The great news keeps pouring in from Clearwater.  Chase Utley's knee discomfort suddenly became a mysterious (serious?) knee problem that could actually get worse with surgery.  There's no timetable for his return.  Domonic Brown's out 4-6 weeks with a broken hand.  And now just days before the start of this hyper-anticipated season, the Phillies have also lost Brad Lidge to shoulder soreness that just won't go away.  Oh yeah, he's out indefinitely too.

This is a talented, veteran team with a wealth of experienced players.  Injuries are neither new nor worrisome to the men behind the clubhouse doors.  But when an already questionable lineup loses both its best hitter and brightest star and a shaky bullpen loses arguably its most important reliever, a sizeable void must be filled.  Yet the added pressure hasn't been heaped on the shoulders of the other hitters or relievers -- rather, it's been placed on the members of the Phillies' Fab Five.

The starting rotation has always been the key to the 2011 team.  Before spring training, conventional wisdom suggested that such a dynamite rotation coupled with more consistent offensive output and a decent bullpen made the Phillies a truly formidable opponent -- the pack of aces had a capable supporting cast to work with.  Even on the rare clunker performance from one of the starters, the well-rested bullpen could pick up the slack and the offense would keep the team in the game.

How do you replace this?

Now, the starting five aren't just expected to dominate -- they MUST dominate.  And while it's reasonable to think they'll be just as filthy as advertised, their margin for error is razor-thin.  Less-than-brilliant starts will loom even larger with the absence of a trustworthy 6th and 7th inning pitcher and potentially a closer, depending on how well Madson and Contreras adjust to long-term work in that role.  The offense will depend on drastically improved production from Jimmy Rollins and Raul Ibanez and the ability of the 5th hitter du jour to protect Ryan Howard on nights the Phillies need to win a slugfest.  And this is before taking into account potential regression for an aging Placido Polanco or a less than career year from Carlos Ruiz.

The Phillies gambled that signing Cliff Lee rather than addressing other holes on the roster would more than compensate for those problems.  And who would argue with them for assembling a super rotation?  It's a real-life fantasy team, and as we've seen in recent years, pitching and defense (and super-lucky hitting -- that would be you, San Francisco Giants) wins championships.

But as smaller concerns about the lineup and bullpen continue to balloon into larger ones, the Phillies have lost their insurance policy on the starting rotation.  In fact, the opposite has happened -- rather than ensuring the success of the 2011 season, the starting five must now insure against a season of disappointment.

Things can always get worse.

Here's a little piece I wrote on Joe Blanton on my fledgling new blog, found here:

http://scoreboardoperator.blogspot.com/

Tell me what you think!  Kudos to the editors of the Phillies Annual 2011 magazine -- definitely provided some pertinent information for this article (feeble footnote reference at the bottom).

Remember this guy?

The "fifth day" in 2010 indicated a mound appearance by Phillies staff ace Roy Halladay.  In 2011, it's a derogatory term for whatever inferior being bridges the gap from the back to the front of the Phillies' quartet of aces.  And since Joe Blanton arrived in Phillies Wonderland in July 2008, he's gone from key cog in the rotation and postseason hero to a spare part.  The hysteria surrounding the Greatest Rotation Yet to Play a Game has overshadowed both Joe's ability and value to the team, causing many to think a quality fifth starter is essentially unnecessary.  Well, here's a look at why these notions are misguided:

Continue reading this post »

For anyone that might remember from back in March, I'm writing an undergraduate thesis on the Phillies and their place within the city's history, and needless to say the research has unearthed some peculiar facts (both interesting and disturbing, honestly).  A few of the best so far:

• The 1922 Phillies led the league in homers (116), thanks in part to outfielders Curt Walker (.337, 12 HR), Cliff Lee (.322, 17 HR), and Cy Williams (.308, 26 HR).  And thanks to the pitching staff, the team finished a lofty 7th in the league.
• Philadelphia is regarded as fielding the first organized stick-and-ball playing team in the country, the Olympic club, in 1833.  They didn't play baseball per se, but an early ancestor of the game known as Town Ball.  But in any case, this team is the first known ball club of its kind, anywhere.
• The Athletics vs. Brooklyn championship game in 1866 sold an estimated 8,000 tickets prior to the game (a very large crowd for the time).  The only problem was that an additional 22-32,000 people walked up at game time.  (And this in a city that only had about 600,000 inhabitants).
• Philadelphia had one of the best all-black teams, the Pythians, in the country in 1867.  Their success among black baseball teams earned the city the distinction of being "the capital of black baseball" for a short time. 
• Phillies and Athletics games were first covered on the radio in 1936 by the same person, Bill Dyer.
• To accomodate the large crowds for the 1915 World Series, the Phillies added additional seats that were literally in the outfield in both left and right field.  The Red Sox hit two home runs in Game 5 that proved to be the clinching runs of the series -- both landing in the temporary seats.
• Hall of Famer Grover Cleveland Alexander wrote an article entitled "How I Lost the 1915 World Series," blaming himself for being out of shape and therefore unable to pitch the deciding fifth game.  He was also, ironically, the only Phillies pitcher to record a win in the series (and certainly not responsible for the .182 team average during the series).

Most of these facts come from several highly intriguing books on Philadelphia baseball history, John Shiffert's Base Ball in Philadelphia and David Jordan's history of the Phillies, Occasional Glory.  I also have a copy of The Phillies Reader by Rich Orodenker which is basically an anthology of news articles and essays covering the team over the years.  A great project so far -- hard to believe I'm actually getting college credit to do it.  More updates forthcoming as the project moves along.

I'm an undergraduate history major and for our major project we have to write a senior thesis (about 40 pages) on a "historical topic."  So being the shameless fan that I am, I picked the Phillies.

I'm going to focus on the team's history at various points (possibly their coexistence with the A's, the 1950 Whiz Kids, the '64 collapse, the World Championship years, new stadium construction, Harry Kalas' death) and evaluate the civic impact these things had on Philadelphia as a city.  My ultimate goal is to show that the Phillies are more than just Philly's baseball team--they've embodied the spirit of the city (for better or worse) throughout their history.

Right now I need sources or just pointers on where to look or who to contact (I'm doing the research over the summer and then writing the paper in the fall).  I haven't nailed down the exact areas I'll focus on just yet, so any suggestions in that regard would be appreciated as well.

I figured this would be good place to gather ideas from people who would know--any help would be greatly appreciated.