We all knew the Phillies were going to be “bad” this year. Every baseball analyst at the beginning of the season predicted that the Phillies would be the worst team in baseball. It appears, now that we are at the All-Star break, that “worst” may not be a strong enough word.
“Worst” is the superlative for “bad” – you remember how your English teacher talked about degrees of “not good” especially when it came to your English. In this case, the superlatives for “bad” are “worse” and “worst”, not “badder” or “ baddest”. I suggest that for the 2015 Philadelphia Phillies, we need to consult a thesaurus to find the appropriate adjective to describe them. None of the above seem strong enough.
The 1997 Phillies lost 61 games by the mid-season break. At the All-Star break, this year’s Phillies are 29-62. Let’s put THAT into perspective. It is the worst All-Star record for ANY Phillies team in history. And that is saying something. Since 1900, of the 20 worst season records in baseball history, the Philadelphia Phillies (6) and the Philadelphia Athletics (3) own nine of them – that’s right – almost half. By the end of this season, I will probably be able to eliminate the word “almost” from the previous sentence.
The 2015 Phillies have 29 wins, nine fewer than the second worst (I need to find another word) team in baseball right now – the Milwaukee Brewers. The Brewers are 18.5 games out of first place in the National League Central division, but they are trailing the very best team, the St. Louis Cardinals. The Phillies are 21 games back!
The Phillies will lose 100+ games. They have lost their manager (even he couldn’t stand watching this team and he was getting paid for it); Ruben Amaro, Jr. has been just awful as the general manager; and the press only talks about who will be gone on the team roster by July 31.
Their three most recognizable players, Ryan Howard, Chase Utley, and Carlos Ruiz, are batting .226, .179, and .234 respectively. Statistically, they are among the worst (getting the picture here?) at their position. And the pitching has been so bad that in one game the bullpen took the phone off the hook!
The Philadelphia Phillies have been around for 133 seasons. From 2010 through 2012, they ranked first in National League attendance each season, averaging 45,000 fans per game. This season, they are averaging 24,400. Everything, it seems, from talent to fan support, is diminishing at an alarming rate.
So how would you describe the 2015 edition of the Philadelphia Phillies – abhorrent, atrocious, hellish, horrible, horrid, nauseating…? Consult a thesaurus because both you and I know it is “worse” than “worst”!
ABOVE THE EARS (SOME MUSINGS)
- There was really good news out of State College this week that freshman Saquan Barkley of Whitehall has impressed the Penn State staff with his athletic ability and his community involvement in the Lift for Life charity. One player was quoted as saying he is a “freak athlete” and that’s a good thing.
- Good for Lancaster, Pa.! The town more widely known around here for their horse and buggy Amish citizenry put on a great U. S. Women’s Open golf tournament this past weekend. 134,016 fans attended the four-day event and that set a new Open record for attendance.
- Jordan Spieth won the John Deere Classic, his fourth golf tournament victory of the year on Sunday. He became the first to win four in a year before the British Open since Tiger Woods in 2000. His golf earnings this year are $8,709,836. He is 21 years old!
- Tiger Woods, according to Golf Digest, had a net worth at the end of 2014 of $1.37 billion which includes golf, endorsements, corporate outings, etc.
- It appears the EPC basketball boys’ and girls’ favorites will be attending school at Parkland. The Stellar tournament is always a good indicator of winter success and the Parkland girls won the championship and the Parkland boys lost in the finals to Archbishop Carroll. The Parkland football team is heavily favored to win the EPC football championship in the fall.
