Phillies’ fall fills fans with dread
The chant started quietly in the left-field bleachers and got louder as it went around the stadium: “E-A-G-L-E-S!”
Only problem was, the Philadelphia Phillies were playing the Colorado Rockies.
By this time most years, fans in championship-starved Philadelphia have already given up on the Phillies and turned their attention to football and their beloved Eagles.
It wasn’t supposed to happen again this year — in the Phillies’ first season at Citizens Bank Park.
With a $93 million payroll that included a new All-Star closer, a revamped bullpen and a promising starting rotation, the Phillies were favorites to finally overtake Atlanta in the National League East.
But injuries and inconsistency have left manager Larry Bowa’s bunch in a familiar spot: looking up at the Braves, who have won an unprecedented 12 consecutive division titles.
The Phillies were eight games behind Atlanta going into today’s games. They stood fourth place in the N.L. wild-card race, trailing the Chicago Cubs by 4 1/2 games.
“We’re looking just to get in (to the playoffs),” All-Star first baseman Jim Thome said. “Once you get in, anything can happen. We’re not counting the division out, but we’re just trying to get in.”
Expectations were high coming into the season, especially after the Phillies added pitchers Billy Wagner, Tim Worrell and Eric Milton, and the rest of the division lost star players. Greg Maddux, Gary Sheffield, Javy Lopez and Vinny Castilla left the Braves. World Series champion Florida didn’t retain Ivan Rodriguez, Ugueth Urbina, Derrek Lee and Juan Encarnacion.
Right from the start, though, the Phillies failed to live up to their hype. They lost six of their first seven games, and didn’t post a record better than .500 until improving to 15-14 on May 9. Only a mediocre division kept Philadelphia from falling out of the race early.
“We’re still looking for a hot streak,” said Worrell, twice forced to move into the closer’s role because of injuries to Wagner. “We haven’t had one all year.”
Injuries are a major reason the Phillies haven’t put together a winning streak longer than four games. The pitching staff has been affected most.
An opening day rotation that consisted of four former All-Stars hasn’t been intact since May 29. Randy Wolf missed four starts, Vicente Padilla was out two months and Kevin Millwood could be sidelined the rest of the season with an elbow injury.
Oakland fans cheer Hall of Famer
Dennis Eckersley received another standing ovation from Oakland Athletics fans — only this time it came before a game.
Eckersley, who saved a franchise-record 320 games for the A’s and closed out their 1989 World Series win over San Francisco, was honored before Saturday’s game against Kansas City for last month’s induction into the Hall of Fame.
“The time I spent in Oakland were the greatest years of my life,” he said. “I’ll always be appreciative of how the fans supported me in good times and God knows bad times.”
Former teammates Dave Henderson and Terry Steinbach gave him a crystal to commemorate the day. Rickey Henderson, Mike Moore, Ron Darling and Rick Honeycutt were also on hand.
Eckersley had 390 career saves but his most memorable came in his first postseason trip, when he struck out Wade Boggs with runners on first and second to preserve a one-run lead and win Game 1 of the 1988 American League Championship Series against his former team, the Boston Red Sox.
“That’s one game I don’t forget,” he said. “But there are a lot of saves I should have gotten but didn’t that I don’t forget.”
Eckersley seldom blew a save, but two of those rare occasions came on the big stage of the postseason.
In Game 1 of the 1988 World Series, he allowed a pinch-hit, game-winning homer to a hobbling Kirk Gibson that propelled the Los Angeles Dodgers to an upset win.
Four years later, Eckersley served up a game-tying shot to Toronto’s Roberto Alomar in Game 4 of the ALCS.
Reds shuffle pitching staff
Cincinnati placed pitcher Paul Wilson on the 15-day disabled list with lower back soreness. Wilson (9-4) leads the Reds in wins, but has allowed 14 runs over his past two starts, both losses. He hasn’t won since July 8.
Right-hander Joe Valentine was recalled from Triple-A Louisville, where he was 5-5 with a 5.01 earned-run average. The Reds also announced that Luke Hudson will be recalled to start today’s game against San Diego. The right-hander was 2-1 at Louisville.