Are Phils Fans Front-Runners?

To say that the Phillies are in trouble is like saying the passengers on the Titanic were in for a bumpy night.

Sunday, they lost in extra-innings for the 2nd day in-a-row.  Losing 8 of 9 games to fall to a season-high 8 games out of 1st place may be the end of their postseason hopes.  Then again, it may not.

Either way, the speed and enthusiasm with which certain unnamed Philly reporters (i.e., Hayes, Murphy) and fans (some in attendance at the tail end of the last homestand) have jeered and berated the Phils is the their own undoing.  Let me explain.

In Spring Training 2007, Jimmy Rollins famously called the Phillies "The Team to beat" in the NL East.  They won the division that year and haven't lost it since.  Rollins was NL MVP and his bravado proved prophetic.

On August 9th, 2008, during a taping of Fox Sports' "Best Damn Sports Show Period," Rollins infamously called Phillies fans "front-runners."

Sign displayed at City Hall during '08 World Series parade

"There are times," he said. "I might catch some flak for saying this, but, you know, they're front-runners. When you're doing good, they're on your side. When you're doing bad, they're completely against you."

Rollins, with co-guest Ryan Howard seated next to him, gave a shout-out to Howard's hometown of St. Louis:

"For example, Ryan is from St. Louis and St. Louis, it seems like they support their team, they're out there and encouraging. In Philly, can't be no punk."

St. Louis beat Philadelphia by 1 run in the final game of their first round series in last year's playoffs to advance and eventually win the World Series.  Was that, in part, due to their loyal fanbase?  

The Phillies are 12-19 at Citizens Bank, the second worst home record in all of baseball.

Is it the fans fault that the top 3 Phils are all presently inactive due to injury?  Did the fans leave an endless stream of runners-in-scoring-position this season to dig a potentially inescapable last-place hole for their team?

The Phils are 4-12 in 1 run games.  They are 2-6 in extra-innings.  That 6-18 mark, as well as their disastrous home record, is likely to improve, although it may be too little too late to save this season. 

Their season hinges on players like B.J. Rosenberg and Joe Savery, who lost Saturday and Sunday's games in relief and Jim Thome, who turns 42 in a few weeks, who now bats cleanup and tries to both stay healthy and regain his former power glory, which he displayed 8 years ago with the Phils amidst a big contract.

While hitting into four inning-ending double plays Saturday in Baltimore, the 2012 Phils looked cooked.

There was Chris Wheeler reminiscing during a broadcast last week about when it was fun at the ballpark for Phils fans.  Meanwhile, the Phils were swept by the Dodgers, a team the Phils spent the '08 and '09 postseasons crushing the hopes and dreams of, winning an unlikely 8-of-10 NLCS games between the two.

Payback.  Fans around the country are mocking the high-spending Phils for 'getting what they deserve.'

But should Phils fans be doing it?  After all, this is the team that has given us so many thrills these past 5 plentiful years.  Frustration finds a way out.  Still, did the boos and rotten tomatoes make Mike Schmidt better or did it merely chase away Scott Rolen?

There were the Dodgers broadcasters last week:  The "Boo-birds are out," one Dodger broadcaster observed of the restless Bank crowd, tired of squandered opportunities.  "You get the sense that these fans are just waiting for something terrible to happen."  And it did.  The Phils, who had a 3-run lead at the end of 3 innings managed to surrender 8-straight runs to cap the sweep and lose their 6th in-a-row.

They went 1-for-12 with runners in scoring position in that one.

Can they recover to salvage this season?  That remains to be seen.

They've won first place for 5-straight years.  They've trailed first place at some point during most of those years.  In '09, they lost 6-straight games and 11-of-13 in late June, yet won the NL East by 6 games over Miami.  In '10, they were 7 games out of first place on July 21.  Still, they won the division by 6 games over Atlanta.

However, with each passing day, new injuries, mishaps in the field, pitching miscues and clutch-less at-bats add up to dismal defeat.

The Phils are deep in a free-fall.  It hurts to watch because we care so deeply.

Cliff Lee failed to win again Sunday. His last win? September 26th, 2011.  This year, he achieved a dubious distinction as the 1st Phillies pitcher since 1912 with a 3.00 ERA or below with 8 starts and 0 wins.  He now has 10 starts and 0 wins, but his ERA has sailed to 3.18.

These days, beating the Phils with Lee-- or anyone, for that matter-- on the mound is like taking candy from a baby.  It's a journey backward through the mostly dismal annals of team history, which is to say the most harrowing loss-rich log of any sports franchise, ever.

"We don't scare nobody," Charlie Manuel said Thursday, and he could have been speaking of any of a number of clusters of 30 or 40 years of Phillies teams.

"We used to have a swagger. We used to be kind of cocky in a real good way. Teams used to definitely fear us. I definitely don't see that fear no more. I'm sorry. I'm answering the question very honestly. I don't see where we scare nobody. Nobody backs down from us. Matter of fact, they come right at us. They take it right to us."

It's hard to have swagger when you're playing without your leaders.  Rollins is the only leader left standing for this team.  His .240 Ave. and .291 OBP hardly equal swagger.  However, does his fading twilight deserve cold shoulders and dismissive scorn?  If so, was he right when he called Phils fans "front-runners?"