Trapped in the Basement: The Philadelphia Phillies (1942 - )

SEPTEMBER 30, 1991

I sat in the owner’s box tonight. Sitting in the crowd had gotten more and more tiring since the 1970s. I prefer to sit up here with my family: I like the solitude and the companionship. My son Sam pitched for the team in the ‘60s and ‘70s, then served as general manager since his retirement in 1981. His son A.J. is only 12, but already has a great baseball mind: he proposed the trade to bring Dwight Gooden to Philly, and that’s already paid huge dividends.

This was the final game of my 50th year of ownership. The Phillies were long since eliminated from playoff contention, with the San Francisco Seals and the New York Giants getting set to square off in the NLCS. However, it was still an opportunity to beat our cross-state rivals, the Pirates.

And what a 50 years it’s been! You’ve all been let in on the struggles of the first 5 years, but the last 45 have been the most successful, arguably, in any franchise’s history. 21 championships, 30 pennants, and countless superstars: the pennants hang off the upper deck, wrapping around the rightfield bleachers almost to the press box at Sunoco Stadium. The retired numbers adorn the leftfield façade: Hodges, Northey, Roberts, Doby, Stephens, Seminick, Haddix, Seaver, Monbouquette, Yastrzemski, Jackson, and more.

The legacy of the Phillies is quite alive. 38-year-old 3B George Brett continues to chase Ty Cobb’s hit record, recently passing the great Ron Northey for 2nd all-time. C Carlton Fisk has carried on the tradition of great catchers in a Phillies uniform, and RF Tony Gwynn is poised to carry the banner into the next generation.

The future of the Phillies looks bright as well. Although we won’t be playing into October this year, we have several young players that look to be future superstars. The ‘cornerstone’ of the franchise is CF Ken Griffey. No, not the one that played for the great Phillies teams of the ‘70s, but his son. DiMaggio, Doby, Mays: ‘Junior’ has the potential to be better than them all. He’s already had a full year of Major League experience, and is on pace to break Gil Hodges’ home run record. The rotation will be anchored by 2 talented prospects: Kevin Appier and Al Leiter. Neither is Robin Roberts, and neither will come close to his 420 career wins, but both are going to be good.

What a long strange trip it’s been. I can only hope that the next 50 years are as successful!

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Thank you all for reading! It's been a pleasure sharing this with you. Hopefully you'll carry over to my next dynasty, the story of the 1990 Seattle Mariners.

~ PoC13

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THE END

The Mariners! Don't tell Coach Owens!

A world series win, a sweep of the major awards. A pretty way to go out.

And your last post almost got me a little misty eyed.

Great job!!!

We'll see if the mariners are as interesting

I Can't Wait for the Seattle Mariners Dynasty.

This dynasty deserves a standing ovation.

I will miss Trapped in the Basement. A dynasty that inspired me.

A great way to go out. A world title, sweeping the major awards. Perfect way.


Congrats on a great dynasty Potato and if the mariners dynasty is even close to as good as this one then it will be another great dynasty.

ALL: Thank you for all the kind words. This experience couldn't be what it was without your support.

Meanwhile, my new project, A Shot at Redemption, has been launched. Please check it out when you get a chance!

Bump

FTB: Thanks. That reminds me...

If anyone can tell me how to hook an old hard drive up to my current computer for use as a mass storage unit/to retrieve files without damaging my current machine or the hard drive, your help would be greatly appreciated.

you have something planned don't you:D

Apologies for the cheap bump; I'm just trying to do some housekeeping on my dynasties.

As I mentioned here, I have been able to resurrect the file from the ashes of my old hard drive. However, due to my long layoff (my goodness, has it really been almost 15 months?) away from this Phillies team, I feel that I wouldn't be able to do it justice to reattempt. Therefore, I am officially retiring Trapped in the Basement.

Thank you for your time.