Phillies Offseason Talk

[BigEd76]

http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/5044354 

[BigEd76]

Gotta love how the Phillies stay hip.  Their announcer, GM, senior advisor and manager are all over the age of 60... 

[MDS]

what a loser franchise. i cant say enough at how i wish i had the strength to stop following them.

[rjs246]

what a loser franchise. i cant say enough at how i wish i had the strength to stop following them.

It's really quite simple. I did it when I was 16.

[PhillyGirl]

That link doesn't sound official on anything.....??

[MDS]

all signs point to him.....

[Sgt PSN]

all signs point to him.....

Did your magic 8 ball tell you that?

[WEST is GOD]

what a loser franchise. i cant say enough at how i wish i had the strength to stop following them.

It's really quite simple. I did it when I was 16.

You beat me. I did when I was 19.

[BigEd76]

http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/13054681.htm

[MDS]

haha

[Rome]

Here's the text of a letter that I wrote to Monty.  I'm sure there's inaccuracies & whatever but I wrote it and shot it off to him:

Dear Mr. Montgomery,

I am writing today to express my feelings of disgust, outrage, and utter dismay at the news that the Phillies have settled on hiring Pat Gillick as the General Manager of the team.

It is inconceivable to me that a team with a history that is as wretched as the Phillies would continue to make blunder after blunder concerning the direction of the franchise.  Of course, considering the Phillies are the losingest franchise in the history of professional sport, I suppose it really shouldn't surprise me at all.

First, let me acknowledge that I understand the qualifications of Pat Gillick.  He is a veteran baseball man with a couple of World's Championships to his credit.  That's great.  What's sad is, there are qualified candidates out there who aren't approaching the mandatory retirement age, yet somehow, you view him as the best candidate available to lead the Phillies over the hump.  Color me confused.  How is this possible, Mr. Montgomery?  How can a 68 year-old man be expected to make the decisions necessary to bring a championship to Philadelphia for the next 10 years when it's entirely fair to assume he'll be out the door in a maximum of 2?

The answer is, he won't.  Your machinations are all too obvious.  Your intent was to hire an interim general manager to groom either Mike Arbuckle or Ruben Amaro, Jr. to succeed him, right?  To quote a phrase - say it ain't so, Dave.

But to be fair, let's assume that your plan is sound and that both gentlemen are qualified to assume the position [if you'll forgive the off-color pun] when Mr. Gillick is sent out to pasture.  Let's examine those two candidates for a moment and consider what the future holds if they take over:

First - Mike Arbuckle.  The Phillies have the absolute worst minor league system in professional baseball.  In point of fact, they are the laughingstock of the major leagues in that regard.  Who was charged with "building" the talent level in the minors to its current state?  Yep - you guessed it.  Mike Arbuckle.

Strike One. 

Second - Ruben Amaro, Jr.   I'm curious - who was the assistant General Manager during the Ed Wade era?  Yep - you guessed it again, Dave.  None other than Mr. Ruben Amaro, Jr.  But wait, didn't you just fire Mr. Wade a few weeks ago because his tenure ended as a colossal failure?  Yep, I'm pretty sure I read that in a newspaper somewhere.

Strike Two.

You can see where I'm going here, can't you, Dave?  This move you're about to make is steeped in the rich tradition of idiocy that is Phillies baseball history.  Whenever there's been a chance to make a turn for the better, remarkably, they've succeeded in doing the exact opposite.  After nearly 125 years of futility, isn't it time to stop the insanity and get this thing on the right track?  No, you say?  Well, maybe you're the problem, Dave.

From hiring Ed Wade to losing Scott Rolen & Curt Schilling for next to nothing to firing Larry Bowa to giving us that ridiculous sideshow of a managerial search last year, you've been at the top of the heap making the big decisions.  In my humble opinion, you are the one who should be tendering his resignation at this point.  If you can't see that there are numerous candidates out there who are better for the long-term future of the Phillies, then you are the problem here, sir, not a poor patsy like Ed Wade.

It's time for you to look in the mirror, Sir.  The problem is you.  Fire yourself and save Phillies fans from another 10 years of abject futility.  If you had an ounce of compassion for us long-suffering fans, you'd do exactly that.  You'd remove yourself from the equation and allow a real baseball man to take over the reigns of our beloved and bedraggled franchise.

Of course, that's not going to happen.  Nope - you'll hire Gillick and have a fancy press conference and try and sell the sheep on the pretense that the Phillies have found their man, and are finally on the road to glory.

Sorry, Dave.  I ain't buyin' it this time.  Until I see you finally being shown the door, I have no interest in following the Phillies any longer.  You had this one last chance to make things right, and you fricken blew it.

Thanks for the memories.

Sincerely yours,

A 40-Year Phillies Phan

They can suck my meatcicle with this move.  farg the Phillies to hell and back.

[WEST is GOD]

Didn't Gillick win titles before?

Hunsicker hasn't won shtein if I'm correct. Why is this movie so hated?

[Rome]

He's 68 years old and won't be the GM past 2007.

He's an interim GM when a legitimate long-term solution was available.

[MDS]

im going to wait and see what chris wheeler has to say about this before i come to any conclusions.

[WEST is GOD]

He's 68 years old and won't be the GM past 2007.

He's an interim GM when a legitimate long-term solution was available.

How do you know he won't be here past 2007? Age has nothing to do with his term.