Over the last couple of seasons, opposing players, managers, scouts, general managers and analysts have frequently repeated these words about the baseball team at Broad and Pattison:
The Phillies have an impressive lineup.
And:
You've really got to like those hitters they have.
But you might not hear that much longer if the team doesn't make a major leap in run production this season.
Two seasons ago, the Phillies' offense was worthy of that acclaim. Doug Glanville, Bobby Abreu, Scott Rolen and Mike Lieberthal all had strong seasons, helping the Phils record the fourth-best team batting average (.275) and the sixth-best run total (841) in the National League.
Last year, even with the addition of Pat Burrell and his big stick, the team endured an insidious season-long batting slump. When the season ended, and the 97th loss was recorded, the team's batting average had plummeted to .251, second-worst in the league, and their scoring to 708, the lowest in baseball. They hit a league-low 144 home runs.
At its simplest level, baseball is all about one team scoring runs and the other team trying to prevent that.
"If you don't get on base," said new manager Larry Bowa, "how are you going to score runs?"
And the Phillies did a poor job of that last season. Their team on-base percentage was just .329, ranking them 14th in the 16-team league.
"Bad, very bad," Bowa said.
In this era of big biceps and Power Ball, on-base percentage is an underappreciated statistic. But it remains the cornerstone of any successful team's lineup.
"On-base percentage might not get you on ESPN every night," said Tampa Bay hitting coach Wade Boggs, whose .415 on-base percentage ranks 25th all time. "But you'll win a heck of a lot of games with a good one."
Look at last season. The National League playoff teams claimed four of the top six positions in on-base percentage; in the American League, it was four of the top five.
To localize the point, rewind to those happy days of 1993, the last time the Phillies had a winning season. Now, a lot of things went right that season. Players stayed healthy. Curt Schilling, Danny Jackson and Tommy Greene all pitched 200 innings. Bullpen closer Mitch Williams was at the top of the game. Nearly every hitter had a career year.
But that team's success could be boiled down to this: a league-best 877 runs scored, rooted in a league-leading .354 on-base percentage.
