Philadelphia Phillies: All-Phillies Misery Team for the Past 20 Years

Late last week, I created the "All Phillies Team for the Past 20 Years" and it sparked some good debates, primarily about taking 2008 Cole Hamels over 2011 Cliff Lee for LH starter and not including Shane Victorino as at least the runner up to Lenny Dykstra in centerfield (I'll stand by Aaron Rowand's 2007 season).

Now, it's time for the ugly side.  I considered going back another five years, but then the entire team would be dominated by folks from 1988-1990.

So here goes....make sure you haven't eaten recently because this one might upset your stomach.

Introducing the All-Phillies Misery Team for the Past 20 Years! Proceed with caution.

MANAGER: 2000 Terry Francona

Long before Francona led the Red Sox to two World Championships, he was running in place in Philadelphia—and that place was in the 60s as far as win totals were concerned.  His last season, 2000, saw the team hit rock bottom. 

After career years from Mike Lieberthal, Scott Rolen, and Doug Glanville in '99, Francona and the Phils felt good about things heading into 2000.

Think again.

The Phils started the season 7-18 and could not recover.  Francona, a player's manager, was let go after the season and the Larry Bowa era began.

RUNNER UP: 1996 Jim Fregosi

COACH: 2003 Joe Kerrigan

Kerrigan was the Phillies pitching coach in 2003 and 2004, and his philosophy about pitchers holding base runners—or rather, not holding them—was maddening. 

Opponents' base runners practically were given an open invitation to steal second.  Catchers Mike Lieberthal and Todd Pratt had basically zero shot with the likes of Kevin Millwood, Vicente Padilla, and Brandon Duckworth on the mound. 

RUNNER UP: 1997 Hal McRae

CATCHER: 2007 Rod Barajas

Barajas came to the Phillies as a free agent after posting a .255 avg with 16 HR and 51 RBI over the previous two seasons with the Texas Rangers.  With Mike Lieberthal's tenure coming to an end, Barajas was supposed to the man behind the dish.

Um, not quite. 

Rod hit .230 with 4 HR's and 10 RBI for the $2.5 million deal he signed. His tenure lasted all of one season.

RUNNER UP: 2008 Carlos Ruiz

FIRST BASE: 1995 Dave Hollins

Ryan Howard & Jim Thome basically eliminate any possibility that this team's first baseman will come from the past 10 years, so let's dip into the '90s. 

Gregg Jefferies came over as a free agent and played about 40% of the time at first base but the majority of the time in left field. 

That left first for former All-Star third baseman Dave Hollins, but Hollins was basically done by this point in his career. He always played extremely hard and it ended up wearing him down before his time.  Hollins hit .229 with seven home runs and 25 RBI.

RUNNER UP: 2002 Travis Lee

SECOND BASE: 1996 Mickey Morandini

Morandini was a well respected player and good guy, though he did boast some of the worst facial hair in recent MLB history and a hairdo which made him look like a member of Journey. 

For the most part, Mickey had a pretty solid career in Philly but 1996 was not one of those years. Morandini hit .250 with 3 home runs and 32 RBI while basically playing every day. 

RUNNER UP: 1998 Mark Lewis

THIRD BASE: 2003 David Bell

Bell may have hit for the cycle while in Philly, but the 2003 season as a disaster. Bell hit below the Mendoza line at .195 with just four home runs and 37 RBI. 

That was after signing a free agent contract to take over at third so that Placido Polanco could move to second base after Scott Rolen was shipped out the previous season. 

RUNNER UP: 2007 Wes Helms

SHORTSTOP: 2000 Desi Relaford

Desi never panned out for the Phillies.  A cannon armed switch hitter who came over straight up in a deal for Terry Mulholland, Relaford was never a highly touted prospect, although he disappointed against even modest expectations.

Luckily, the Phillies had Jimmy Rollins waiting in the wings so the Relaford era did not last long. In 2000, Desi hit .221 with 3 home runs and 30 RBI before being dealt to San Diego to open the door for 21 year old J-Roll.

RUNNER UP: 1995 Kevin Stocker

LEFT FIELD: 1997 Gregg Jefferies

Jefferies was a huge free agent signing for the Phillies heading into the '95 season.  They had gone to the World Series in '93, but 1994 was essentially a wash due to the strike. 

Jefferies had some OK years in Philly but never lived up to the contract.  1997 was a nightmare though, and saw Gregg hit just .256 with 11 home runs and 48 RBI as the Phillies' primary left fielder.

RUNNER UP: 2000 Ron Gant

CENTER FIELD: 2004 Marlon Byrd

Byrd has gone on to have a pretty good career and after a big 2009 season with Texas, cashing in the next year on a big deal with the Cubs. 

Byrd showed promise after being recalled in 2003, hitting .303 in 495 at bats and earning the job as the everyday center fielder heading into 2004. The promotion didn't work out the way the Phillies or Byrd hoped it would, however. 

Marlon hit just .228 with a microscopic .287 OBP in 378 plate appearances.  The Phillies had thought Byrd would at least add some speed to the lineup but he only stole two bases.  He was traded for Endy Chavez one year later.

RUNNER UP: 1996 Ricky Otero

RIGHT FIELD: 1997 Danny Tartabull

At 33 years old, Tartabull hit .254-27-101 with the Chicago White Sox in 1996.  He then signed with the Phillies to play right field after Jim Eisenreich left via free agency. 

Tartabull's season lasted all of three games in which he went 0-7 with two runs scored and four walks.  The injury that knocked Tartabull out for the season ended his career.

RUNNER UP: 2011 Ben Francisco

RIGHT HANDED STARTER: Freddy Garcia

In the three previous seasons with the Chicago White Sox, Garcia was 40-21 in 82 starts.  The Phillies were knocking on the door of postseason play and needed a horse to lead the rotation.  Phils' brass were extremely aggressive in acquiring Freddy and gave up two prized pitching prospects in Gavin Floyd and Gio Gonzalez. 

All of this resulted in a single win for Garcia in 11 starts as he went 1-5 with a 5.90 ERA and a ridiculous 1.603 WHIP.  By the time the Phillies made their late charge for the NL East title, Garcia was finished.

RUNNER UP: 2000 Andy Ashby

LEFT HANDED STARTER: 1998 Matt Beech

Beech made 53 starts for the Phillies in three years of service, winning eight and losing 22.  None of his seasons were particularly good but we'll choose 1998. 

He went 3-9 with a 5.15 ERA in 21 starts. He never pitched in the Major Leagues again after '98 but was well traveled in the minors before finally hanging them up after the 2007 season.

RUNNER UP: 2000 Omar Daal

CLOSER: 2009 Brad Lidge

For as amazing as Lidge was in 2008, he was just as pathetic in 2009....and he still saved 31 games.  Lidge was 0-8 with a bloated 7.21 ERA.  He also appeared in only one World Series game but it was the arguably the most pivotal inning in the series. 

The image of Johnny Damon stealing second before continuing all the way to third is stuck in Phillies fans heads. With two outs and none on, the Yankees ended up scoring three runs to win the game and take a 3-1 series lead.

RUNNER UP: 2000 Jeff Brantley

Non Closing Reliever: 2011 Danys Baez

Danys Baez was the winning pitcher on opening day, and he should have retired right afterwords.  Baez was released before the 2011 season was over with a 2-4 record and a 6.25 ERA.  He was basically used in blow out games and even then he had troubles just getting through an inning.

RUNNER UP: 1997 Ken Ryan

UTILITY MAN: 2006 Abraham Nunez

Nunez didn't show much after he signed with the Phillies and played in 2006 and 2007.  He couldn't hit or run, lacked power, and was just OK defensively.  Yet he somehow snagged 322 at bats in 2006 and hit a whopping .211.

RUNNER UP: 2004 Shawn Wooten

THE LINEUP

So, we give Terry Francona the task of writing out a lineup while Joe Kerrigan gets Freddy Garcia nice and loose in the pen.  Here's how Francona's lineup looks:

1. Marlon Byrd ('04)

2. Mickey Morandini ('96)

3. Gregg Jefferies ('97)

4. Danny Tartabull ('97)

5. Dave Hollins ('95)

6. David Bell ('03)

7. Rod Barajas ('07)

8. Desi Relaford ('00)

9. Freddy Garcia ('07)

I believe Francona could very easily lead this team to a 51-111 record.