Fool's Gold - Phillies Reach the 10,000 Loss Mark
| 19
|
by Christof
TENTH AND FINAL IN A SERIES
The Philadelphia Phillies lost to the St. Louis Cardinals, by the score of 10-2 last night. This loss left the Phillies with a record of 46-45 for the 2007 MLB season. Further, the loss represented the 10,000th loss in the history of the franchise. No other professional sports team in North America had ever reached that mark, until last night.
The Phillies sit now with an all-time record of 8,810 wins and 10,000 losses. Supposedly, ESPN showed a statistic last night, during the game, that stated that the Phillies have been under .500 since the early 1920’s. Currently, the Phillies winning percentage is .468. With that in mind, this afternoon, the Phillies organization released a statistic that states that the club has been above .500 since 1971. Really, when you the first to reach a mark like 10,000 losses, there is nothing possible that you can say or do to spin it to be a possible. To even make an attempt just shows how truly insecure the club is about its history.
I was fortunate (unfortunate?) to have personally attended the Phillies game last night. Sure, it will be nice to one day say that to my grandchildren, “Yep, I was at the game they lost 10,000.” Sadly, I may also say “They still stink.” Hopefully, the latter statement will not be true.
As far as the game, there was a moment when it seemed as though Phillies manager Charlie Manuel had finally figured out how to do a double switch. The game was in the top of the fifth, and Phillies starter Adam Eaton was getting hammered. The ninth spot was to bat first in the bottom of the fifth. Hence, Charlie made a double switch. Now the pitcher would be batting eighth and a positional player would be batting ninth, and leading off.
Since this was only the fifth inning, one would expect the relief pitcher to pitch more than one inning. This is especially true when the relief pitcher came in and got out of the inning quickly. This, however, did not occur. Jose Mesa came into the game in the sixth.
So what was the point of making the double switch then? If you could tell me, please do so. I still cannot understand the move.
This move looks even worse for Mesa only pitched one inning. Thereafter, enter Brian Sanchez. Brian proceeded to give up three home runs in the seventh inning. Nonetheless, he came out to pitch the eighth. Guess what? He gave up another gopher ball. This one has yet to land. At least this performance earned Sanchez a demotion, to Triple AAA Ottawa.
What I will remember most from attending the game is the utter silence that engulfed the stands after Ryan Howard struck out, ending the game. It was so quiet that if some dropped a pin, the entire audience would have heard it. I have never heard it so quiet right after a game. Hopefully, I will never hear it so quiet again. It was truly eerie.
One other thing about the game. It has become customary to hear the E-A-G-L-E-S chant at an non-Philadelphia Eagles sporting event. Some say that this is just the mating call for the Philadelphia fan. No, that it is not true. Rather, it is a signal of surrender. If you hear the Eagles chant, then you know the fans have verbally raised the white flag at a non-Eagles game.
The Atlanta Braves are likely the next team to break the 10,000 loss mark. They have a winning percentage of .499 and are a few hundred games away from the mark. Hence, it will be several years before the Braves get to this infamous milestone. After the Braves, it will be the Chicago Cubs. Even though people think the Cubs are losers, they actually have a .513 winning percentage. Not bad for a team that hasn’t won the World Series in over a hundred years.
And with that, this series has come to an end. A similar series may appear as the Phillies approach 9,000 wins. That will occur in two to three years. If armchairgm.com is still around in 12 to 13 years, then another series will appear – as the Phillies close in to 10,000 wins.
