Six games to go, and it's a dead heat between the Phillies and Padres. May the best team, well, whichever team plays the best this week, win the wild card.Buckle up.
It was, in fact, an enjoyable last regular-season day off for the Phillies yesterday. While they relaxed after a 10-day road trip, the banged-up Padres lost in San Francisco, leaving them tied with the Phillies in the wild-card standings. Chris Young, untouchable for most of the season, got roughed up, and Milton Bradley, the sparkplug of a largely dormant lineup, was KO'd for the season Sunday after unbelievably tearing his ACL while manager Bud Black tried to restrain him from arguing with the umpire. Mike Cameron, San Diego's starting center fielder, is also out for the remainder of the season with a partially torn thumb ligament and a strained hand tendon.
No wonder the Phillies are suddenly favored to win the wild card.
But before we put the Phillies in the playoffs, there's still the matter of the last six games. Charlie Manuel maintains that 90 wins will be required to make the playoffs, and I tend to agree. That means going 5-1 this week. And the Phils will have to face Braves co-aces Tim Hudson and John Smoltz on Wednesday and Thursday before the pesky Nationals come to town Friday.
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I don't know if the Phillies will make the playoffs. But I know they wouldn't have a prayer if not for the Borat Brothers, Jayson Werth and Greg Dobbs, two unheralded offseason acquisitions by Pat Gillick.
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Talked to Gillick for a few minutes yesterday, and I asked him about Manuel's future. While he offered Manuel praise for keeping the Phillies afloat and in playoff contention amid all the injuries they've had, he stopped short of saying the Phils will offer Manuel a contract for next season. Gillick has one more year on his contract and plans to retire after next season. Here's what I think could happen: the Phillies could offer Manuel a one-year extension. When he asks for a multi-year deal, they decline, reasoning that they can't give Manuel a longer contract than Gillick. At that point, it'll be up to Manuel whether he wants to return or try to find employment elsewhere, perhaps Houston, where Ed Wade was named GM last week.Regardless, this is going to be a big story for the Phillies in October. Stay tuned.
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Of all the Phillies' new coaches, has anyone made a greater impact than Davey Lopes? Barring a disasterous week, the Phillies will finish the season having stolen bases at a historic rate.
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Sounds like many of you have playoff fever. Or at least those of you that spoke with Martin Frank yesterday.
1 comment:
*sigh* here goes nothing. After 156 games, this team is still breathing, and I'm not sure how I feel about it. Today's my 26th birthday and if you count the split-season strike year of 1981, these Phools have only made the postseason three times in my life. I feel like I'm in a bad relationship with this team. No matter how bad they are for me, I stick around. And I'll be sticking around through Sunday.
That being said, the losses of Milton Bradley and Mike Cameron, and the ineffectiveness of Chris Young might be enough for the Phils to get the Wild Card...although the Rockies are probably the darkhorse in this whole situation.
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