GaryMrMets
08-03-2004, 01:02 AM
http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/sports/9300255.htm
Posted on Mon, Aug. 02, 2004
Phils looking for answers
"It's not May. It's not June. We need to do anything to get a win," Thome said.
By Todd Zolecki
Inquirer Staff Writer
- These are desperate times for the Phillies.
They are 1-6 on a road trip that continues tomorrow in San Diego and ends in Los Angeles this weekend. With every loss they tumble further behind the Atlanta Braves in the National League East and further behind the Padres, Chicago and San Francisco in the NL wild-card race.
With every loss they wonder more and more what the future holds for their manager.
"It's desperate, period," Phillies leftfielder Pat Burrell said after a 6-3 loss to the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field yesterday. "Regardless of where we're going."
"It's August," first baseman Jim Thome said. "It's not May. It's not June. We need to do anything to get a win."
"We don't want to let this snowball into a nightmare," injured closer Billy Wagner said.
If the Phillies haven't seen Freddy Krueger yet, he might be just around the corner.
They are 7-11 since the all-star break. They are 9-15 since they had a three-game lead over Florida and New York in the East on July 5, their largest division lead of the season.
The Braves, who were 31/2 behind the Phillies that day, are 17-5 since then and have a 51/2-game lead over the Phillies. The Padres are five games ahead of the Phillies for the wild card, with the Cubs and Giants also ahead of them.
"It concerns us," Thome said. "To be honest, it's a little embarrassing."
But Phillies manager Larry Bowa said with 57 games to play, the season isn't over yet.
Nobody should be desperate.
"Desperate is when you're on your deathbed and they give you last rites," Bowa said. "There are too many games left."
Shortstop Jimmy Rollins concurred.
Bowa's job status has been bandied about over the last several days, and there have been rumblings over the last few days that Phillies general manager Ed Wade is mulling a change. Asked whether Bowa is the right man for the job last week, Wade said: "I'm not going to get into that. Just because a couple players expressed their frustrations this week, I'm not going to get into 'I'm-satisfied-I'm-not-satisfied' talks on a daily basis."
But players have heard the talk.
Has that uncertainty seeped into the clubhouse?
"Maybe a little bit," catcher Mike Lieberthal said. "Maybe this weekend because there was so much talk about it early on. It's kind of a weird situation. . . . I don't think anybody is expecting a change, but obviously everybody is hearing it. I really expect him to be here the whole year. But you never know. It's all about winning in any sport. If the players don't win, it happens.
"But I don't think it's really affecting the guys, or they're really thinking about it."
The Phillies stepped onto the field yesterday afternoon with the Cubs on an emotional high.
Cubs pitcher Greg Maddux, who spent the previous 11 seasons with Atlanta, needed a win to become just the 22d pitcher in baseball history with 300 wins. Baseball commissioner Bud Selig, Braves GM John Schuerholz, and former Braves president Stan Kasten were in attendance.
But Maddux left after the sixth inning and ended up with a no-decision.
"I thought I could have started the seventh, but I don't know if I could have made it out or not," Maddux said. "I was pretty much done after the sixth. But I'm glad we won."
Shortstop Nomar Garciaparra, acquired from the Boston Red Sox just before the 4 p.m. non-waiver trade deadline on Saturday, made his Cubs debut. Cubs fans went crazy for their new shortstop.
"It's a party here every day," Cubs manager Dusty Baker said. "They were just partying a little more than usual."
Rollins hit a leadoff homer in the first and Bobby Abreu followed two batters later with a solo homer to right to hand the Phillies a 2-0 lead. But Sammy Sosa and Aramis Ramirez hit back-to-back homers in the bottom of the second to make it 2-2.
The Phillies took a 3-2 lead in the fifth, but Phillies lefthander Randy Wolf (4-7) found trouble in the seventh.
Sosa hit a leadoff double to right-center and Ramirez walked. Mark Grudzielanek then hit a double to right to score Sosa and make it 3-3. Bowa brought in lefthander Rheal Cormier, but pinch-hitter Jose Macias hit a grounder to short that eluded Rollins.
Ramirez scored to hand the Cubs a 4-3 lead.
Newly acquired Phillies pitcher Todd Jones replaced Cormier. Michael Barrett hit a sacrifice fly to center to score Grudzielanek. Jones then hit Corey Patterson with a pitch and Garciaparra singled to left to score Macias.
The Phillies came up small in the eighth. They had the bases loaded with nobody out, but didn't score. Lieberthal struck out looking, pinch-hitter Chase Utley struck out swinging, and pinch-hitter Jason Michaels popped out to second.
"You get a rally going and you need contact, and we're just having problems right there," Bowa said. "It's a big concern."
The bigger concern is the season, which began with such high expectations.
The Phillies need to get hot soon.
They need a winning streak. A long one. They haven't won more than three straight games since May.
"We're the only team in baseball without a decent winning streak," Wagner said. "I have no clear answer. It's a crazy, frustrating game."
Posted on Mon, Aug. 02, 2004
Phils looking for answers
"It's not May. It's not June. We need to do anything to get a win," Thome said.
By Todd Zolecki
Inquirer Staff Writer
- These are desperate times for the Phillies.
They are 1-6 on a road trip that continues tomorrow in San Diego and ends in Los Angeles this weekend. With every loss they tumble further behind the Atlanta Braves in the National League East and further behind the Padres, Chicago and San Francisco in the NL wild-card race.
With every loss they wonder more and more what the future holds for their manager.
"It's desperate, period," Phillies leftfielder Pat Burrell said after a 6-3 loss to the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field yesterday. "Regardless of where we're going."
"It's August," first baseman Jim Thome said. "It's not May. It's not June. We need to do anything to get a win."
"We don't want to let this snowball into a nightmare," injured closer Billy Wagner said.
If the Phillies haven't seen Freddy Krueger yet, he might be just around the corner.
They are 7-11 since the all-star break. They are 9-15 since they had a three-game lead over Florida and New York in the East on July 5, their largest division lead of the season.
The Braves, who were 31/2 behind the Phillies that day, are 17-5 since then and have a 51/2-game lead over the Phillies. The Padres are five games ahead of the Phillies for the wild card, with the Cubs and Giants also ahead of them.
"It concerns us," Thome said. "To be honest, it's a little embarrassing."
But Phillies manager Larry Bowa said with 57 games to play, the season isn't over yet.
Nobody should be desperate.
"Desperate is when you're on your deathbed and they give you last rites," Bowa said. "There are too many games left."
Shortstop Jimmy Rollins concurred.
Bowa's job status has been bandied about over the last several days, and there have been rumblings over the last few days that Phillies general manager Ed Wade is mulling a change. Asked whether Bowa is the right man for the job last week, Wade said: "I'm not going to get into that. Just because a couple players expressed their frustrations this week, I'm not going to get into 'I'm-satisfied-I'm-not-satisfied' talks on a daily basis."
But players have heard the talk.
Has that uncertainty seeped into the clubhouse?
"Maybe a little bit," catcher Mike Lieberthal said. "Maybe this weekend because there was so much talk about it early on. It's kind of a weird situation. . . . I don't think anybody is expecting a change, but obviously everybody is hearing it. I really expect him to be here the whole year. But you never know. It's all about winning in any sport. If the players don't win, it happens.
"But I don't think it's really affecting the guys, or they're really thinking about it."
The Phillies stepped onto the field yesterday afternoon with the Cubs on an emotional high.
Cubs pitcher Greg Maddux, who spent the previous 11 seasons with Atlanta, needed a win to become just the 22d pitcher in baseball history with 300 wins. Baseball commissioner Bud Selig, Braves GM John Schuerholz, and former Braves president Stan Kasten were in attendance.
But Maddux left after the sixth inning and ended up with a no-decision.
"I thought I could have started the seventh, but I don't know if I could have made it out or not," Maddux said. "I was pretty much done after the sixth. But I'm glad we won."
Shortstop Nomar Garciaparra, acquired from the Boston Red Sox just before the 4 p.m. non-waiver trade deadline on Saturday, made his Cubs debut. Cubs fans went crazy for their new shortstop.
"It's a party here every day," Cubs manager Dusty Baker said. "They were just partying a little more than usual."
Rollins hit a leadoff homer in the first and Bobby Abreu followed two batters later with a solo homer to right to hand the Phillies a 2-0 lead. But Sammy Sosa and Aramis Ramirez hit back-to-back homers in the bottom of the second to make it 2-2.
The Phillies took a 3-2 lead in the fifth, but Phillies lefthander Randy Wolf (4-7) found trouble in the seventh.
Sosa hit a leadoff double to right-center and Ramirez walked. Mark Grudzielanek then hit a double to right to score Sosa and make it 3-3. Bowa brought in lefthander Rheal Cormier, but pinch-hitter Jose Macias hit a grounder to short that eluded Rollins.
Ramirez scored to hand the Cubs a 4-3 lead.
Newly acquired Phillies pitcher Todd Jones replaced Cormier. Michael Barrett hit a sacrifice fly to center to score Grudzielanek. Jones then hit Corey Patterson with a pitch and Garciaparra singled to left to score Macias.
The Phillies came up small in the eighth. They had the bases loaded with nobody out, but didn't score. Lieberthal struck out looking, pinch-hitter Chase Utley struck out swinging, and pinch-hitter Jason Michaels popped out to second.
"You get a rally going and you need contact, and we're just having problems right there," Bowa said. "It's a big concern."
The bigger concern is the season, which began with such high expectations.
The Phillies need to get hot soon.
They need a winning streak. A long one. They haven't won more than three straight games since May.
"We're the only team in baseball without a decent winning streak," Wagner said. "I have no clear answer. It's a crazy, frustrating game."