You know the rest of the story. The 1966 Phillies were favored to win the National League pennant. But slumps happen. You'd think that with starters Jim Bunning, Chris Short and Jackson combining for 54 victories, Gene Mauch's team would have breezed. But Johnny Callison, superb in 1964, drove in just 55 runs with his 612 at-bats. The pitching behind the Big 3 was dreadful. Despite a tremendous third season by Dick Allen, a .317, 40-homer, 110-RBI performance, the Phillies finished fourth in a loaded league.
But Quinn was right. When a pennant is close enough to touch, you can't worry about taking out a high-interest loan on the future.
Today's question, therefore, is this: Did Ruben Amaro take a gutsy reach for the golden ring yesterday when Roy Halladay and his agent showed up at the Bank for what? Physical? Negotiation of a contract extension that would put a three-team swap in motion? Both?
Yeah, both, it turns out.
Or is this merely a further indictment of a broken economic system, where despite playing to more than 100 percent capacity of their ballpark last season, the Phillies are doing so much belt-tightening their offseason is starting to look like a NutriSystem infomercial.
When I sat down to write this column my intent was to remind Amaro, who was absolutely brilliant in his rookie season at the helm, that he is standing on the cusp of history.
No National League team since the wartime St. Louis Cardinals has won three straight pennants. The team built by Branch Rickey threepeated 1942-44. No NL team has been to the World Series three straight seasons since then. Not even the great teams produced by the Reds, Dodgers, Pirates, Braves and Cardinals. And as MLB expanded from the 16 teams of Stan Musial's era and added two tiers of playoffs ahead of the World Series, it has become more and more difficult to repeat.
