For the second straight September, the Phillies have a recent and small lead over the New York Mets. The two teams have rejuvenated their rivalry in a new era of the NL East that doesn't feature the former powerhouse Atlanta Braves winning the title to go along with every Cy Young vote.
But while both teams share a plenty of talent, the Phils have just barely squeaked by the Mets the last two seasons—until now. Here are some things that we can take from these fightin' Phils for the next 12 games and for the 2009 and upcoming seasons.
Play the Whole Season
The Phillies started 2007 with the infamous Jimmy Rollins quote: "We are the team to beat in the NL East." This came after the talented Mets cruised to the best record in baseball in 2006, only to get upset by a then hot St. Louis Cardinals team in the NLCS.
So, to many, this claim was very bold. But Rollins got the last laugh and an MVP award to go with it. In the end, the Phillies played the season out, .549 ball, good enough to surpass the Mets in the final game of the season.
They finished the season hot, and never saw themselves out of it.
Play the Whole Game
The Phillies' NL East victory was helped in part from their league leading come-from-behind wins.
This year they rank second in come from behind wins. Unlike most teams, the Phils really have it ingrained in their head that there are nine innings and 27 outs in a baseball game. While its unlikely to win a game you're down 8-0 in the last out, they believe it can happen. Credit clutch hitting, good slugging, and a good bullpen for this.
A lot of this is mental, too, and can be learned by our Mets.
In a basketball game, down by 20 points with a minute to go in the fourth quarter means the game is probably over. But down by four runs with two outs in the ninth, anything can still happen. The Phillies seem to understand this better than the Mets, and most of baseball for that matter.
Don't Pity Yourself
Sometimes it's hard not to pity oneself. When circumstances lead to it, its hard not to feel so. Self-pity may help in recovering from a traumatic event, but will accomplish nothing more.
Every baseball team goes on losing streaks, while arguably none were worse than the 2007 Mets late last year. You can point the finger in any and all directions, really, but I credit a lot of this mentally.
In the end we weren't focus and we were just feeling sorry for ourselves: "We're too good for this to happen to us."
There was a lot of denial between the Mets and their fans. It wasn't really for me until I was outside throwing my shoes against the side of the house. (I learned early through the mid-'90s Utah Jazz that furniture and TV remotes can be victims to bad games—the side of the house is fine).
There are healthy times and ways to pity yourself—like waiting until winter and treating yourself to Johan Santana!
Don't Get Cocky
I didn't mind the collapse so much as I minded these awful sound bites. All those ones that were to the tune of, "We're so good it's boring."
8 comments Last one added 9 months ago — Leave a Comment
ATSExperts.com 9 months ago
This is very true and this mental outlook comes from within the club house and skipper. The Mets are mentally weak and it may have to do with the fact that their bullpen is one of the worst in baseball and the Phillies have the tops in the NL. We all knew the Mets would faulter once again considering they have been up and down all year and the Phillies can be a streaky ball club. If the Phils are playing well they can outslug any team and then bring in Brad Lidge to shut their oppenent down in the 9th. They play an exciting brand of baseball.
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Ben Currie 9 months ago
That's a good point. Certainly talent late-game players make this club very tough mentally, and have that confidence in any situation. With players like Victorino, Rollins, Werth. They can get on base and squeak out that lowly run, when scoring seems to has ceased. And certainly Howard can change the score with one strong swing. This coupled with strong middle relief and a consistent closer in Lidge. Its no wonder the Phillies never consider themselves out of it. Even though the Mets lack this on paper, I'd still like to see a similar level of confidence and "we can do it" attitude late in the game.
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Lee Henderson 9 months ago
Obviously the Mets can learn something from the Phillies but you're crazy if you think they're strong mentally. The Phillies are one of the weakest teams mentally in the National League. They swing at bad pitches, they make bad fielding errors and they make horrible running decisions. Ryan Howard's MVP was a joke because he is a mental midget. He once tried to score from first base on Jeff Franceour's arm. I wouldn't let Jose Reyes go from first to home on Franceour's arm, much much much less Ryan Howard.
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Ben Currie 9 months ago
I think you're confusing Ryan Howards style of play with the Mental Attitude of the entire team. I agree Howard's attitude at the plate is far from ideal. The Phillies themselves have some great defenders and baserunners. I'm saying the team has good tenacity and motivation, I'm not saying they never make a mental mistake in their playing game.
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Christian Karcole 9 months ago
Lee, you are basing his stupidity on the base-paths off of one running error? If you watched him, you would realize he's actually a very smart runner. He's not a good fielder, and can strike out a lot, but can also hit better the ball harder and farther than anyone in the bigs when he is on. Sure I hate his inconsistency, but he's the best in baseball when he is on.
And you call the Phillies a bad base running team? You are out of your mind! Jimmy Rollins, Shane Victorino, Jayson Werth, Chase Utley all have good speed and steal bases. And Howard, Burrell, Coste/Ruiz, Dobbs may not have great speed, but they know when to go and when not too. In fact, Howard is one of the fastest big men in the league, and knows what to do.
And Ben is right, you are basing the team off of Howard. You can't base a team off of one player.
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David Geller 9 months ago
They haven't lost anything yet. I would hold off on these article until the Phillies clinch the division.
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Justin Wells 9 months ago
How many playoff games have the Phillies won since 1993?
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Ben Currie 9 months ago
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