End Of The Road To 10,000 Losses

Hey, we’re here! Last night, the Phils heroically lost their 10,000th game, 10-2, in front of the Philadelphia home crowd, but not before scoring two runs in the 9th to ruin all the 10,000-0 headlines already laid out on sports pages. (But, hey, Michael Bourn hit his first major league home run! Good for him.)

The last few Phillies game have been a pretty good microcosm of the Phillies season — and probably of the past few years, actually. After blowing leads to the Rockies twice to fall back below .500, the Phils had the great tarp incident where they helped the Colorado grounds crew cover the field. After the All-Star Break, the Phils routed the Cardinals on Friday and Saturday, scoring 23 runs. They were two games over .500, only four games out of the division. And poised for a chance at a sweep, the Phils don’t homer until it’s 10-0 and, viola, 10,000th loss.

It’s perfect, right? Just when a fan thinks the Phils are going to sputter into the All-Star Break, they have the coolest moment of the season. Then, with everyone waiting for the 10,000th loss, the Phils rout the reigning world champs. It happens every year: Just when you think you’re out, they pull you back in. The Phils led the Wild Card with a week to go last season. We were all excited. And then, a few losses to a bad Washington team and it’s over.

But, you know, whatever. No, the Phillies are not lovable losers, and that’s why they fit in Philadelphia perfectly. Plus, as Phillies PR man Larry Shenk defends on his MLBlog, “The lives of ill and crippled children are brightened by the games and the players.”

Yep. Those ill children can sit there and think: “Man. I’m almost good enough to play for the Phillies!”

St. Louis 10, Philadelphia 2 [AP/Yahoo!]
Milestone [Phillies Insider]

Washington Generals, Here We Come!

Only six more innings until 10,000. Unless the Phillies’ vaunted pitching staff shuts down the Rockies at homer-happy Coors Field. Uh, yeah, only six more innings until 10,000. With any luck, Jose Mesa will be the losing pitcher of record.

Update: Ahh, looks like I reversed jinxed ‘em. Phils win, 8-4, and help put the tarp back on. Ryan Madson gets the old timey three-inning save.

Rockies-Phillies boxscore [Yahoo! Sports]

Road To 10,000 Losses: Unlucky 13

Where to begin? The Phillies just wrapped up their 9,997th loss in franchise history, a 5-4, 13 inning loss to the Houston Astros, on a walkoff homer by rookie Hunter Pence on the first pitch Jose Mesa threw in relief.

The Phils might only have three losses to get to 10,000, but tonight’s loss was certainly the first one that went down like this: Phils up, 4-3, top of the ninth, bases loaded with one out. Antonio Alfonseca manages to a dead double play ball, Rollins-to-Utley-to-Howard, game over, Phils win, gain a game on the Mets, who were pounded in Colorado for the second straight night.

Only problem was, the first base umpire called Carlos Lee safe at first. He was out by about a half-step; it wasn’t even really that close. The game continued, Alfonseca got the final out, the game went to extra innings.

The blown call wasn’t the only misfortune the Phillies faced, uh, last night and into this morning. Ryan Howard hit a 430-foot blast into dead center that would have been out in Citizens Bank or any other ballpark in the majors; Minute Maid Park’s ridiculous dimensions allowed Pence to catch it next to that ridiculous pole in center field.

The Phillies also ran out of players; pitchers Cole Hamels and Jamie Moyer both pinch hit in extra innings. The Phils had first and third with no outs and the bases loaded with one out in the top of the 13th and didn’t score. The decision to go for a sacrifice bunt — which Rod Barajas blew anyway — in the seventh inning possibly cost the Phils a run or two.

But, eh, it was just kind of like the other 9,997 losses. The Phillies lost because they stink.

Road To 10,000 Losses: Larry Bowa, Working Hard To Contribute To All 10,000 Phillies Losses

So, yes, in the paper today I wrote about the 10,000 Losses thing, basically focusing on the historical awfulness of the Phillies. Lest you think I’ve possible exhausted all the bad stories about the Phillies on this blog, ha ha ha. There’s enough awfulness about the Phillies to fill three Wikipedias. My story begins with an 11-year-old boy the Phillies had arrested 80 years ago because he pocketed a foul ball hit into the stands. I’d like to say he’ll be sharing a room with the streaker from earlier this year in Phillies Heaven.

Anyway, we ran a sidebar of local bloggers who wrote their favorite “awful” Phillies stories, and some of them weren’t able to make it into the paper because of length or my Gmail account sucking. As such, here is the amazing account of A.J. Daulerio of Phillymag (and Deadspin) fame at a game following Sept. 11.

I believe it was September 17, 2001 and the Phillies, like the rest of Major League Baseball, had supposedly put together a tribute to recognizing every one lost after 9/11. Most other teams coming back after the week-long break had tasteful tributes with military personnel, flag waving, and heartfelt national anthems sung by either established stars or, at the very minimum, people who could actually sing. The Phillies organization decided to stick with the same entertainment that they had scheduled for that evening prior to the attacks: a middle-aged female barbershop quartet-like group, frumpily decked out in sweatshirts and turtlenecks. After the ladies’ wince-worthy renditions of God Bless America and the National Anthem — which they breezed through in, oh, maybe two minutes — most of the crowd expecting to be uplifted and inspired, appeared to have actually been made to feel worse. Best part? It was one of the first nationally televised games after the attacks. Goosebumps?

Wasn’t this the game where they showed Larry Bowa crying during the National Anthem? Maybe he was actually crying because it was so bad.

After the jump, another long story involving Larry Bowa and, of course, Minor Threat.

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Road To 10,000 Losses: 9991 Down, 9 To Go

Road to 10,000 Losses is a countdown to the Phillies’ 10,000th loss, coming sometime later this year. The Phillies stand at 9991 losses, only 9 away from 10,000.

A lot has happened since the last time I’ve written about the Phils. (More on this absence tomorrow.) Basically, although the Phillies have climbed over .500, the season’s pretty much over because the Phils are one injury away from re-signing Jim Bunning and having him start every other game the rest of the season. And if that doesn’t work, they’ll have to sign me, and although I have a wicked curve, my fastball tops out at around 82 and I don’t have the control of Jamie Moyer.

Phillies starters Jon Lieber and Freddy Garcia are both on the disabled list and are probably both out for the season. Tom Gordon and Brett Myers are supposed to be off the DL soon, but, ah, yeah, we’ll all believe that when we see it. This leaves the Phillies starting rotation with three players, one of whom (Adam Eaton) has an ERA over five. The bullpen has Jose Mesa, Clay Condrey, Lefty Grove, Grover Cleveland Alexander, Cy Young and Lil Stoner (the best baseball name ever). Unfortunately for the Phillies, only one of those pitchers (Condrey) is alive, although Grove did pick up a win last week.

The bullpen is a mess, and now the starting rotation has somehow become an even bigger mess. The problem is, the Phillies had a guy who might’ve helped in the rotation this season. His name is Justin Germano, and he is 5-1 with a 2.67 ERA. How recently did the Phillies have him? Oh, they fleeced the Reds last season, trading Rheal Cormier for him. But despite going 2-0 with a sub-three ERA in Scranton after the Phillies traded for him last year and a 4.50 ERA in spring training this season, the Phillies decided he wasn’t in their plans and placed him on waivers.

As for the bullpen, Justin Miller was with the Phillies’ AAA affiliate this season and is now in the Florida Marlins’ ‘pen with an ERA just over three. The Phillies released him from Ottawa so they could sign more of Pat Gillick’s friends.

Anyway, the Phils are only 3.5 games back of the first-place Mets, which is pretty amazing considering the Phillies were 28-29 and 8 games back on June 4. Unfortunately, that a team averaging 5.09 runs a game in the National League is only three games over .500 is pretty amazing, too.

Oh, and here’s who’s starting the first game of the doubleheader Friday:

The Phillies, Durbin’s fourth team, claimed Durbin from the Red Sox on April 13, after Boston designated him for assignment. He spent Spring Training with the Twins, but was claimed off waivers by the Diamondbacks on March 29. He appeared in one game for Arizona, and allowed seven earned runs in two-thirds of an inning, compiling a 94.50 ERA.

Update: Yeah, I miscounted when I put my original post up. Stupid evolution, not giving me enough fingers to properly do simple arithmetic.

Oh, let’s update again: Jason Weitzel on Durbin: “Last season, managers rated his curveball as the best breaking pitch in the International League. Baseball America had him as the Twins 10th best prospect this season, which would probably [definitely—dmac.] make him a top 5-10 player in the Phillies’ system.” He might be able to pitch a nice game Friday, especially since the Mets won’t know what to expect. Hey, optimism!

Archives: Road to 10,000 Losses

Road To 10,000 Losses: Replay, Replay

Road to 10,000 Losses is a countdown to the Phillies’ 10,000th loss, coming sometime later this year. With a4-3 loss to the Diamondbacks last night — the last of a three-game sweep by Arizona — the Phillies stand at 9982 losses, only 18 away from 10,000.

Hey, the Phillies played the same game they previously played against the Diamondbacks again! (Ow. That sentence made my head hurt.) Point is, though, last night’s game against the D-Backs was pretty much the same as Monday’s: Phillies trail by a run or two most of the game, let the game get out of hand late and then rally but lose in the end.

Monday, the Phils were down 3-1 going into the ninth. Ryan Madson gave up 2 runs. The Phillies scored three in the bottom of the ninth but lost, 5-4. Last night, the Phils were down 1-0 going into the eighth, Jamie Moyer stayed in to pitch and gave up three runs in the 8th. The Phillies scored three in the bottom of the ninth, but lost again.

Last night’s goat was Michael Bourn, who pinch ran after Pat Burrell singled home Jimmy Rollins to make it 4-3. Bourn stole second on a 2-2 count with Ryan Howard at the plate pinch hitting. Howard lined the 3-2 pitch right to second baseman Orlando Hudson, in shallow right field with the “Howard shift” on. Bourn was running on contact and got doubled off second to end the game.

Of course, this team makes a lot of mistakes. A lot of stupid mistakes, mental ones, ones that shouldn’t happen once a player gets to the, oh, I dunno, major leagues. An observer might call them “the stupidest team in baseball,” but that would probably be a little nice. (Incidentally, “the dumbest collection of 25 individuals in history” is a bit harsh.)

But whatever. Shane Victorino is a guest DJ on XPN tonight at 8! Yes!

Road To 10,000 Losses: Back To Normal

Road to 10,000 Losses is a countdown to the Phillies’ 10,000th loss, coming sometime later this year. With an 11-5 loss to the Diamondbacks last night, the Phillies stand at 9981 losses, only 19 away from 10,000.

It’s nice the Phillies know how this thing works. After thumping Atlanta in a three-game sweep this weekend, the Fightins have promptly come home and lost two straight to the Diamondbacks. The Phils are now 26-26, back at .500. With 42,000+ Monday night and 27,000+ last night, Phillies fans have returned to their doom-and-gloom ways. The Phils are now 8 games back of the Mets in the NL East.

Ryan Howard almost got hurt last night, too. While the Phils were down about 59-6, Howard dove for a grounder and came up limping. It’s just a cramp, however, so Ry-Ho just wasn’t drinking enough water or something. Meanwhile, backup catcher Rod Barajas is hitting .213 with a .361 slugging percentage. Chris Coste is at Double A Reading.

Bobby Abreu, however, has apparently aged 40 years overnight and is having the worst season of his career. “Finally, the Abreu envisioned by Tampa Bay when it traded him for Kevin Stocker shows up,” Jeff Passan wrote. Unfortunately for the Phillies, the man they traded Abreu for, Matt Smith, has an 11.25 ERA and is in the minors. Ryan Franklin has a 0.90 ERA for St. Louis. Oh, and 2006 first round pick Kyle Drabek is on the DL.

Blah blah blah 75 wins blah blah blah Charlie Manuel blah blah Pat Gillick blah blah Chris Coste blah blah DL blah blah bullpen blah blah Dollar Dog Night blah blah.

It’s amazing how quickly a Phillies fan’s opinion on the team can shift, eh?

Road To 10,000 Losses: A Giant Sweep

Road to 10,000 Losses is a countdown to the Phillies’ 10,000th loss, coming sometime later this year. With a 5-4 loss to the Diamondbacks last night, the Phillies stand at 9980 losses, only 20 away from 10,000.

Well, well! The Phillies finally started playing some good ball over the weekend, sweeping the Atlanta Braves and improving to an improbable two whole games over .500. The Phils beat Atlanta 8-3, 6-4 and 13-6 in the sweep, their first of the Braves on the road since, like, they were in Boston.

The Phillies lost last night despite a furious ninth-inning comeback that had last week’s goat, Rod Barajas, fall a few feet short of a game-winning homer in the bottom of the ninth. The Phillies might have been in a better position if Charlie Manuel had pinch hit for Freddy Garcia in the bottom of the sixth, since the Phillies had the bases loaded and 1 out with the pitcher at bat. Garcia grounded into a double play, but did pitch two more scoreless innings.

The Phils could use wins in the next two nights to win another series before Barry Bonds and the Giants come in this weekend. Also, in an Inquirer story on why members of the Phillies wear certain numbers, Adam Eaton revealed himself to be totally awesome:

“It was the only one that looked remotely interesting. I had 21 in Texas. They gave me 53 in San Diego. You don’t buy numbers from older guys, so I wasn’t getting 21 here. Plus, my number is free. Why spend money? No, there’s really no significance to my number. But I could create some. Let’s see, 53 was my first number in the big leagues. Two and 3 equals 5. Three is the second number in both numbers. Two plus 1 is three. So you can have people draw their own conclusions. Everybody asked why I was 21. Well, five minus 3 is 2. Three minus 2 is 1. It was a progression. And it was available.”

Road To 10,000 Losses: #@@$&(#^#!!!

Road to 10,000 Losses is a countdown to the Phillies’ 10,000th loss, coming sometime later this year. With a 5-4 loss to the Marlins last night, the Phillies stand at 9979 losses, only 21 away from 10,000.

The Phillies lost again, dropping their record to 23-24 and once again failing to improve to better than .500. But they way they lost it was distressing. Shall we do a little recap?

• Phillies got on the board early and led 2-1. A Jeremy Hermida two-run double put the Marlins on top, but the Phillies tied the score on a J-Roll sac fly in the top of the sixth. Oh, yea, and before that the teams almost got into a fight. Both benches cleared, supposedly somebody on the Marlins threw a punch, but nothing major.
• Miguel Olivo tripled to lead off the bottom of the 6th. Joe Borchard grounded right to first-baseman Chris Coste — who scored on the sac fly earlier. Coste fired it to Rod Barajas, who had Olivo out at home. Then he swung his glove over lazily and Olivo kicked the ball out and the Marlins regained the lead. Yes, Rod Barajas made two terrible plays at the plate in consecutive games.
• In the top of the 8th, Chris Coste walked. Michael Bourn pinch-ran for Coste, who went 2-for-3 in his first start of the season. Pinch hitter Greg Dobbs doubled, and with no outs, third base coach Steve Smith sent Bourn home. He was out by a mile. Shane Victorino then singled to score Dobbs and tie the game.
• The game ended up going to extra innings, of course, and the Phillies loaded the bases in the top of the 11th but didn’t score anybody. The Marlins won in the bottom of the 11th.

I apologize if I got any of that wrong, but it was a bit of a frustrating game. Plus it’s 3:30 on the Friday afternoon before a three-day weekend.

After the jump, the beginnings of a bit of a trend.

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Road To 10,000 Losses: Wait, That Was A Win?

Road to 10,000 Losses is a countdown to the Phillies’ 10,000th loss, coming sometime later this year. After splitting the first two games of the Marlins series, the Phillies stand at 9978 losses, only 22 away from 10,000.

The Phillies are never going to top .500. The 23-23 Phillies have hit the .500 mark at 20, 21, 22 and 23 wins, but have lost the next game each time. The Phillies, though, have kept creeping back up to .500, including an 8-7 10 inning win last night.

But, right. Last night’s ninth inning could leave the Phillies in trouble for a couple of weeks. The Phillies scored three in the top of the ninth. In the bottom of the ninth, two bloop singles and a triple made it 7-5. Hanley Ramirez grounded to Greg Dobbs, who threw home instead of taking the easy out at first. Dobbs was remorseful:

“I’m sick to my stomach,” said Greg Dobbs, who was responsible for one of the two defensive lapses. “I want to eat, but can’t. I feel tremendously responsible for that inning because we should have had three outs.” [...]

“I wasn’t,” he said. “Quote it. Print it right on front page. ‘What was Dobbs thinking?’ I saw it all happen right in front of me in super slow mo. As I released the ball, I went ‘whyyyyyyyyy. What are you doing?’ I should’ve taken the ball and either tagged Ramirez or gone to the bag, instead of being way too aggressive. It was just stupid. Afterward, I was so disgusted with myself that I just started walking in circles, thinking ‘Did I just do that?’”

Okay, calm down, Greg. It’s okay. We forgive you.

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