Philadelphia Phillies: The 10 Worst Teams in Franchise History

The Pittsburgh Pirates have 18-consecutive losing seasons, an all-time mark.

As unbearable and agonizing as this is for Pirates fans, the Philadelphia Phillies had a 31-year stretch from 1918-1948 that defied logic.

In those 31 years, the Phillies had just one winning season (1932). And even that year they finished just 78-76.

Just think about that for a second…31 years of consistent awfulness!

They lost 100 games 12 times, and had a five-year stretch of 100-plus defeats from 1938-1942.  Remember, they played just 154 games back then.

Their compiled record, 1,752-2,941, was a winning percentage of just .373.  In today’s 162-game schedule, that’s an average-record equivalent of approximately 60-102.

At least there were two teams in Philadelphia back then for fans to choose from.

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Philadelphia Phillies: Bin Laden’s Death Brings Back Memories from 2001 Season

Usually nothing gets in between the bitter rivalry of the Mets in Phillies, but last night, Osama Bin Laden’s death was another prime example of why baseball is still just a game.

In a city that gets a lot of negativity from the outside world, the Phillies fans exhibited nothing but class and patriotism when the news of Bin Laden’s death spread quickly throughout Citizens Bank Park.

Suddenly eyes turned from the action on the field to mobile devices as the social networking services blew up with Bin Laden information.

With the game tied at one in the ninth inning, a Phillies win didn’t matter so much.

As the game went on long into the night, memories of the patriotism demonstrated after the 9/11 attacks by Major League Baseball quickly entered my mind. 

Jack Buck’s tribute to America poem, George Bush throwing out the first pitch of the 2001 World Series, and the Mets and Yankees wearing FDNY and NYPD hats were a few of many post-9/11 memories from the game.

It contributed to the healing process of an entire nation.  2001 was a year where it was okay to root for a New York team. 

It’s fitting that the Mets were in action last night when the death of Osama Bin Laden was announced.

New York finally took the game 2-1 in 14 innings, but last night was a celebration for the United States. 

Bin Laden’s death doesn’t end the war on terror, and the families affected by the 9/11 attacks will never forget what happened. However, his death brings a psychological victory to the nation.

May 1, 2011 will never be forgotten in United States history.

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Philadelphia Phillies: Lenny Dykstra and the 8 Biggest Idiots in Team History

In baseball, there are two types of idiots.

You have the idiot who cheats on the field or in life and subsequently gets caught.

Then we have the idiots we love.  These are guys who have colorful personalities—they like to stay out all night and just have fun.  But, they always get the job done on the field. 

I’ve divided this slideshow into two parts.  Part one (slides 2-6) features the “bad” idiots while part two (slides 7-9) features the “lovable” idiots. 

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Philadelphia Phillies: Curt Schilling and the 10 Worst Trades in Team History

Pat Gillick orchestrated the 2008 Phillies to perfection. His key trades for guys like Joe Blanton, Jamie Moyer, Brad Lidge and Scott Eyre lead to the fulfillment of the ultimate goal.

Since then, his successor Ruben Amaro has made some solid trades to put the Phillies where they are today.

But things haven’t always been in the Phillies favor. Here is a list of the worst trades in team history.

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Philadelphia Phillies: 5 Realistic Expectations for the “Aging” Lineup

After 11 games of play, the Phillies are 8-3. Collectively, they’ve hit over .300 as a team—the only lineup in baseball to do so.

Obviously, the bats are eventually going to cool down, but early on we can already somewhat gauge what this offense is going to look like throughout the season.

Let’s take a look…

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Philadelphia Phillies: Recapping the Atlanta Braves Series

It’s still early, but for the first time all season the Phillies finally saw some decent pitching.

The Phils took a quick 3-0 lead in Game One, but Cliff Lee struggled while Tim Hudson settled down.  Atlanta took the first game 6-3.

In Game Two, Carlos Ruiz came off the bench and contributed with a grand slam and five RBI en route to a 10-2 rout for Philly.

Game Three saw a pitching duel between Derek Lowe and Cole Hamels. Philadelphia scored two of their runs with a baserunner on third with less than two outs, a great sign. Shane Victorino went yard as well and the Phillies won the series with a 3-0 win.

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Philadelphia Phillies: Recapping the New York Mets Series

I’ll just ignore the 11-0 shellacking today.  Halladay pitched extremely well.

I have to show the Mets some love, though. 

They’ve been in the doldrums the past couple of years and, who knows, they may end up being in the doldrums once again when the season concludes.

But, for the first time in a while, the Mets played with passion. 

Let’s look at game two of the series.  In years past, a 7-0 deficit was impossible to overcome; they would’ve waved the white flag.

Although the Phillies won the game 10-7, I came away impressed.

Whether it was the managerial change or cutting Luis Castillo and Oliver Perez, something is fueling the fire.

Making the playoffs is still going to be a tough task, but at least there’s some life being shown.

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Philadelphia Phillies: 5 Versatile Prospects in the Farm System

When you look at today’s game, being able to play multiple positions is important.  Look at a guy like Ben Zobrist of the Tampa Bay Rays.  He can play seven positions.

With versatility, it makes it easier for the manager to shake things up, and make in-game substitutions.  When someone gets hurt, these are guys that you can plug in.

One of the main reasons why Michael Martinez made the team is because of his ability to play the outfield and infield.  He played center field on Sunday in place of Victorino, but he’ll also see time at second base. 

The same goes for Wilson Valdez.  He can play the outfield and infield as well. 

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Philadelphia Phillies: 5 Things To Take Away from the Houston Astros Series

After a convincing 7-3 victory yesterday afternoon against Houston, the Phillies solidified a three-game sweep of the Astros.

The Phillies are currently one of four teams who took all three games in their opening series—Texas, Baltimore and Cincinnati being the others.

They outscored Houston 21-11 in the series.

Although we can all agree that the Astros are an inferior opponent, there were a lot of positives to take away from the sweep.

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MLB Preview 2011: Finalizing the On-Paper Series, Who Wins the World Series?

To me, Opening Day always marked the beginning of spring—despite what that silly groundhog says.  A little bit after 1 p.m. Eastern Standard Time, the season officially begins, and I can’t contain myself.

Everyone starts at 0-0, and fans from all teams remain optimistic.  Even fans from the Royals and Pirates think they have a shot.

Baseball is back!!!!!!!

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