This Phillies Loss Hurts the Most–Mainly Because Philadelphia Got Snubbed Again For Another Chance at a Sports Dynasty
Considering all of the hype surrounding the best rotation in baseball–watching the Philadelphia Phillies fall to the St. Louis Cardinals in Game 5 of the NLDS on their own field was arguably one of the most difficult losses to handle in the city’s history. By losing in the first round, the Phillies missed out on something the city would have loved to be part of years ago with the Philadelphia Eagles–be part of a sports dynasty.
Since winning the 2008 World Series, expectations have been high for the Phillies every season and the argument can be made their teams over the last three seasons were talented enough to be crowned champions–they just never came through when it mattered the most. In 2009, they managed to make it to the World Series again before falling to the New York Yankees. Last season, they were arguably the hottest team in baseball in September–but the bats failed to show up in the 2010 NLCS in what turned out to be a great pitching matchup against the San Francisco Giants.
However, this recent loss to the Cardinals in the NLDS hurts the most–mainly because everything seemed to be in place for the Phillies to earn their second World Series title in four seasons. A franchise record 102 wins during the regular season. A rotation consisting of Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee, Cole Hamels, Roy Oswalt, and Vance Worley–who emerged out of nowhere this season with an 11-3 record.
Unfortunately, great pitching doesn’t mean anything if the bats aren’t there for support on offense–which has been the main problem for the Phillies all season. The Phillies may have finished the regular season ranked sixth in the National League with 713 runs scored, but it should also be noted they managed to score three runs or less in 76 games this season–which shows how inconsistent this offense was throughout the season.
Just look at their last series against the Cardinals. After scoring 11 runs in Game 1 and four runs in the first two innings of Game 2–the Phillies only managed to put up six runs in their final 34 innings of the NLDS. While the Cardinals deserve all of the credit in the world for all of the talent they have at pitching and Chris Carpenter displayed a phenomenal performance on the road in Game 5–but there’s really no excuse for an offense failing to produce more runs with players like Ryan Howard, Chase Utley, Hunter Pence, and Jimmy Rollins. The fact that this team couldn’t even provide Halladay–who allowed just one run in Game 5 of the NLDS–with two or three runs is nothing but frustrating for a team with as much talent as the Phillies.
There’s no question this year’s Phillies squad was more talented than the roster from the 2008 season and to see them lose this early in the postseason is beyond frustrating. What makes this situation even worse is it was the Phillies who let the Cardinals get into the postseason after sweeping the Atlanta Braves–who were up 10.5 games in the Wild Card on August 25–on the final series of the regular season. To think what would have happened if Charlies Manuel had rested his players more during the final series and the Braves somehow held on to the final playoff spot–this painful feeling of disappointment Phillies fans are experiencing may have been avoided with a first-round matchup against the Arizona Cardinals.
Once again, the city of Philadelphia finds themselves in a winning situation where there team was expected to come through–only to have those hopes and dreams ripped away after failing to come through when it matters the most. The Phillies could have easily been part of MLB history by winning at least one World Series over the last three seasons to be given the “dynasty” label after winning their first title in 28 seasons back in 2008–but that ship has officially sailed.
Fans will look back to this 2011 season and realize how talented this roster really was–but no season is as memorable without winning when it matters the most. Over the last 10 years, the city of Philadelphia has missed out on two great opportunities to be part of something great in a dynasty with the Eagles (four NFC Championship appearances from 2002-05) and Phillies only to be left heartbroken and crushed with disappointment–which in a way is a classic move when it comes to Philadelphia sports teams.
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