The enduring disappointment of the Philadelphia Phillies

It was a little over 14 years ago now that the Philadelphia Phillies became the first major American sports franchise to reach the dubious goal of 10,000 regular-season losses. However, several weeks later the team ran down the New York Mets for their first division title in quite a while, the first of five in a row.

Kids who were Phillies fans actually got used to winning in this century. There was a World Series championship in 2008 (followed by a loss in ’09 to the Evil Empire). There was a record-setting regular-season record in ’11 (followed by a decade of shrieking mediocrity).

Adults should know where this is going.

The Philadelphia Phillies have always been the team with too many parentheses.

The 10-year-old kids who loved That Championship Season became adults, and some looked up their Phillies’ historical record. They were appalled. But then, when the principal newspaper covering the Evil Empire noted Philadelphia’s 10,000th loss, their notice began by declaring the Phillies were “never known as lovable losers.”

Damn. That was pretty accurate.

By the middle of the last decade, when the memories of Chase Utley’s fake throw to first in the ’08 Series and his home runs in the ’09 battles with the Yankees were fading, Phillies fans began to abandon Citizens Bank Park.

The team then was in the middle of a teeth-grinding, slow, rebuilding project that would propel them to the lofty .500-level for nearly four years in a row.

No baseball fan in Philly could deny the enduring disappointment of the Phillies.

And yet, now because of the wealth of the team ownership, the team’s market size, and their recent assembly of star players, the Phillies 2021 season began on an optimistic note – or maybe a short tune – a 5-1 start out of the gate. Against their two principal divisional rivals!

But that was April. This is August.

August had begun well too – eight wins in a row – and the Phils seized first place.

That string was followed by back-to-back, 2-1 series losses to the Dodgers and Reds. OK, OK, to an extent predictable, although the Reds theoretically shouldn’t have been that much of a problem in Philadelphia, where the home team plays far better for maddeningly elusive reasons beyond home cooking.

Then came the trip to Arizona to face the worst current NL team, the Diamondbacks. The Phillies, however, apparently forgot to pack their bats, or sleep on the plane, or maybe drink enough Gatorade. Bryce Harper, one of the team’s hired stars, hit a long, solo home run (again), but the team fell, 3-2, late on Aug. 17.

When the New York Times noted the Phillies 10,000th loss back in mid-July, 2007, it was observed that Phillies defeat dropped them five games behind the first-place Mets, and one game below .500.

Again, that year the team caught the Mets, and the good times rolled for almost five years (although the pinnacle was reached in the second year, and a slow playoff decline followed, disguised as something like success).

On Aug. 18, the Phillies sent out converted reliever Ranger Suarez to face the Diamondbacks. He had been one of the consistent bright spots in this Phillies season, along with Zack Wheeler (perhaps).

For the first time this season, Suarez was not particularly effective, giving up three earned runs in 4.2 innings. Philadelphia fell 3½ games out of first place with a 4-2 loss.

Maybe the Phillies would salvage one game in their series with the lowly Snakes. (They should.) That could leave them three games over .500, potentially only three games behind idle Atlanta after play Aug. 19 – much later in the season than in that division-championship year back in ’07 when they were five back. (On the other hand, they hadn’t seized the opportunity of playing the worst team in the league.)

See, that’s the problem with the always disappointing Phillies. (There’s always a parenthesis.)