A look back at the 2000 Phillies

Out of Bounds is taking a look back at how the Phillies got to where they are today. We'll take a look at the team from 2000 to the current team. Today we start with 2000.

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Terry Francona led the Boston Red Sox to its first would championship in 86 years in 2004.

He had no such luck as the Phillies manager.

In his fourth and final year at the helm, the Phils had their lowest win total since 1988 (not including the strike shortened 1994 season).

With a record of 65-97, the Phillies finished in 5th place, 30 games behind the first place Atlanta Braves.

Considering the Phillies have drawn over 3 million fans in 2008 and 2009, the lack of success showed in 2000, as they only drew 1.6 million fans.

However, the Phillies team was not all that bad.

Curt Schilling and Randy Wolf anchored the pitching staff, while Scott Rolen, Pat Burrell (his first season), and Bobby Abreu were the teams top position players.

Amazingly, Andy Ashby was the highest paid player on the team at $5.9 million. That sounds hilarious on two fronts. First off, $5.9 million is nothing these days. Second off, no wonder the Phillies were so bad with Ashby being their highest paid player.

Rolen led the team with 26 home runs, Abreu had 25, Ron Gant had 20, and Burrell had 18.

While the Phils had a few nice players, they certainly had their shortcomings with guys like Desi Relaford at shortstop (hitting .221). Meanwhile, Jimmy Rollins made his major league debut, but played sparingly in only 14 games. Good thing they decided to keep Rollins as the long term option.

The pitching staff was terrible. Ashby went 4-7 with an ERA over 5, Paul Byrd went 2-9 with an ERA over 6, and Schilling only went 6-6. Wolf led the team with 11 wins and Robert Person was second with 9 wins.

Jeff Brantly was the closer and finished with 23 saves.

June was the only month the Phillies had a winning record and a terrible September of 9-20 ended a miserable season.

Not all was lost in 2000 though, as the Phillies drafted one of their best players today, Chase Utley.

Of course, the Phillies also made a bonehead trade in 2000, sending Shilling to the Arizona Diamondbacks (where he would go on to win a World Series) for Omar Daal, Nelson Figueroa, Travis Lee, and Vicente Padilla. Brilliant trade.

Below is the starting roster as well as the full team roster.

Next, we'll take a look at the 2001 season.

C Mike Lieberthal
1B Pat Burrell
2B Mickey Morandini
3B Scott Rolen
SS Desi Relaford
LF Ron Gant
CF Doug Glanville
RF Bobby Abreu

SP Andy Ashby
SP Paul Byrd
SP Bruce Chen
SP Robert Person
SP Curt Schilling
SP Randy Wolf

RP Scott Aldred
RP Jason Boyd
RP Chris Brock
RP Wayne Gomes
RP Mark Holzemer
RP Vicente Padilla
RP Steve Schrenk
RP Ed Vosberg
RP Bryan Ward
CL Jeff Brantley

#2 Rico Brogna
#5 Ron Gant
#6 Doug Glanville
#8 Desi Relaford
#10 Travis Lee
#11 Kevin Sefcik
#12 Mickey Morandini
#12 Tom Prince
#13 Tomas Perez
#14 Gary Bennett
#15 Clemente Alvarez
#16 Marlon Anderson
#17 Scott Rolen
#19 Brian Hunter
#21 Kent Bottenfield
#23 Kevin Jordan
#24 Mike Lieberthal
#25 Rob Ducey
#26 Alex Arias
#27 David Newhan
#28 Chris Pritchett
#29 Jimmy Rollins
#30 Scott Aldred
#31 Robert Person
#33 Kirk Bullinger
#33 Pat Burrell
#34 Paul Byrd
#35 Cliff Politte
#37 Omar Daal
#37 Bryan Ward
#38 Curt Schilling
#39 Bruce Chen
#41 Jason Boyd
#43 Andy Ashby
#43 Tom Jacquez
#44 Vicente Padilla
#44 Carlos Reyes
#45 Jeff Brantley
#46 Mark Holzemer
#46 Trever Miller
#47 Amaury Telemaco
#49 Mark Brownson
#50 Ed Vosberg
#52 Steve Schrenk
#53 Bobby Abreu
#54 Randy Wolf
#55 Chris Brock
#61 Wayne Gomes
#63 Reggie Taylor
#72 David Coggin
#78 Doug Nickle

NFL's best week is championship Sunday

Unlike the other major sports, the NFL's championship game loses a lot of luster because of its corporate feel and neutral location.

Because of this, the best week of the season is championship week, where the best teams in the AFC and NFC play for a right to go to the Super Bowl.

People don't watch the AFC or NFC Championship games for commercials. They don't watch just because every one else does.

No, this Sunday is all about football. It's about a stadium being full of passionate fans, all with one goal in mind - for their team to make it to the Super Bowl.

It is not a corporate event and instead of looking forward to commercials, fans dread having to wait to find out what happens next in the game.

I vividly remember every single Eagles NFC Championship game.

The anticipation leading up to the games was huge. The crowds were nuts. My stomach was in knots for every second of every single one of those games.

As the NFC Championship game loses mounted year after year, I remember the Eagles going into the 2004 conference championship game against Michael Vick and the Atlanta Falcons.

My thoughts raced as I wondered how they would stop Vick and how they would avoid stopping themselves yet again.

As Chad Lewis caught his second TD of the game and I knew they would finally win one, it was the best football moment of my life.

In fact, I'd put it as my second best sports moment of all time right behind the Phillies winning the World Series in 2008.

Yes, the Super Bowl decides the championships.

But people don't get together for parties just to get together during the conference championship games.

No, tomorrow is all about football.

Ruben Amaro has had major impact on Phils

Getting back to the World Series in 2009 was no small feat for the Philadelphia Phillies.

In a sport where there is turnover in every roster year after year, Phillies GM Ruben Amaro Jr. has been aggressive while tweaking the team as well as building continuity for the future.

This is no small task for a guy who took over the World Champs after then GM Pat Gillick stepped down.

Amaro has proven to be a man who goes out and gets what he wants.

Phillies fans have raved over some moves and not been so high on others.

Whether or not you like what Amaro has done, one thing is certain - there has not been much of a drop off in the teams success since Amaro took over and it does not seem likely there will be any drop off for the years to come.
Amaro has been back at tweaking the roster in the past two days, so let's take a look at how Amaro has changed the team since he took over after the 2008 season.

1) Amaro's first order of business was letting long-time and fan favorite Pat Burrell go. In his place, Amaro signed aging veteran Raul Ibanez to a three year deal. Many wondering what the 37-year old would bring to the table. Ibanez was an MVP candidate through the beginning of the season and made his first All-Star team. Although he was slowed by a groin injury, Ibanez finished with 34 home runs and 93 RBI. Meanwhile, Burrell struggled for the Tampa Bay Rays, hitting only .221 with 14home runs.

2) Amaro then sured up the future of the Phillies, signing pitcher Cole Hamels and slugger Ryan Howard to deals that will take them through 2011.

3) In what was probably his best move considering what they got for what they gave up, Amaro made a major impact at his first trade deadline, getting ace Cliff Lee and outfielder Ben Francisco for four prospects. So much focus was on the Phillies trading for Roy Halladay that this trade seemed to come out of nowhere. Three of the prospects the Phils gave up - Carlos Carrasco, Jason Donald, and Loe Marson should be average players at best, and pitcher Jason Knapp has a high ceiling. Not too bad for an ace and outfield depth. Lee was unbe-lee-vable, going 5-0 in his first five starts. He was unhittable in the playoffs and World Series.

3) In what was first thought to be a move that would not have much of an impact, Amaro signed Pedro Martinez after the All-Star break. Martinez pitched brilliantly during his time with the Phillies, going 5-1 with an ERA of 3.63.

4) After falling short for their second straight World Series title, Amaro struck quickly this off season. Faced with the decision to keep steady Pedro Feliz at third base, Amaro instead chose for a steady bat to balance the strikeout prone lineup, signing Placido Polanco to play third base. Polanco was a gold glove second baseman for Detroit last year, so the jury is not yet out on how he will do at third. Funny how things work out - the Phillies wanted to move Polanco to third years ago when Chase Utley made it to the majors. He declined. Not this time.

5) Amaro finally got his man, trading for one of the best pitchers in baseball, Roy Halladay. While Phillies fans dreamed of adding Halladay at the trade deadline, this deal made months later came with a lot of criticism, as the Phils traded Cliff Lee in a separate deal to the Seattle Mariners. Halladay should absolutely dominate in the National League, but the thought that the Phils could have had both Halladay and Lee has left fans wondering what a rotation with both would have looked like. Needing prospects after trading four for Lee in the summer and top pitching prospect Kyle Drabek, top catching prospect Travis D'Arnaud, and outfield prospect Michael Taylor for Halladay, Amaro chose to move Lee to Seattle for three prospects.

6) One major need heading into the 2010 season was rebuilding a bench that was absolutely useless last year. Gone are the likes of Matt Stairs and Eric Bruntlett. Greg Dobbs and Ben Francisco stay and the Phillies added Russ Gload, Brian Schneider and Juan Castro.

7) Another major need was rebuilding a bullpen that struggled last season. The Phillies were unable to re-sign Chan Ho Park and let Clay Condrey go. The Phillies signed former closer Dennys Baez and Jose Contreras.

8) Amaro continued to build continuity, picking up the 2011 option of Jimmy Rollins and signing Joe Blanton and Shane Victorino to three year deals.

Throughout the year and a half Amaro has been on the job, he has added key pieces to the team and also set them up to keep the core of their team for years to come.

While I don't like every move Amaro has made (trading Lee), I'd say he has done a pretty good job.

I expect the Phillies to compete for championships for years to come.

Want a huge raise? No problem, play baseball

Would you ever consider walking into your bosses office and asking for a 426% raise? How about an 87% raise? 83% raise?

I didn't think so.

What is not even close to realistic in the "real world" is perfectly normal in the world of Major League Baseball's arbitration process.

Three Phillies players are in line for huge raises.

Catcher Carlos Ruiz, who made $475,000 last season is asking for $2.5 million. Pitcher Joe Blanton, who made $5.475 million last season, is asking for $10.25 million. Centerfielder Shane Victorino, who made $3.175 million last year, is asking for $5.8 million.

While the Phillies brass does not agree with the raises the players have proposed, what they are offering is still pretty hefty.

The Phillies have offered Ruiz $1.7 million, Blanton $7.5 million, and Victorino $4.75 million.

Not too shabby. I'm lucky to get a 2.5% raise.

While the team and players can continue to negotiate and work out a deal, an arbitrator will eventually hear the cases from both sides if a deal is not agreed upon. The arbitrator would then choose a "winner" and select either the players figure or team's figure.

Either way, all three will be getting a handsome raise.

Now, only if I could figure out how to ask my boss for a similar raise.

Will Eagles ever win SB under Reid?

Eagles president Joe Banner does not live by his words.

At the end of last season he described the definition of insanity as doing the same thing over and over, and expecting different results.

So what did he do during the season - extended Andy Reid's contract.

Now that is insanity.

There have been two constants over the past 11 years - Reid and quarterback Donovan McNabb.

So is the answer to trade McNabb, as many fans suggest?

The answer is no. Reid is the problem.

Before I rip on Reid, I must first say that he has been an excellent coach. You don't accidentally lead your time to five NFC Championship games by accident.

The problem is that whenever the Eagles face a huge playoff game, Reid depends too much on McNabb.

There is no run balance. The entire game from an offensive perspective is on McNabb's shoulders.

Take a look at the numbers in the playoff games Reid and McNabb have been in. I doubt you will be surprised.

In the eight playoff games they have lost, the pass/run ratio is 323/151 (68% pass, 32% run). In the 10 playoff games they have won, the pass/run ratio is 322/274 (54% pass, 46% run).

That is a huge difference!

Is that McNabb's fault? No!

Now, I realize the Eagles are going to throw more in games they are behind. But te fact of the matter is that they abandon the run too quickly and become a one dimensional offense.

It's absolutely ridiculous.

Reid often talks about putting players in a better position to execute.

Instead of listening to his own advice, he continues to put players in the same, horrible positions.

And it costs him.

Even worse than the effect of the lack of balance causes on offense, it also has a major effect on defense.

Because the Eagles are constantly passing, they are not controlling the clock. This causes the defense to be on the field more and more often.

Because of this, the defense tires, allowing the opposing offense to control the clock and thus control the game.

McNabb has his issues and I know that.

But he is not the problem. Reid is.

Unfortunately we know Reid is going to be here.

McNabb...well, who knows.

Eagles face tough decisions at QB position

The Philadelphia Eagles are facing major questions heading into an offseason that once again has come all too early.

One of those decisions will come in the form of what to do at the quarterback position.

They have three guys, all with one year remaining on their contracts.

Donovan McNabb has been in Philadelphia since 1999. He has taken the Eagles to five NFC Championship games and one Super Bowl. He had a career year this past year, but has never been able to get over the hump and bring a title to Philadelphia.

Kevin Kolb was drafted a couple of years ago. At the time, many thought he would soon take over for McNabb. Kolb has seen spot duty and played well in the time he saw the field this season when McNabb was injured.

Michael Vick played sparingly this season after coming back into the NFL after serving time in prison. He did not have much of an impact except for a few plays and never really materialized into the weapon many fans expected.

So what in the world do the Eagles do?

First off, there is no way the keep all three.

Second, Eagles coach Andy Reid has already said McNabb will be back. Of course, he can't really say he plans to trade McNabb. So let's say that at this point, anything is on the table.

Here are two different realistic scenarios.

1) Keep McNabb to be your starter and Kolb as the backup. Trade Vick. McNabb is still a pro bowl quarterback and gives the Eagles the best chance to win. The Eagles really don't know what they have in Kolb and being as how they feel close to winning a Super Bowl, would they really put Kolb at the head of the ship?

Vick would be owed $5 million next season. There is no way they are going to pay him that to be a third string quarterback who plays a little bit in the wildcat offense. The Eagles really did not use Vick much this year anyway.

2) Trade McNabb and make Kolb your starter. Vick would then serve as the backup. Kolb played well in the time he got to play this year. He might be a better fit for the style of offense the Eagles play as he has more accuracy than McNabb.

Vick played more when McNabb was out and it is possible that while Kolb starts, Vick would see the field more as a change of pace quarterback.

The tricky part of this whole equation is that the Eagles really need to make a long term decision prior to the season starting. While it would be nice if they could go into the season with McNabb as the starter and Kolb ready to take over full time should McNabb get injured or stumble, that is not going to happen.

The Eagles will need to pick one of these three and sign him to a longer term deal. Not doing that would be risking too much.

After last season owner Jeffrie Lurie said the Eagles are crazy if they think they can keep doing the same things over and over and expect different results. Could McNabb be part of the equation that they need to change?

I don't think so.

My bet is on Vick being traded. The Eagles are not going to pay him $5 million to be a back up. He did not play a whole ton this season.

In this scenario, McNabb would sign an extension and Kolb would play out his contract as the backup. The Eagles would probably try to sign Kolb longer term, but he would likely want a chance to start somewhere.

Reid has a very tough decision ahead of him, one in which will have major effects long term.

Do you go with the guy you have had all along or take a chance on a new guy?

My bet is on McNabb developing more of a chemistry with te younger guys.

Maybe Kolb develops into a special quarterback, maybe not.

We do know McNabb, while he has his shortcomings, is a special quarterback.

While he is labeled as a guy who cannot win big games, keep in mind you don't get to five NFC title games without being able to win big games.

McNabb gives the Eagles the best chance to win. My money is on the Eagles making the right choice and bringing him back long term.

Eagles blow great opportunity

I guess the Dallas Cowboys owed the Philadelphia Eagles one.

A year after the Eagles demolished the Cowboys in the season finale to knock them out of the playoff hunt, the Cowboys returned the favor, sticking it to the Eagles in a 24-0 win.

Fortunately for Philadelphia, they will get another crack at the Cowboys next week in the first round of the playoff.

The loss comes at a major cost for the Eagles. Had they won, they would have been the second seed in the NFC, had a first round bye, and at least one home game.

They now drop to the sixth seed and will have to win three games on the road to advance to the Super Bowl.

If they play anything like they did today they'll be going home quickly.

The Eagles got very little pressure on Cowboys QB Tony Romo, they left receivers wide open all game and could not stop the run.

The offense was even worse. McNabb missed receivers all game and even when he connected with them, the receivers dropped passes.

They wasted timeouts, had poor clock managment yet again, and were flat out whipped.

How the Eagles came out so flat in such a big game is beyond me. They were absolutely terrible. And now the road to the Super Bowl has become much more difficult.

The Cowboys wanted it more, played a ton better, and are awarded with an NFC East title and a home playoff game.

I feel sick to my stomach.

NFL teams should be able to rest players if they want

I hate it when teams rest their starters at the end of the season. It stinks for fantasy football and gives opponents easy wins, thus changing the landscape of the teams to make the playoffs.

However, if a team is good enough to get to a point where they can rest their starters, they certainly should be able to.

NFL commissioner Roger Gooddell plans to take a look at the practice of teams resting their starters, citing the fact that he wants every game to be competitive.

There absolutely should not be any rule in place that tells coaches how to run their team.

Period.

While I understand the desire to make all games competitive, a team should be able to do as it pleases. And if they earned the right to rest players then they should be able to do so.

Why should a team be forced to play certain guys with a possibility of injury at risk.

The Indianapolis Colts rested their starters for much of the game last week against the New York Jets. The Jets won, ending the Colts perfect season.

This game also changed the landscape of the playoffs. Normally, this is a game the Colts would win. They did not and now the Jets play Cincinnati today and a win guarantees them a playoff spot. The Jets may benefit once again as the Bengals are likely to rest their starters.

Teams like Pittsburgh, Miami, Jacksonville, etc are going to have odds against them because of the position the Jets have been put in.

To that I say so what.

Does it stink for those teams that the Jets played against a team who rested its starters last week and will probably play against a team this week who rested its starters?

Absolutely.

But who cares.

If these other teams would have won the games they should have won then they would not be in this position of depending on Jets losses anyway.

What's next? The NFL telling teams they can't make quarterback changes during the season? Sorry Jet's, we don't feel like a rookie QB makes you as competitive, so you have to sit Mark Sanchez and play Kellen Clemmons.

Ridiculous.

Even considering the idea of controlling what coaches do is dumb.

How a coach uses his players is his choice.

Leave it at that.

Should Bruins goal have been disallowed?

The Winter Classic was a thrilling overtime game in which the home team won.

But should they have?

Below are a couple of pictures that prove the Bruins not only had two extra guys on the ice when they were coming out of their own zone on the way to scoring the winning goal (first picture), but also that they had one extra guy still on the ice as they entered the Flyers zone (second picture).

Only four players plus the goalie are allowed on the ice at one time in overtime.

The refs missed this one and it cost the Flyers.

Flyers lose in "classic" game

The NHL Winter Classic was just that - a classic game between two teams with tremendous history.

Unfortunately for the Philadelphia Flyers, a day that was going perfect turned out to be a bummer.

Leading 1-0 late in the game, the Bruins tied the game on a power play goal with less than three minutes remaining in regulation. They won it in overtime.

The game featured everything you could ask for in the best hockey sporting event - the first Winter Classic fight, a tight game, and an overtime thriller.


There were tons of Flyers fans there and "Let's go Flyers" chants ringing in the Fenway Park air. In fact, I hear more Flyers chants than Bruins chants.

Danny Syvret scored his first NHL goal in the first period to give the Flyers a 1-0 lead.

Each team had surges throughout the game, but could not put the puck in the net.

After trying the game, Boston got another power play that carried into overtime. The Flyers killed it off and had a tremendous opportunity one a 2-on-1 rush but just missed scoring a goal.

Boston then ended the game on a great pass and tip from Patrice Bergeron to Marco Sturm.

It was a tremendous game and thrilling to watch in a wonderful atmosphere. Being outside, it has the feel of a kids game.

Just another regular season game with two points on the line, it felt so much bigger. It felt like a must-win game and the Flyers loss felt devastating.

Nonetheless, the Flyers playing in this game was certainly one of the more hockey memories I will have.

Except for the outcome, it was perfect.