Number 26 on our countdown brings us to the Philadelphia Phillies, once a franchise I could actually root for. I liked Michael Jack Schmidt and his mustache. I enjoyed watching Portland Beavers players like Juan Samuel and Steve Jeltz get the call to the bigs when I was a youth during the Beavers AAA affiliation with the Phils. (I didn't enjoy the owner's attempts to rename the team the Portland Phillies.)
Where did it all go sideways? At some point, the Phillies just seemed to turn into the National League's answer to the Red Sox. Ryan Howard became bigger than life (he's probably a nice guy - his hometown St. Louis fans seem to greet him warmly) and Jimmy Rollins was the next Jose Reyes. Well, that's an Alternate Universe Jose Reyes in which Jose wins MVP awards and Carlos Beltran doesn't freeze on an Adam Wainwright curveball to lose the 2006 NLCS.
The whole Cliff Lee signing is disqualified from entry in this countdown. I made these picks a couple of months ago. Sorry, Phillies, I didn't like you then. Who should I blame... John Kruk?
Favorite current Phillies player: Roy Halladay. This one is as easy as they come. After toiling away in relative obscurity for his entire career, Halladay is finally getting some serious due. He's always been a pitcher that I admired, and if I had more time and room under my collecting belt he'd be a good candidate for a personal player collection.Least favorite current Phillies player: Brad Lidge. I don't know what Brad Lidge did to me and every other Cardinal fan everywhere to earn all of the wrath that he gets, but... haha... I enjoy his failures. Sometimes being a fan just involves a certain level of cruelty.
Favorite Phillies player of all-time: Steve Carlton. I was a little on the young side to remember Carlton's best years, but I give him a slight edge over Schmidt for his Cardinals roots.Least favorite Phillies player of all-time: Ricky Jordan. Because he was so disappointing! I think I had stacks of his cards once upon a time and probably gave up great stuff to get them.
The Philadelphia Phillies check in at #26 in my reverse-ranking of favorite teams as of the moment I picked them on October 4th, 2010. All of these cards are very much up for trade, so please contact me if you're interested.
The Phillies have always been my 2nd backup team pick in group breaks if the Cubs and Royals are taken. I like Rollins, Utley and Howard a lot- they're solid players who seem to have good heads on their shoulders. Their now-dominating rotation is sure to cause the Cubs non-dominating lineup some serious problems in the near future though, so maybe I should start hating them... -Andy
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