| Kevin Casini. 22nd July, 2006 - 12:10 am
 Here’s all you need to know about the worst franchise in the sports world: When MLB was going through its expansion stage and the divisions were being re-aligned, Commish Selig had to move the Braves, who were still in the West, to the East. In order to do so he needed the approval of management from each of the teams in the East.
The Braves had won 3 consecutive division titles, had been to 2 World Series in the last 3 years and had won 104 games prior to being moved to the East. Meanwhile the Phillies were coming off of a National League Championship and “Whoop There It Is” pervaded the Delaware Valley. Everyone knows that the Braves have ripped off 12 consecutive division titles and the Phillies have failed in every which way possible to make the playoffs.
The Phillies could have easily blocked the move, kept the Pirates in the East, sent the Astros out West and the Braves would have gone to the Central. But instead, the Phillies agreed to sign off on the new alignment if Philly was granted the 1996 All-Star game. They were coming off of a big high with the World Series run and thought the All-Star game would keep the focus on baseball in the City of Brotherly Love. It has gone straight downhill from there.
Since the moves, the Phillies have been about as worthless as it gets, boasting a top 8 payroll and producing exactly 0 playoff games. Here’s a breakdown of the last 12 years of Phils baseball:
1994 was the strike year and the Phils, at the time of the cancellation, were 20 ½ games behind the 1st place Braves. They were 3-6 in games against their new division rivals.
In ’95 they finished 69-75, 21 games back. They were 6-7 vs. Atlanta.
’96, a staggering 29 games out of first at 67-95, going 4-9 vs. the Braves.
1997: 68-94, 33 GB. 2-10 vs. ATL. Wow.
1998: 75-87, 31 GB. 4-8 vs. ATL. A combined 99 games out in 3 years.
1999: 77-85, only 26 games back. 5-8 vs. ATL, a marked improvement.
2000: 65-97, 30 GB, 5-8 vs. ATL. Bye, bye Francona.
2001: Their first year under Larry Bowa the Phils are 86-76, go 9-10 against ATL in the new unbalanced scheduling and finish in 2nd place, just 2 games behind the Braves. Man, if they hadn’t been swept by the 100-loss Devil Rays that season they’d have won the NL East.
2002: 80-81, 21 ½ GB, 7-11 vs. ATL
2003: 86-76, 15 GB, 10-9 vs. ATL Yay! 3-8 in their last 11 against FLA, CIN and ATL.
2004: 86-76, 10 GB, 9-10 vs ATL. But 0-6 vs. Houston, who wins the WC by those 6 games.
2005: 88-74, 10-9 vs. ATL Swept at home by the Astros and miss the out on the Wild Card by 1 game. To Houston.
And now 2006: 43-50, 13 GB. Their on pace for 75 wins, which would be their lowest total since 2000. The good news is they are 4-1 against the Braves. The bad news now the Mets (53-36) are in 1st place, and the Phils are 3-6 against them so far this year. If the Mets win at their current pace they’ll finish the season at 96 wins, some 22 games ahead of the Phillies. |
