Haters Be Damned, I Stand By My Words

September 4 , 2007 | By Mike Santa Barbara | Discuss

On the previous Saturday night I proclaimed that the Phils were dead. Boy how things change in less then a week right? That’s baseball and this is what can happen in a pennant race. Many of you think I might be changing my tune after having my last article explode in my face. No chance, I’m sticking to my guns. I still believe the Phils won’t make the playoffs. And I know that my opinion differs from the rest of the PhillyPurge.com staff. A lot of readers and most of the writers at PhillyPurge.com signed a petition stating that no matter what they were behind the Phils to win the World Series. And this is all great, just another instance where Philly fans show why they are the greatest in sports. I however did not sign this petition. I didn’t sign because I don’t believe that the Phils have a realistic chance of winning the World Series this year. Does that make me less of a fan? No. I still have season tickets; I still cheer just as hard as I ever have. I still want them to win. Now in this article I’m going to explain to all of you what I meant in my last article.

Lets re-visit what I was saying in “R.I.P Phils 2007 Season.” I said the Phils were done after losing series’ to the Nationals, Padres, Dodges and Pirates. Doesn’t seem all that unrealistic to think that they had nothing left does it? Does that mean I gave up? No. Sometimes we as fans have to give ourselves a reality check to keep from getting hurt later. And we all know the Phils can do that to you, they seem to do it on a consistent basis every year. Why did I say they were done? The team stinks? Or the players are awful? No. I said the management and owners were to blame like they always are! I even gave credit to guys who had been playing well all year. I gave credit to Charlie Manuel of all people for holding this team together all season long. Now I’m going to use some help from a couple of faithful PhillyPurge.com supporters to help clarify my points. Some of you sent responses to the PhillyPurge.com’s Myspace page taking everything out on Dennis who runs PhillyPurge.com.

“Wasn't it only a few weeks ago that we were asked to sign a petition saying no matter what we would believe in our team? Someone's done a 180.”

First off, If there is anyone who is more behind the Phils then Dennis I can’t find them, Dennis is driving the Phils bandwagon all the way to the World Series. Dennis has been behind them since day one. So please next time take the time to read who actually wrote the article you’ve got beef with.

Here’s another more threatening comment left towards me:

“Tell me something else about the Phillies' season being over. I better not see your sorry ass at a Phillies game for the rest of the season."

Obviously, you’ve got anger issues guy. And you obviously sent this after the Phils swept the Mets. How’d you feel on Saturday night when the Phils were getting ready to lose their 4th consecutive series? Anyhow, Every Sunday I sit in section 144 Row 14 seat 18, I sit with the Roman Soldier guy who I’m sure you’ve seen on TV. So if you want talk you now know where to find my “sorry ass” at Phils games.

Well to both of you keep reading and I’m sure you’ll find many more things to disagree with me about.

Back to explaining my last article before it was taken out of context.

Luckily, I write for a site that allows all writers the freedom to say what they believe. I’m very thankful for that and proud to be apart of PhillyPurge.com. And this is why I’m taking the time to not only defend myself but also hopefully educate those that may have taken my last article out of context. My belief is that most of you looked at the title and skimmed through the article finding things you didn’t like without even really reading it. I did nothing but praise and give credit to the players and the manager for the job they’ve done so far this season. Stating that the season was over for one reason only and it was through no fault of the guys on the field or on the bench. It was once again the ownership and management to blame for failing to give this team what it needs. Can you imagine where the Phils would be if they had another good bullpen pitcher? Or another solid starting pitcher? They’d probably be in first place by a couple games by now. This Phils team is always one or two players away, always one or two game behind every single season. And nobody in the front office seems to be able to do anything about it, if anything they just make the same mistakes over and over again regarding talent. I know everyone can see what goes on and I know the Phils ownership and management have outraged all of you at one point or another. So why does that all of a sudden go away when the Phils go on their annual “surge” at the end of the season? Again, I can’t stress enough that I never said the season was over because of the players or the manager. We can support our team but we can’t continue to let the guys on the field pay for what the guys upstairs do. Would I love for the Phils to make the playoffs? Yes. Do I believe they will? No. And it has nothing to do with faith or anything like that. It’s about history; history has shown us that the Phils do this every year. Why? Because management doesn’t allow the GM to do his job, which doesn’t allow the Manager to do his, which in turn hurts the guys on the field when it really matters. How many times recently has the Phils starter gone 5 or 6 or even 7 good innings only to have Jose Mesa, Antonio Alfonseca, or Geoff Geary blow it? Is there a reason we have 70-year-old pitchers in our bullpen? Is there a reason why the rest of the pen is filled with guys who should be in AAA and wouldn’t sniff the Major League roster of most teams? Is there a reason why we have over 20 Million dollars of the current pay roll on the DL? Is there a reason why our manager has to use a defensive replacement at 3rd base every game? Or why we have to sign other teams used garbage when we get an injury? Yes. The answer for all of them is clearly the management and ownership. We have old aging has been bullpen guys because our management didn’t do a good enough job getting the talent the Phils needed. We sign other teams’ garbage and have guys on the Major League roster that shouldn’t be there because ownership doesn’t spend the money in scouting. The Phils are near the bottom in money put into scouting especially in the areas where most of baseball’s top prospects come from. Therefore there are fewer players to call up that can make a difference. We have over 20 Million dollars worth of pay roll on the DL because of a bad trade, and two bad signings. Freddy Garcia was hurt and maybe even out of gas by the time we traded for his 10 Million-dollar contract. The contract Jon Lieber signed makes him 7.5 Million dollars this season. 2.7 million dollars is what the Phils are now paying Rod Barajas to just stay away. I’d say about 20 Million dollars could have gotten you a couple serviceable pitchers to either add to your starting rotation or your bullpen.

I know as Philadelphia sports fans we can all see the problems of this franchise. I’m sure most of you Phillies fans are Eagles and Flyers fans as well. Can you imagine if the Flyers or Eagles did for two or three seasons in a row what the Phils have been doing for 14? Patience from the fans would not last that long around here without something changing in both franchises. The changes that need to be made with the Phils are obvious and never seem to be changed. So you see I would love to see the Phils make the playoffs. However, In a way I almost hope they don’t, simply because if they do, nothing will change. Would you rather have a mediocre team that wins nothing, or a shot at winning it all? Or an organization that you know is doing everything it can to put not just a “competitive” team on the field but a World Series caliber team. An organization that expects perfection and anything less just isn’t good enough. I’d think that’s what every fan would want.

Contact (PLEASE!) Mike Santa Barbara at MikeSBPhillyPurge@yahoo.com