the year. Jon Lieber took the mound versus the St. Louis Cardinals and got shelled. The Phillies were swept in the opening series and would not win a game until Bobby Abreu hit a game-winning home run against the Los Angeles Dodgers. During the off-season the players talked about getting off to a quick start, but it was not meant to be. The Phillies struggled through April, but in May they caught fire. They took 2 of 3 from the Mets in the first series of the season in the highly anticipated return of Billy Wagner. The crowd was enthusiastic and the home crowd witnessed Aaron Rowand break his nose running into a fence to catch a ball and save the game. Needless to say, Philly fell in love with Rowand after this catch. A three game set with the Cincinnati Reds arrived and Cole Hamels made his major league debut. Hamels pitched shut out ball for five innings. In the last game of the series, Howard entered the game as a pinch-hitter in the 8th and hit the game tying home run and followed that up with the game winning home run in the 12th inning. Quite an impressive performance by Howard, who didn’t start the game because of illness. The Phillies appeared to be in the race for the long haul but then June rolled around.
June was not kind to the Phillies. The starting pitchers were brutal and they often were playing from behind. The bright spots were the hitting of Ryan Howard and Chase Utley along with the pitching of Tom Gordon. All three would be selected as NL all-stars in July. The Phillies were futal against the AL during interleague play and Brett Myers was arrested from hitting his wife. Management mishandled the incident by allowing Myers to start the next day and not issuing a statement until four days after the arrest. The backlash was very negative both in Philly and nationwide. Myers subsequently took a leave of absence until after the all-star break. Around this time, Utley started his 35 game hitting streak that would last into early August. Ryan Howard made a national name for himself during the home run derby. He won 500 free airline flights for a lucky individual on his last home run. Unlike last year when the derby seemed to sap Abreu of his power, this year the derby set Howard up for a very impressive second half. The Phillies continued to stumble and Gillick began looking at his options as the trading deadline approached.
There much speculation at the trading deadline. How would Gillick approach his first trading deadline with the Phillies. Would he make minor changes or overhaul the roster. Many people wanted the overhaul and Gillick obliged. The first to go was David Bell in a trade to the Milwaukee Brewers. They acquired a 22 year old RHP, Wilfredo Laureano. This trade was met with enthusiasm, but turned 3rd base over to Abe Nunez who would finish the season hitting barely above the Mendoza line. Sal Fasano was dealt to the New York Yankees after he was designated for assignment. In exchange they received Hector Made, a 2nd base prospect. Then Pat Gillick dropped a bomb. I must admit I was surprised when it actually happened. I heard all the rumors, but didn’t think anything would materialize. Gillick traded Bobby Abreu and Cory Lidle to the Yankees for four minor league players. They are SS C.J. Henry, LHP Matt Smith, C Jesus Sanchez, and RHP Carlos Monasterios. Then Rheal Cormier exited stage left a day later in a trade to the Cincinnati Reds for Triple A RHP Justin Germano. Lastly the Phillies traded Ryan Franklin also to the Reds after the Phillies designated him for assignment. In exchange they got Single A RHP Zac Scott. A complete overhaul and a GM saying wait until 2008 put a damper on the rest of the year, but the players had one more major act waiting for the phans and it was the best act of the year.
The Phillies began this year with lower expectations than in past years. The major additions by Gillick were Sal Fason, Alex Gonzalez, Abe Nunez, Flash Gordon, and Ryan Franklin through free agency. Aaron Rowand, Arthur Rhodes, and David Delluci from trades were brought in. Ryan Madson and Gavin Floyd earned jobs in the starting rotation out of spring training and Ryan Howard hit 11 home runs only foreshadowing an impressive sophomore season. Then came opening day. Personally, maybe my favorite day of the year. Jon Lieber took the mound versus the St. Louis Cardinals and got shelled. The Phillies were swept in the opening series and would not win a game until Bobby Abreu hit a game-winning home run against the Los Angeles Dodgers. During the off-season the players talked about getting off to a quick start, but it was not meant to be. The Phillies struggled through April, but in May they caught fire. They took 2 of 3 from the Mets in the first series of the season in the highly anticipated return of Billy Wagner. The crowd was enthusiastic and the home crowd witnessed Aaron Rowand break his nose running into a fence to catch a ball and save the game. Needless to say, Philly fell in love with Rowand after this catch. A three game set with the Cincinnati Reds arrived and Cole Hamels made his major league debut. Hamels pitched shut out ball for five innings. In the last game of the series, Howard entered the game as a pinch-hitter in the 8th and hit the game tying home run and followed that up with the game winning home run in the 12th inning. Quite an impressive performance by Howard, who didn’t start the game because of illness. The Phillies appeared to be in the race for the long haul but then June rolled around.
June was not kind to the Phillies. The starting pitchers were brutal and they often were playing from behind. The bright spots were the hitting of Ryan Howard and Chase Utley along with the pitching of Tom Gordon. All three would be selected as NL all-stars in July. The Phillies were futal against the AL during interleague play and Brett Myers was arrested from hitting his wife. Management mishandled the incident by allowing Myers to start the next day and not issuing a statement until four days after the arrest. The backlash was very negative both in Philly and nationwide. Myers subsequently took a leave of absence until after the all-star break. Around this time, Utley started his 35 game hitting streak that would last into early August. Ryan Howard made a national name for himself during the home run derby. He won 500 free airline flights for a lucky individual on his last home run. Unlike last year when the derby seemed to sap Abreu of his power, this year the derby set Howard up for a very impressive second half. The Phillies continued to stumble and Gillick began looking at his options as the trading deadline approached.
There much speculation at the trading deadline. How would Gillick approach his first trading deadline with the Phillies. Would he make minor changes or overhaul the roster. Many people wanted the overhaul and Gillick obliged. The first to go was David Bell in a trade to the Milwaukee Brewers. They acquired a 22 year old RHP, Wilfredo Laureano. This trade was met with enthusiasm, but turned 3rd base over to Abe Nunez who would finish the season hitting barely above the Mendoza line. Sal Fasano was dealt to the New York Yankees after he was designated for assignment. In exchange they received Hector Made, a 2nd base prospect. Then Pat Gillick dropped a bomb. I must admit I was surprised when it actually happened. I heard all the rumors, but didn’t think anything would materialize. Gillick traded Bobby Abreu and Cory Lidle to the Yankees for four minor league players. They are SS C.J. Henry, LHP Matt Smith, C Jesus Sanchez, and RHP Carlos Monasterios. Then Rheal Cormier exited stage left a day later in a trade to the Cincinnati Reds for Triple A RHP Justin Germano. Lastly the Phillies traded Ryan Franklin also to the Reds after the Phillies designated him for assignment. In exchange they got Single A RHP Zac Scott. A complete overhaul and a GM saying wait until 2008 put a damper on the rest of the year, but the players had one more major act waiting for the phans and it was the best act of the year.
