What will the Phils do?
Digg It!Well, gang, let's face it. We've been here before. Every single year, it seems. And every year we seem to blow one against the Nationals with three games left and a 1/2 game lead. But let's not pretend that it's not ours for the taking. Tied for the wild card lead with 6 to play. The team we're tied with, the Padres, seem to be on the verge of a collective meltdown. The team right behind us, the Colorado Rockies, are red hot. But that is irrelevant. The Phils control their own destiny, which is all you can really ask for with a week left in the season. So what should we as fans do at this point? Throw caution to the wind, and BELIEVE? Or realize that this team is going to go down in history as the biggest tease ever, missing the playoffs by a single game every single year for the rest of our freaking lives?
I'm inclined to say this may well be another par for the course type year where the Phils just miss. At this point, they have a better chance of winning the division then the wild card, because the competition for the latter is too tight and the Mets are barely hanging on. The Phils have been pretty hot down this home stretch, but the Pads are a good team even without Bradley and the Rockies, to everybody's surprise, are hot.
Other notes; that month-long injury cost your boy Utley the MVP this year, which is a shame because he had a solid year otherwise. I'd pick Matt Holiday as deserving of the honors, but I think the good Brewer season and the Ryan Howard-sophomore effect will lock it for Prince Fielder.
Also, it seems that Pat Gillick is stepping down already (man, the Illadelph really takes it out of some people). Who's going to be your new GM? Amaro is an obvious candidate, but he's also from an old school that Phils fans didn't like. If Amaro leaves, I wonder at how much job protection Manuel has if the Phils miss the playoffs yet again.
MVP obsevations. Reyes is the most exciting player in the NL, not the most vauable. The most worthy candidate on the Mets is D. Wright. Prince Fielder may be the only NL firstbaseman worse than our R. Howard at fielding his position and I'm unsure of his leadership abilities; yeah, he hit a lot of home runs for a young guy. The most valuable player on the Brewers is the Rookie of the Year, Ryan Braun. The Pods and D-Backs win on pitching, maybe a case for Peavy, Hoffman, Webb or even Valverde , but Cy Young is as far as I'm willing to go with either team. The Phils lost he who many consider to be their best overall player, for five weeks, yet remained competitive in the wild-card and divisional races. I know T. Iguchi helped. I believe if you can't see that Jimmy Rollins isn't this year's MVP, you just don't know baseball.
Why do I never hear Halladay mentioned? He is damn close to winning the triple crown and he's playing for a contender.
I meant Holliday.