Summer's In The Air

Its summer time in Philadelphia. The weather's warm, people are heading down the beach, and the Phillies are luring everyone into the same trap they have for the past three years.

I'll be honest, the Phillies are an average team masquerading as a division contender. The Phillies may have a good young nucleus of talent in Ryan Howard, Chase Utley, Shane Victorino and Cole Hamels, but this is a deeply flawed team. Pat Burrell is a disaster in left field. So much so that Burrell has been riding pine for five out of the last nine games. The catcher's spot is a total wreck with Barajas and Ruiz batting a combined average of .248.

The pitching staff, other than Hamels, is just a patchwork staff. Jon Lieber has now gone on the DL, joining Freddy Garcia, who is unlikely to return this season. Reliver Tom Gordon is also on the DL, leaving the bullpen in shambles. The Phillies have become so desperate that they signed Jose Mesa to "bolster" the bullpen.

That leads me to why the Phillies do this to the fans of Philadelphia every year. Management. Dave Montgomery is always in the running for "Worst Owner of the Year". Montgomery has never done what's best for the team since he took over. The Phillies management not only manages to put out a product that seems to fall short every year, they also manage to disrespect the fans and play them for fools. They hire manager Charlie Manuel, who might be the worst manager in the league. The man can't manage a game to save his life and makes decisions that leave you talking out loud to the TV. When I think of Charlie Manuel, one sentence comes to mind. "Why is he doing that?"

This season will play out like the past few have gone for the Phillies. The Phillies will continue to make their run this season. They might even take the division lead at one point. Then the inevitable will happen. The Phillies will collapse, Manuel will blow a few games with his awful managing and the Phillies will fall a few games short of the playoffs. Management will then get the impression that this team is actually good enough to make the playoffs, they'll make a few minor moves that really do nothing to improve the team as a whole and the process will repeat itself all over again.

The fans of Philadelphia has suffered for a long time and they deserve better than what the Phillies put out on the field. Philly fans would step over their own mother for just one championship and its obvious that the Phillies will not give them one. But the dog days of summer carry on in the city of brotherly love, the fraud that is the Philadelphia Phillies will continue to perpetrate itself on the fans of the team.