Phillies Baseball - The Turnaround

The Philadelphia Phillies are in the World Series. Finally!!! Before they were in the Series, there was a long drought of disappointment for Phillie players and fans. The Phillies were stuck in the same rut year after year. The same pattern.

Years ago the Phillies would start out the baseball season winning.They would win the first couple of games, lose the next couple of games, and towards the end, try to play catch - up at the end of the season to try and MAKE the play-offs. This went on and on for a couple of years, much to the disappointment of the Phillies fans. During those seemingly long hard years, it seemed like the fans were the only ones hurting. But unknown to us, the Phillies organization itself was going through change.

Former Phillies manager Larry Bowa did a great job in 2001, giving the Phillies their first winning season in eight years. But by 2005, he was replaced by Charlie Manuel and general manager Ed Wade was replaced by Pat Gillick. Pat Gillick ruffled some of the Phillies fans feathers by trading some of those stars' from the winning seasons baseball the Phillies DID have, away to other teams. In return Gillick got a chance to develop some of the younger players he had his eye on. While the core of the team developed, in 2007 the Phillies earned the notorious distinction of losing the most games of any Major League Baseball team.

That same year the Phillies won the National League East Pennant but lost the division series to the Colorado Rockies. This year the Phillies responded by winning their second straight division title and defeating the Milwaukee Brewers in the division series. This win started a landslide of records that baseball the first post-season win for the Phillies since their 1993 season.

And now here we are, awaiting the resumption of Game 5 of the World Series. A mere three and a half innings left to give the Phillies fans what they have been waiting for, and asking for since the 1993 loss in that World Series. I predict that the Phillies WILL win, and the Phillies fans will finally be able to breathe a collective sigh of relief.

Kenneth White is a BIG hometown sports fan. Phillies, Eagles, Sixers, Soul, the Flyers and the Nittany Lions. If you want to read more please visit my blog at : http://philliesjersey.blogspot.com

2008 Fantasy Baseball Review - Jacque Jones

The following is a review of the 2008 season of former Detroit Tigers outfield Jacque Jones.

What I said then: "A power decline was not shocking for Jones last season considering his extreme groundball rate, but what we saw last season was a bit excessive.The move to Comerica Park hardly helps his cause.The good news is that he joins possibly the best lineup baseball the game, meaning more plate appearances even though he will be at the baseball of the batting order.Jones sacrificed power for contact last season, but even so, this is a little soon for a power breakdown of this sort.A good buy-low here."

Disaster. Jones was guaranteed at-bats on the primary side of a platoon with Marcus Thames, and Gary Sheffield seemed long in the tooth. His career average was near .280 coming into the year, and he had hit more than 20 homers in the three seasons prior to 2007, so he was surely a buy-low option. Dead wrong! Jones struggled with the bat early in the season, and he was eventually released and scooped by the Marlins. He was no better with the Marlins and finished the season in free agency. It is unclear where the veteran outfielder goes from here, but he will only be age 33 on Opening Day and still does have outfield range. It is rare for a player of Jones' caliber to simply cease as a major leaguer like he did in his early-30s, but it is also not unprecedented. Unless his status changes, he is not a fantasy option in 2009.

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