February 18, 2015
Lynne Sladky/AP
Philadelphia Phillies starting pitcher Cole Hamels throws during a spring training baseball workout, Wednesday, Feb. 18, 2015, in Clearwater, Fla. Phillies pitchers and catchers begin official workouts Feb. 19.
The Phillies truck left frigid Philadelphia for Clearwater last Friday, packed with everything from socks to wrist bands and from bird seed to bubble gum. Interestingly, unlike last year when the huge truck was decorated with Phillies logos, this truck was an anonymous shade of white.
Fittingly, it was as if the season was being delivered in a plain white envelope. No frills, no slogans. No hope.
And that is wrong. It is wrong for any market, but it is especially wrong for a market like Philadelphia, a market that has recently been -- and always should be -- one of the real gems of Major League Baseball.
If you wanted to, you could actually paint a picture of a team that could at least throw a scare into some people, one that has enough weapons to be a decent show.
Very simply, the Phillies organization has smothered hopes for this season.
But the Phillies need to learn how to sell hope, or at least learn how to twist their words. They might not need to hire Pinocchio -- or maybe Brian Williams -- to teach Ruben Amaro how to lie, but they do need to teach the club’s front office how to deliver their message in a way that doesn't equate to "all hope is lost."
Thus far, while discussing how long it will take for the team to reboot into competitive form, Amaro and newly re-installed poobah Pat Gillick have managed to extinguish virtually any hope this season has to offer. Their pessimism appears to be spreading both in terms of fan interest and in overall expectations as Vegas now rates the team as the worst in baseball with an over/under line of 68 victories.
Mind you, this is a team that has two of the best left-handed starting pitchers in baseball in Cole Hamels and Cliff Lee; one of the statistically best closers in baseball in Jonathan Papelbon; and big names such as Chase Utley, Carlos Ruiz and, yes, even Ryan Howard.
If you wanted to, you could actually paint a picture of a team that could at least throw a scare into some people, one that has enough weapons to be a decent show. Whether it’s true or not, there is no reason for the people at the head of this organization to basically shut down any hope for this season before it even got a chance to gain any traction.
Why should anybody have any hope when the general manager has been so open about taking offers for Hamels? Or when coach Larry Bowa joins Amaro in suggesting that Howard would be better served as a designated hitter in the American League?
There is something to be said for having a transparent organization, but quite another to paint a public picture of a team with no hope at all. If you paid attention to Gillick, you would think the best you can hope for is a chance to win in about three to five years.
That’s nonsense. With the size of the organization’s wallet, three to five years is an absurd length of time.
Philadelphia is a major market, and there is no reason for the front office to suggest this is a team with a long-range plan that’s longer than one season. More than just that, this should be a front office that can do its long-range planning without a mantra to the public that all hope is abandoned.
Even more damaging is the message they’re sending to their own locker room -- as well as the rest of baseball. Philadelphia should be a landing spot for free agents, a place stars want to come to in order to win and play in front of huge crowds.
It should be a place where even though you may have a bad season, the chance of winning again is always one spring away.
Or at least one free agent away.
Instead, the players are being told this is now a long-term project with no stars on the way, and the ones that are currently here are being taken to auction when the team comes north.
There really doesn’t seem to be any value to being so open about moving players such as Hamels or Howard -- very little value to suggesting to your clubhouse that this year is about getting to the trade deadline.
Spring training is supposed to at least start with hope.
***
Nice of Alex Rodriguez to produce a “hand written” note to apologize once again for his conduct in the aftermath of all the steroid involvement.
Might be a bit cynical here, but doesn’t it make sense that A-Rod would think his personal handwriting would more valuable?
Not going to work.
The Yankees have a mess of monumental proportions on their hands and so does Major League Baseball. This is going to be a circus in the biggest of Big Tops -- New York City.
There are plenty of embarrassing stories in the sports universe today, but A-Rod’s remains at the top of the list. The difference in this case – as opposed to so many other athletes asking for forgiveness, is that he has no hometown crowd rooting for him.
Think about this: In the same season the Yankees are going to retire the number of Andy Pettitte -- a player who had to apologize for PED use -- nobody has come out in support of Rodriguez.
Despite all their problems, the hometown fans still supported Barry Bonds and Mark McGwire.
A-Rod?
It’s going to a long and well-deserved lonely road from here to retirement.
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There are now new allegations that the New England Patriots tried to use an illegal kicking football in the playoffs. The Patriots will officially get upset when it is announced the championship parade made an illegal left-hand turn.
