The Phillies beat the Dodgers Tuesday night 9-8. And sadly I had trouble truly getting excited. After the Phillies jumped out to a 6-1 lead they allowed the Dodgers to crawl back, and ultimately take the lead after Hector Neris hung a slider to Matt Beaty who deposited it into the seats. The Phillies fought their way back and Bryce Harper capped off the comeback with a 2 run double.
But even after that come from behind win I’m at the final stage of the 7 stages of grief; acceptance. I’ve accepted that this Phillies team isn’t very good. I’ve accepted that I overestimated the talent level and I was wrong. What’s frustrating however is the people in charge (I.e. Andy MacPhail And Matt Klentak) haven’t. They proceed to act like this is a rough patch and nothing more. I imagine this is what it felt like on the Titanic when the crew told the band to keep playing.
On Saturday Andy MacPhail addressed reporters and said they weren’t one player away (gee, ya think?) but what really stuck out was his comments that the team is on track for their 4 year plan. A 4 year plan that, when started, had guys like Revere in left field and Grady Sizemore in right. Sure, when you take a step back you can convince yourself you’re still on track, but in an offseason when you traded your top prospects and signed a player to a 13 year deal then your 4 year plan should’ve been altered a bit. But hey! They’re on track….
After Monday nights 16-2 embarrassment that saw the Phillies forgot how many outs there were, the manager told the media that they would continue to “fight” and then proceeded to quote the Broadway musical Annie. Which in many ways is ironic because the Phillies version of Daddy Warbucks (John Middleton) tried to throw money at a problem this offseason and refused to hold anyone accountable.
Even after last nights win, things need to change. People need to be held accountable. An ice berg can’t sink a baseball team, but being naive and complacent with a bad product and 3rd place in the standings….we’ll that certainly can