Philadelphia acquired talent during the offseason while its division counterparts lost key contributors.
By TOM JONES
Published March 6, 2004
CLEARWATER - The Pirates gave us We Are Family. The old Orioles sang Ain't No Stoppin' Us Now. Tug McGraw coined Ya Gotta Believe for the 1980 Phillies, and last year, the Red Sox used the rally cry of Cowboy Up.
Apparently, you need a good slogan in baseball. The better the slogan, the better the postseason chances.
So looking to end a 10-year playoff drought, this season's edition of the Phillies has coined its mission statement and slapped it on T-shirts that are all the rave in the clubhouse.
NOW IS THE TIME.
Wishful thinking? Maybe. But for the first time since 1993, the Phillies appear ripe for a division title. They're saying, Now Is the Time.
"I think it's on the button," Phillies slugger Jim Thome said. "I think it's a great term because now it is the time. Now is the time. It's time to go."
It's about addition and subtraction. Last season, the Phillies went 86-76 in the National League East, behind the Braves, who have won 12 consecutive division titles, and the Marlins, who won the World Series.
But since then, the Phillies have added the closer (Billy Wagner) they sorely missed last season, a right-handed setup man (Roberto Hernandez) and a solid left-handed starter (Eric Milton). Plus, they didn't lose ace Kevin Millwood, who re-signed in the offseason.
That was all good news. This was better news:
The Braves lost Gary Sheffield, Greg Maddux and Javy Lopez to free agency. The Marlins lost Ivan Rodriguez, Derrek Lee and Mark Redman. And even the Expos, who finished just three games behind Philadelphia, lost Vladimir Guerrero and Javier Vazquez.
"When you eliminate a Vladimir Guerrero, a Sheffield, a Vazquez, a Maddux, right on down the line," Thome said, "those tremendous players. When you're the opponent of those people, you look and see they're gone, you go, "Man, that's pretty cool.' You respect them as players, but you're like, "Okay, it's time to get (them) out of the league."'
With those bats and arms out of the way, the path might be clear for the Phillies.
"We have such a good team right now, but the start of the season is when we'll figure out how we're going to do," outfielder Bobby Abreu said. "I think we can go far."
Abreu pauses then adds: "Further."
He means further than last season. The Phillies led Florida by one game for the wild card on Sept. 8 but went 7-12 down the stretch to finish five games behind it.
"We just have to forget about last season," Abreu said.
Helping erase the memories will be a move into a new ballpark, the 43,500-seat Citizens Bank Park. Meantime, they have added new blood, and it can be argued that no team - not even the Yankees or Red Sox - made a bigger offseason acquisition than the Phillies did with Wagner. The lefty who can crank his fastball up to 100 mph had 44 saves last season, 11 more than Philadelphia's relievers.
Meantime, the lineup includes Thome (47 homers, 137 RBIs), Abreu (101 RBIs) and catcher Mike Lieberthal (.313 average). Plus, the Phillies figure, no way Pat Burrell will hit .209 again. Even during a horrible season, Burrell slugged 21 homers.
"This clubhouse has a lot of veterans," Milton said. "I just think we have the team to do some good things here. Of course it's exciting to be here. ... But it's only spring."
Or, as Thome put it, being the favorite on paper doesn't mean a thing.
"We have a chance here," Thome said. "Maybe we do have that aura now that we can come out (and win). That feeling of you almost expect to win."
