Tuesday, February 22, 2011

IT'S ALWAYS BEEN ABOUT PITCHING!!!

The Chinese have the year of the dog, cat, tiger, etc. For the Phillies, the Year Of The Pitching began when pitchers and catchers reported to the Phils spring training complex. Writers have earned their pay writing about it, pundits have had hours of talk because of it, and Phillie fans have had a collective attack of the giggles and for some a case of terminal smuggness knowing that we now have the greatest starting staff in the entire galaxy.

Not so fast, this long suffering fan has tried to tell his friends. What if one of the Aces gets hurt? What if the Phillies starting eight goes on a month long slump and the team does the swan dive thing? The baseball gods might be pissed that Rollins has stated that the team will exceed 100 wins and will work their black magic to insure a greater collapse than we saw in 1964? My warnings have mostly gone unheeded as sales of red kool-aid have soared. How can we lose, I've been asked, mostly by those too young to remember the oft-broken hearts we have suffered due to loving the candystripers the way we here in the greatest city in the world do.

Even those who would insult or deride the long suffering fan agree that it has always been about pitching - and always will be. Well since we can all agree on that (if you can't - I suggest that you wear an orange sweater and walk around saying aboot instead of about while you look for the 4th quarter) I thought it might be worth a trip on the newly-restored Wayback Machine to September 1965 when a pitcher from Chatham, Ontario made his MLB debut with the Phillies.

When it comes to pitching trades made by the Phillies, let's assume we all put the acquisition of Steve Carlton from the Cardinals on top of the list. The Carlton trade may have been the best trade acquisition the team ever made. I will now offer what I believe is the worst pitching trade our guys have ever made.

The kid from Canada appeared in 7 games for the '65 Phils going 2-1 with an ERA of 2.19. In '66, this lanky hurler again was a late season call-up pitching in 16 games. So far the guy hadn't shown the Phillies braintrust much, and they clearly didn't see what the guy had in him so on April 21, 1966 they traded him to the Chicago Cubs along with Adolfo Phillips, and John Herrnstein for pitchers Larry Jackson and Bob Buhl. The Phils needed arms and both Jackson and Buhl were veterans who could eat some innings in what was, back then, always a losing cause.

Jackson had won 24 games with the '64 Cubs and would play three seasons with the Phils going 41-45 with the club. He retired after the '68 season. Buhl, who had been one of the mainstays of the '57 Braves championship club went 6-8 for the Phillies in '66 and then retired.

In 1966 the Cubs used Fergie Jenkins mostly in relief roles and he appeared in 60 games, though he did start 12. His 6-8 record and 3.31 ERA in 182 innings to go along with 148K's convinced the Cubs management that he should be a full time starter come the 1967 season. They never regretted that decision.

From '67 through '72 Jenkins won at least 20 games a year. If you're counting - that's six consecutive years of 20 wins. After an off year in '73 he came back to go 25-12 in '74. During his streak he completed at least 20 games per year with the high mark being 30 in '71. He regularly threw 300 plus innings a year and was always among the league leaders in K's.

In total, Jenkins spent 19 years in the show and is now in the Hall Of Fame.

There ought to be a law against the Phillies trading guys to the Cubs. As you know, the Cubs also acquired another future HOFer from the Phillies in Ryne Sandberg. Amaro needs to be told that he will be drawn and quartered if he even speaks of trading with the northsiders. I've often asked why the hallowed Phillie GM at the time, Pope Paul Owens, could have made such blunders and the only conclusion I can come up with is that he made those deals while on one of his legendary drunken sprees which came and went (mostly came). Owens and Harry Kalas were bosom buddies and drank the town dry together on many occasions.

Over the years the Phillies have made some horrific trades other than the obvious Sandberg and Jenkins deals. There was the the late 50's trade of rookie-of-the-year pitcher Jack Sanford to the Giants for Ruben Gomez and Valmy Thomas, a battery duo who lost their charge as soon as they hit town. Or, who will ever forget the 5-for-1 deal that brought Superbum Von Hayes here for what was a rather pedestrian career? There were other fiascos as well, which include letting Dave Stewart and George Bell slip away for nothing in return. Although we did have Juan Bell for a few seasons...

Some decent trades or free agent signings were made by the losingest pro team of all time as names like Jim Bunning and Pete Rose come to mind. Bake McBride, a member of the champion '80 squad, also has to be given a plus grade. The current Phillies braintrust, led by Ruben Amaro (a man who lies more than Chris Christie) have so far done a good job on the acquisition front but, for my money, the worst trade of all time was the Jenkins deal.

Jenkins has always been one of my favorite pitchers - especially after he was arrested in his native America Lite for possession of marijuana. That arrest caused some writers to not vote for him when he appeared on the HOF ballot, but he finally made it despite the ignorance of the moralists.

There hasn't been much news of note coming out of Clearwater as yet and, who knows, Amaro may have a deal up his sleeve. I just hope that whatever deals are made - they are not made with the Chicago Cubs.

No comments:

Post a Comment