Historically, if you grew up a Philadelphia Phillies fan, you developed an inferiority complex along the way.
You looked to the north and saw the Yankees perennially winning pennants and the Mets occasionally pulling off the trick. You looked to the west and saw that the Pirates, until recently, were always in contention. Down south, the Orioles were always the class of the American League off the field and often on it.
You were surrounded by success. Just not a part of it.
The Braves, whether in Boston, Milwaukee or Atlanta, had plenty of reasons to cheer. They had Hank Aaron, Warren Spahn, Eddie Matthews, Dale Murphy, The Four Aces and division crowns in 14 straight seasons. Below them were the Marlins. They came around in 1993 and won it all four years later. It took your Phils 97 years to do that.
Then the Fish rubbed it in your face and won it all again in 2002. They'd done in 10 years what you hadn't been able to pull of in more than a century.
And let's not talk about the Cardinals or the Dodgers. But I guess we have to, at least to give the kiddos a lesson. In 64, the Cardinals did to the Phillies what the Phillies did to the Mets two years ago. The Dodgers beat the Phils in the playoffs twice in the 70s, giving Black Friday a totally different meaning in the City of Liberty.
The Phillies were't lovable losers like the Cubs or tragically cursed like the Red Sox.
Your team just lost in unlovable ways that meant they didn't even need a curse.
That's not the case now.
It's hard to believe, but the Phillies, yes the team you grew up watching, are the class of Major League Baseball.
Even if they don't beat the New York Yankees, you can take solace in the fact that they have won the pennant two years in a row.
But if they pull all this off they're a team for the ages.
They won't be in that elite class yet. The group that includes the Big Red Machine, Connie Mack's A's, The Cardinals of Stan Musial, Red Schoendinst and the Yankees of Mantle and Maris or of Gehrig and Ruth.
But they belong in that tier just below: The 1990s Blue Jays, The 1970s Athletics of Rollie Fingers and Reggie Jackson, 80s Athletics of Ricky Henderson, Dave Stewart, Mark McGwire and Jose Canseco and John McGraw's early squads.
Consider some of these facts.
Compare that to the teams that have won consecutive World Series so far in the divisional era.
The Yankees from 1998-2000 went 26-9. That's a .742 percentage.
The Blue Jays from 1992-93 went 16-8 (.667).
The Yankees from 1997-78 went 14-7 (.667).
The Reds from 1975-1976 went 14-3 (.823).
The Athletics from 1972-1974 went 21-12 (636).
Compare that to the teams who made at least three consecutive trips to the playoffs and reached the World Series during the divisional era.
The 2007-2009 Red Sox had a .607 (17-11) meanwhile the slightly earlier version (2003-05) went .586 (17-12).
The 2004-2006 Cardinals went .555 (22-18).
The Indians from 1995-1998 went .531 (25-22).
The 1995-2007 Yankees had a .579 (70-51) record.
Bobby Cox' 1991-2004 Braves held a .504 (63-62) mark.
The 1991-93 Blue Jays went .586 (17-12).
Tony LaRussa's underachieving Athleics squad from 1988-1990 went 17-9 (.653).
The 1970-72 Pirates ended up 9-10 (.473).
The 1970-1974 Athletics went 21-18 (.538)
The 1969-1971 Orioles went 17-9 (.653).
So that means, even in a sweep, Only the recent Red Sox, the Athletics (who had eight of their nine losses in the World Series) and the Orioles had better post season records during championship runs.
Let's put Charlie Manual's managerial record in perspective.
Now that he's taken the Philadelphia Phillies to two World Series, he is, without a doubt, the most successful manager in franchise history. No one else even came close to accomplishing this feat.
That said, he's still not the best manager who ever took the helm of the Phillies.
That's Harry Wright.
Who? Let the Southpaw explain:
In the Phillies' inaugural season there was no fight. The team went 17-81 under Bob Furgeson and Bob Purcell.
It was then that Wright was brought in.
He had an impressive resume: He was a key player in baseball's first professional team, the 1869 Cincinnati Red Stockings, where he all but designed the managerial position. After a successful career, he became a manager. In his second season as manager of the Boston Red Stockings, Wright led the franchise to the first of four straight National Association crowns. He would win two more crowns, for Boston's National League squad.
Within two years of taking over the Phillies, Wright had the team improve from a .173 record to a winning squad. Then they jumped to a .600 winning percentage for consecutive seasons.
Wright's credited with developing many techniques used by managers today, including Uncle Cholly. Among those innovations were backing up plays, using fungoes during practice and shifting fielders based upon a hitter's tendencies.
Ryan Howard does not thank Wright for that innovation.
It was a very simple game plan. Pitch well and let Ryan Howard put on a show. We'll start with the pitching.
On offense, one thing cannot be measured:
That's a very dangerous combination.
One of those steals was by Carlos Ruiz,
Like the Southpaw said, there are so many reasons Phillies fans have to be proud of their team.
Now, for the second year in a row, they wait to find out who they'll play in the World Series.
Game 1 is Wednesday, Oct. 28.
See you there.
And thanks, Harry.
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