More than most sports, baseball lends itself to myths, thus the bounty of great fiction that has come from the sport—'The Natural,' Shoeless Joe, 'Bang the Drum Slowly,' and even nonfiction 'The Boys of Summer.' And right now, our Philadelphia Phillies are engaged, in a very real way, in one of those mythic tropes; the comeback, the rally, the turnaround, the rising tide of game four tuna.
Since Rob "Topper" Thomson was fired, and Don Mattingly hired on April 28th, the Phillies have looked like a different team: better pitching, more timely hitting, sharp fielding, reduction in dumb mistakes. In other words, the team I thought the Phils could be when, in an early preseason essay, I was overly optimistic about the Phillies, which is against my nature.
Because of the holiday, I'm recording this a few days before it airs, meaning that over the weekend, the Phillies could've gone on a mini losing streak. But it appears that, at the very least, they are a team that will compete for a playoff spot, which they were not under Thomson, who was fired when the Phils had a 9-19 record.
Now, the comeback the Phils have made as I'm recording this—16 wins in 22 games—is very solid but not legendary. The 1914 Boston Braves had a 26-40 record on July 4 and ended up winning the National League pennant with 94 wins. There are more recent examples. The 2004 Atlanta Braves were well under .500 halfway through the season before righting the course, finishing with 96 wins and, of course, winning the NL East, which is what they always did for a long, long while. Phillies fans might be more likely to remember the comeback by the 2008 Brewers, who were 23-27 at one early checkpoint, only to finish with 90 wins. But they ran into the Phillies in the playoffs, and that was the team that went on to win the World Series; the outcome that loyalists hope will happen under Mattingly. "Donny Ballgame" as he was known during an outstanding career with the Yankees.
Mattingly brings another mythic aspect to this: does greatness translate? There have been dozens, maybe hundreds, of ex-players to become successful coaches in various sports, but they haven't necessarily been the greatest players. Three examples are Phil Jackson, Pat Riley, and Steve Kerr in basketball. Together they won 16 championships as coaches, but they weren't truly great players. They were good players. Then you have a few baseball managers, such as Yogi Berra, who was a truly great player but only a good manager.
Two of the greatest coaches in Philly history, Fred Shero with the Flyers and Andy Reid of the Eagles, were not exceptional players in their sport. But a 76ers championship in 1983—the last one earned by that franchise—was won by a truly great player; Billy "Kangaroo Kid" Cunningham. One immortal who I always thought would've continued to be a great coach was Larry Bird, who led the Indiana Pacers for three successful seasons until he moved up to the front office.
Now listen, Thomson got the Phillies to the World Series in 2022 and he was never much of a Major League player. But an expiration date comes with every manager and Thomson's was clearly up when he got the boot. As far as the Mattingly factor goes with this team, yes, I believe who Mattingly was as a player is making a difference. Players are notorious for forgetting the past, but I do think they know about Mattingly, one of the game's great players in the '80s and '90s. As a player, he was highly competitive but also smart, thoughtful, the best defensive first baseman of his era.
So, I'm buying into this turnaround and predicting the Phils make the playoffs as a Wild Card. Then again, I bought in at the beginning of the season, too.
