From 1976 to 1980 they won 4 NL East titles, 1 National League Pennant and 1 World Series.

 From 2005 to present they have won 3 National League East titles, 2 National league Pennants and 1 World Series.

The first team included the group known as the Whiz Kids, with nearly every member of the team either in the hall of fame, or close to it, and known nationally as household names due to the exposure they recieved during their dominance.  The second team is still playing so does not have the advantage of securing a historical place in our minds and memories as of yet, but may equal or exceed the ability and statistics of the first group of Phillies superstars. 

This [...]

I guess this counts as “We’re the team to beat” Part 4.

Like the Phillies, the Mets opened Spring Training action yesterday and it didn’t take the team long to show off it’s confidence for the upcoming season. Despite a 72-90 year, David Wright believes the Mets are World Series contenders.

The following is an excerpt from a NY Post report:

“We’re expecting to go out there and win the National League East and go deep in the playoffs and win the World Series,” Wright said, a day before Mets pitchers and catchers were required to report to spring training. “That is the expectation I’ve gotten from the guys who are here early, and I [expect] this team is to get back to where [...]

Jimmy Rollins arrives at number four, having had the benefit of playing his entire career and a complete decade here in Philly for the world champion Philadelphia Phillies at shortstop.   His entire family was athletic, from his mother playing softpitch softball, to his brother who played for the Rangers and Expos, to his sister who started for the University of San Francisco basketball team.

He was drafted by the Phillies in 1996, debuted in 2000 and was third in rookie of the year voting in 2001 and the only representative sent to the All Star game that season.   Rollins was named the 2007 National League Most Valuable Player, and has been named to the National League All-Star team three [...]

Chase was one of the few athletes that made it on to all the Phillysportsblogs writers ballots at about the same spot, and he arrives at number 6 after playing 7 seasons in the past ten years with the Philadelphia Phillies, only 5 of those years as a starter.  He was signed as a first rounder in 2000 as the 15th overall pick, and made an impact in his first game in 2003 by getting his first hit, which happened to be a grand slam !

At first, his path to success seemed blocked by the recently re acquired Placido Polanco but by 2005, the Phillies had traded Polanco and Utley became the second baseman of the future.  Since that time, [...]

If the Phillies want to become a dynasty, I offer 5 suggestions to send them on their way. They have a good balanced ball club, one that has won the National League east three times in a row, been to 2 World Series and won one. That is a good 500 or so games for the team. But to truly become a dynasty, they need to sustain this level of play for 1000 or so more games.

That is tough in an arbitration filled, salary capped, league unless they plan on spending half a billion dollars each and every off season like the Yankees seem to do. Frankly, as much support as the Phillies get, I still  [...]

I happened to be visiting Philly this past weekend for the first time in a while. I decided before I left that it was extremely important for me to take what I call the Pats vs. Gino’s Challenge. So, a buddy and I went into South Philly and first stopped by Pats. After following the directions printed on the building, we ordered our “Philly Wiz Wit” and of course cheese fries. I was very pleased. Not wasting anytime we walked across the street to Gino’s and after the fifteen-minute wait, we ordered two more “Philly Wiz Wits.” Although, I thought it was good, in my eyes it did not match up to Pat’s. Maybe the difference was Pats pouring on [...]

Tomorrow the National League Gold Glove Award Winners will be announced. There is a good possibility that the trophy room will be “philled” with red and blue.

Jimmy Rollins with his Major-League best .990 fielding percentage will almost certainly win his 3rd straight Gold Glove, but he may not be alone. Shane Victorino and Chase Utley also have a good chance of joining Rollins. For Victorino, it would be his 2nd consecutive Gold Glove and for Utley his 1st. Carlos Ruiz, Pedro Feliz and Jason Werth are sure to receive some consideration. Stay Tuned….

The American League announced its Gold Glove winners earlier today:

P: Mark Buehrle

C: Joe Mauer

1B: Mark Teixera

2B: Placido Polanco

SS: Derek Jeter

3B: Evan Longoria

OF: Adam Jones

OF: Torii Hunter

OF: Ichiro Suzuki

It wasn’t a blown save, it was something much worse.

Bard Lidge allowed three runs in the ninth inning and the New York Yankees beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 7-4, to take a commanding 3-1 lead in the World Series, Sunday night.

Pedro Feliz hit a solo home run in the bottom of the 8th off Joba Chamberlain to tie the game at 4-4 and give the Phillies the momentum heading in to the ninth. Lidge came in and got the first two hitters out, as it appeared his postseason reconciliation was going to continue.

Then it all fell to pieces.

Johnny Damon hit the blooper of all bloopers to keep the inning alive. Damon, not the fastest runner these days, stole second and third [...]

We are now just one day away fro Game 1 of the World Series between the Philadelphia Phillies and New York Yankees. There promises to be plenty of drama as these two teams face off in the World Series for the first time in 50 years.

Bellow is a breakdown of how the teams match up position-by-position.

 First Base: This would be the marquee position with two players who are not only of All-Star caliber, but MVP worthy. Ryan Howard has been a monster year after year, producing 40-plus home runs and 140 RBIs a season. His defense has improved and he defines the word clutch. Most people credit Jimmy Rollins for being the engine of the team but it became clear [...]

Right after Carlos Ruiz scored the winning run last night to give the Phillies a 3-1 lead in the NLCS the network cameras picked up a fan holding up a sign that read “Are You Kidding Me?” – it was perfect.  It not only put the exclamation point on last night but it simply explains the 2009 Phillies.

This is a team that just doesn’t know how to quit.  Never.  Not in their vocabulary.  So what if the bottom of the order was coming up in the 9th? No problem.  After Ibanez grounded out to second base for the first out and Matt Stairs pinch hit did anyone besides me have the flashback of his monster homer in Los Angeles that [...]

Tonight begins the next step in the Philadelphia Phillies quest to repeat as World Series champions. The Phils take on the Los Angeles Dodgers tonight at 8:07 p.m. in the first game of a best-of-seven NLCS series. Last year the Phillies beat the Dodgers in five games in the NLCS, but how will they fair this year?

 He is a breakdown of how the match up:

 Phillies Pitching:

Game 1: Cole Hamels: The lefty has had his ups and downs this season and was less than stellar in his outing against the Rockies. Against the Dodgers, however, he has been dominant. In his two starts against them this season, Hamels posted a 1-0 mark with a 0.56 ERA. He also struck out 14 [...]

The past two nights the Phillies are looking like a team that gave it’s all to clinch the division and are not all that concerned about home field advantage for the championship series.  With the exception of another towering homerun by Howard in the bottom of the first (his 44th) the Phillies offense was flat.  Joe Blanton looked equally flat as he allowed 5 runs in 6 plus innings and never seemed to be on top of his delivery. 

Charlie Manuel rested Jimmy Rollins and Shane Victorino took over the leadoff spot for the night and went 1 for four.  Tracy got his 4th pinch hit in the 7th inning, but was stranded on base as were all the Phillies that [...]

The Phillies left no doubt about it tonight as they clinched their third straight division title for the second time in franchise history.

They set various benchmarks, had virtually every starter contribute to the 10-3 score, in a game featuring a rejuvenated Cy Young award winner, an early appearance by a middle reliever who pitched 3 scoreless innings and a beleaguered closer who came in and got the final out in a non save situation.  This team appears to be ready for the post season.

The Phillies played small ball, long ball, and all ball as they pounded a home run, two triples and three doubles.  They scored in 4 of their 5 final at bats to put this one away and [...]

The Phillies closed out a game at Citizens Bank Park for a much needed 7-4 win over the Astros on a night when the Braves finally faltered in their headlong rush toward postseason.  Braves fans saw a glimmer of hope for the first time in 5 years as the perennial NL East champions made a valiant attempt but simply had too much ground to make up and too little time. 

It is all but done now.  The Phillies have 5 games to play with a 5 game lead.  Happ continued to lay claim to a spot in the postseason rotation with 5+ strong innings .  He allowed three earned runs and ran his record to 12-4, the best rookie record for a [...]

The Phillies traveled to Florida to play the Florida Marlins a rare double header. Joe Blanton came out and threw another quality start in the first game pitching 7 innings of shutout ball. The Phillies offense secured the win with an assortment of seeing eye hits, good fielding, baserunning and steals.

Ibanez did hit a late home run but that only accounted for 1 of the 9 runs the team scored in the first game, the rest came on singles and groundouts, a wild pitch and a sacrifice fly as the Phillies scattered 11 hits overall to beat Florida 9-3 in the opener.

Blanton has had 15 quality starts in his last 16 games, allowing 4 runs or less and raising his [...]