By Michael Rushton
Not to long ago, I read an interesting graphic novel (fancy word for comic book) by Mark Millar in which Superman lands in the Soviet Union instead of the United States of America. I've always been a fan of "what if" stories.
So, the Phillies latest tumble in the standings had me wondering: how different would this season be if the Phillies had hired Jim Leyland instead of Charlie Manuel? After all, Leyland has guided the Tigers to a 55-26 mark, best in the majors, as of July 1.
And for argument's sake, I'm going to look at this year only, ignoring Charlie Manuel's debut season last year.
So, let's hop into our red and blue time machine and head back to the beginning of this season. A time when we all had hopes and dreams for the upcoming season.
April 1 - After whipping his boys into shape all Spring Training, Leyland announces his opening day starting lineup prior to the team's exhibition series against Boston. The lineup has Jimmy Rollins leading off, followed by Chase Utley, Bobby Abreu, Ryan Howard, Pat Burrell, Aaron Rowand, David Bell and Mike Lieberthal. Saying that Burrell and Howard would flip-flop when a lefty is on the mound, Leyland is praised for putting an inexperienced Howard so high in the batting order to maximize his potential. Leyland responds that only an idiot would have Howard batting lower than fifth.
April 6 - Rollins' hit streak ends at 38. Nothing Leyland could do about this.
April 20 - After a three-game sweep at home against Washington, the Phillies hold an 11-4 mark, tied for the NL East lead with the Mets.
April 28 - Leyland returns to Pittsburgh for the first time as the Phillies manager and sees his team drop the contest 6-4, helped by a pair of errors by Bell that led to a four-run sixth inning. After the game, Leyland announces Bell, who is batting just .231, will shift into a platoon at third with Abraham Nunez.
May 5 - Heading into a big showdown with the Mets, Gavin Floyd is rocked for seven runs in just four innings as the Phillies fall to San Francisco. Leyland confronts Floyd and tells him he better get his head on straight and develop an edge. Floyd's soft side, so obvious on the mound, shows up in the locker room as he begins to cry.
May 6 - Floyd is demoted to Triple-A. The Cole Hamels era begins in Philadelphia.
May 14 - After a 2-1 loss in Cincinnati in which Rollins goes 0-for-4 from the leadoff spot, dropping his season average to .248, Leyland announces Abreu will be moving to the top of the order, while Rollins will bat second with Utley shifting to the three hole. When asked how he got Abreu to switch to the leadoff spot, Leyland replies, "I didn't ask him."
May 16 - The Phillies pound the Brewers 11-4 behind their new-look lineup of Abreu, Rollins, Utley, Burrell, Howard, Rowand, Nunez andLieberthal. Philadelphiaia continues to lead the NL East with a mark of 25-13. Jon Lieber, his groin as strong as ever under Leyland's miracle treatments, improves his record to 5-1.
May 30 - Sal Fasano continues to see more time behind the plate as Lieberthal is being slowed by injuries. However, after his average dips to .216 courtesy of an 0-for-4 effort (with three strikeouts), Leyland tells Fasano if his average doesn't improve, he'll have to shave his "hippy mustache."
May 31- Fasano goes 3-for-4 with a two-run home run in an 8-4 Philadelphia victory. Cory Lidle improves to 5-3.
June 11 - Abreu ups his average to .341 while continuing to lead the league in walks. Rollins, meanwhile, is among the league leaders in sacrifices as Philadelphia leads the NL East with a 40-23 record.
June 18 - In the latest All-Star voting update, Utley and Abreu are leading their positions while Howard is second behind Albert Pujols. Howard's 24 homers trail Pujols' total by just one. Utley, meanwhile, is among the NL leaders in RBI.
June 23 - I'm not sure what happens this day, but I know what doesn't happen: Brett Myers, Philly's ace, who holds a 9-2 record with a 3.52 ERA, doesn't allegedly assault his wife because Leyland has his players in bed by 10 p.m.
July 1 - The Phillies still lead the NL East with a 50-30 mark. Leyland can do no wrong, crime is down in the city and everybody in Philadelphia -- even Steve Lienert-- is happy.
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Copyright 2006 The Phanatic
5 comments:
Bravo. This captures perfectly what most of us feel about this pathetic team and ownership.
Sure the Phillies will spin the usual excuses about why the Tigers are winning - personnel, fewer injuries, blah, blah. But how can you ignore the fact Detroit was 71-91 last year is now 30 games over .500 with the best record in baseball. The Phillies, meanwhile, are now 7 games under .500 and exhibiting the same symptoms as the last three years - no leadership from veterans, poor fielding, no clutch hitting, inconsistent pitching.... There is only one thing that can explain the Tiger's turnaround - the manager.
The one sentence that captured how the Phillies would be different with Leyland - "When asked how he got Abreu to switch to the leadoff spot, Leyland replies, "I didn't ask him."
But Dave Montgomery didn't want a strong manager who would question ownership's commitment to winning. Thus they hired yes man Charlie Manuel, who was just happy to be there. You get what you pay for. Pat Gillick was a good choice for GM, but I predict he'll leave next year after realizing the Phillies ownership is not really committed to winning, just creating the appearance of it.
Ownership signed Jim Thome to sell season tickets and luxury boxes to the new stadium four years ago, and haven't done much since. They're back to the "small market" mentality, in which they never consider number one pitchers like Josh Beckett, even though he would have filled a huge hole in the starting rotation. Boston, with even a smaller market, manages to spend money on winners like Curt Schilling and Beckett because they are committed to WINNING.
One of two things will have to happen if the Phillies are ever going to be winners. The ownership will have to change altogether to one dedicated to winning, like this year's Mets.
Or, the current ownership will have to change its attitude from fielding a "competitive" team to one of fielding a "winning" team. This current group merely wants to be competitive to fill enough seats to show a profit at the end of the year. The only way things are going to change is if they show a loss.
Thus, the fans need to stay away big time. If the attendance reaches 10,000 and the concession and parking revenues fall sharply, Dave Montgomery will hear you. As of now, with over 30,000 going to see a pathetic, error prone, no clutch hitting, poor attitude of a team, he will continue laughing all the way to Citizens Bank. It's really all in your hands fans.
I would reather have Leyland too, but come on...the Phils wouldn't have a similar record - Have you seen the Tigers pitching?
"Have you seen the Tiger's pitching?"
The Tiger's pitching performance this year also makes the case for Leyland being a great motivator. The performance of their staff last year was mediocre and on par with Leiber, Lidle, etc...
But look at it this year. Same pitchers, different results.
Justin Verlander
2005 - 0-2 7.15 ERA
2006 - 10-4 3.13 ERA
Nate Robertson
2005 7-16 4.49 ERA
2006 8-3 3.35 ERA
Jeremy Bonderman
2005 14-13 4.57 ERA
2006 7-4 3.65 ERA
Did these guys all get better on their own since last season, or were they motivated to get better? The fact they ALL got better should be a good clue. And wasn't Kenny Rogers available to the Phillies as well?
Jimmy Leyland is a great manager. There is no doubting that. But if he were managing here today this team would not be much better than it is now, if at all. I look at the Tigers and I see a team with a young, talented pitching staff. They are all under 30 with the exception of Kenny Rogers. And one of the main reasons they are seeing improvement now is because they were allowed to go out there and pitch and get knocked around over the past 3-4 years. They have gained through experience. They took their lumps and nobody gave up on them and now it is paying dividends. Moral of the story: Let the young kids pitch. Throw Hamels and Floyd and Madson out there every fifth day until their arms fall off. And let them get better by taking their own lumps.
Verlander and Bonderman are young stud pitchers. Leyland got lucky, plain and simple.
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