Ryan Howard

Philadelphia's Top 50 Baseball Players By Rich Westcott University of Nebraska Press. 272 pp. $24.95 Reviewed by Larry Eichel   According to local baseball historian Rich Westcott, someone named Bob Johnson is one of the top 50 baseball players in Philadelphia history. Never heard of him? The man known as "Indian Bob" (he was one-quarter Cherokee) played for the Philadelphia Athletics from 1933 through 1942, spending most of his time in left field.

NEW YORK - Last July, the Phillies shed Shane Victorino and Hunter Pence in two deadline deals and sought austerity in the outfield. They are paying their five outfielders a total of $3.4 million in 2013, and until Saturday's 9-4 romp over the Mets, the production matched the price. It dragged an offense carried by contributions from its veteran infield. Phillies outfielders ranked 29th in baseball with a .562 OPS before Saturday. They hit three home runs in the season's first 24 games, which tied for the fewest in the majors.

READING - The gang, such as it is, will be back together Sunday in New York. Catcher Carlos Ruiz returns from his 25-game suspension for using the banned substance Adderall and the Phillies hope it becomes a trigger point for a team that has stumbled out of the starting gate for the second straight season. Returns, of course, have become as commonplace for the Phillies in recent years as they are the day after Christmas. They were able to survive and recover from the lengthy absences of shortstop Jimmy Rollins in 2010 and second baseman Chase Utley in 2011.

NEW YORK - Baseball is a funny game. Charlie Manuel has dedicated his 69-year-old soul to mastering it as best he can, yet he often yields to that adage when confronted by the inexplicable. He is not alone. So when the Phillies rallied Friday in the sixth inning of a 4-0 victory over the Mets, the manager must have wondered what he'd done to deserve this. For the fourth straight day, his team put a runner on third base with no one out. The previous three instances generated failures.

OTHER THAN AN eighth inning pinch-hit appearance, Chase Utley watched from the dugout as the Phillies offense went blank for the third time in 8 days. After a day of rest, Utley was back in the lineup on Wednesday and in a new spot, too. For the first time since the end of the 2011 season, Utley hit second. Following a 2-week spell that has seen the Phils offense score three runs or less 10 times in 12 games, Charlie Manuel saw it fit to alter his lineup for the second time this homestand.

When a surgeon removed one of Mike Adams' ribs last winter, the pitcher finally felt at ease. His right arm, which could once throw a fastball at an average of 93 m.p.h., was no longer numb. The Phillies paid him $12 million to provide stability in the eighth inning. Then a 5-3 Phillies loss to Pittsburgh happened Wednesday, and it resembled the nightmares of a season ago for both pitcher and team. Adams could barely top 91 m.p.h. He never looked comfortable during the span of four batters, all of whom reached base.

Charlie Manuel didn't explode when he was ejected from the game, nor in his postgame news conference, but the Phillies manager was clearly frustrated. His team has yet to put any facets of the game together. The Phillies are 9-14 after a 6-4 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates on Thursday at Citizens Bank Park. "We are in a period now where we are not playing good at all," Manuel said. That about sums it up. How bad have they been? Let us count the ways. The Phillies were 2 for 16 Thursday with runners in scoring position.

Charlie Manuel grabbed a first baseman's mitt hours before first pitch Tuesday night and manned the position. Freddy Galvis and Kevin Frandsen wanted extra work on the infield. The 69-year-old Manuel helped. "We needed somebody," the manager said. What Manuel needs is the man usually at first base, Ryan Howard, to produce more. Howard, typically a slow starter, was off to his worst 18-game stretch entering Tuesday. It is early and the sample size is small, but Howard was trending downward.

WHEN RUBEN Amaro Jr. began to put the pricey pieces in place for what was to be the Phillies payroll in 2013, he put his faith (read: dollars) in four players. He traded for, and then signed, Roy Halladay. He gave $100 million-plus contracts to Ryan Howard, Cliff Lee and Cole Hamels. Those four players - Halladay, Howard, Hamels and Lee - account for more than half of the team's total payroll this season ($84.5 million of $159 million). Three weeks into the season, that investment hasn't exactly paid off. Hamels allowed only two runs, but the Phils remain winless in his starts this season as the offense went missing for the third time in the last eight games in a 2-0 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates at Citizens Bank Park.

ANTONIO HARRIS lives on South Ringgold Street, little more than a mile from Citizens Bank Park, and his favorite sport is baseball. So, maybe he can tell some stories about brushes with famous Phillies. Securing an autograph from Ryan Howard. Being tossed a batting-practice ball by Roy Halladay. Dancing on top of the dugout with the Phillie Phanatic. Um, not quite. "My favorite team is the Yankees," Harris said. Yankees?! Seriously?! Should we end this story now?!