Bowa will bring an attitude change to Phillies

By Bill McFarland

All teams start from scratch when the season opens, and the optimist in me always wants to believe that things will turn out better for the Phillies. Unfortunately, I don't have as good a feeling about the 2001 club as I did at this time last year.

Philadelphia had a decent 1999, although it became obvious that the club needed an experienced No. 2 starter to back up staff ace Curt Schilling and a closer for the bullpen. The acquisition of Andy Ashby and Mike Jackson to fill those roles had me ecstatic, but things began to fall apart before opening day.

Schilling missed the first few weeks. Ashby wilted under the pressure of trying to carry the staff, and Jackson was lost with an injury that ended his season. Combine that with dismal hitting and a slow start by pitcher Paul Byrd, and you have the 7-17 record in April. The Phils were in too deep too soon and never rebounded.

Projections are normally based on expectations that everyone will duplicate the success of the previous year, and that just didn't happen. This season is more difficult to gauge because much of the team has changed. The roster purge that began last July has left the club with a younger group. There is tremendous potential, but we'll have to see how things work out.

The biggest change is the new manager. Larry Bowa's fiery personality will spark a few extra wins, but his dedication to the fundamentals of the game should be more of a help. If the players do the little things that Bowa stresses, it could make a difference.

The Phillies have proven studs in third baseman Scott Rolen, catcher Mike Lieberthal and outfielder Bobby Abreu. Outfielders Doug Glanville and Pat Burrell are potential all-stars, so the team is set at those positions.

I'm still not sold on Travis Lee, but the first baseman has apparently made some progress in finding his lost batting stroke. In the middle infield, second baseman Marlon Anderson and shortstop Jimmy Rollins are here to stay. Rollins is coming off a good spring, and he will benefit from having Bowa as his manager. The skipper will stand by his shortstop through thick and thin, just like former manager Frank Lucchesi did when Bowa was an overmatched rookie in 1970.

On the mound, Omar Daal has also had a good spring, so there is hope that he could be on the rebound from last year's 19-loss campaign. Robert Person and Randy Wolf, the fourth and fifth starters last year, actually pitched well when the top three guys faltered, so their places in the rotation were pretty much assured. Bruce Chen, one of the best acquisitions last summer, and Amaury Telemaco round out the starting staff.

In the bullpen, Jose Mesa, Ricky Bottalico and Rheal Cormier are hoping to recapture past successes. Wayne Gomes had an excellent spring, as did non-roster left-hander Eddie Oropesa. Vicente Padilla and Chris Brock round out the relievers.

With 12 pitchers, however, the team has only five reserves. On the bench are infielders Kevin Jordan, Tomas Perez and David Newhan, outfielder Brian L. Hunter and catcher Gary Bennett.

This roster will change. Once the pitchers get stretched, there might not be a need for 12 of them, and room will have to be made for outfielder Rob Ducey and pitcher Cliff Politte when they come off the disabled list.



The Phillies will retire Jim Bunning's number 14 on Friday. Now a U.S. senator from Kentucky, the Hall of Fame pitcher is still asked about the ill-fated 1964 team.

"The pieces (of the puzzle) fell together, and we overachieved, and for a hundred and fifty games, we were the best team in the league," said Bunning, who pitched a perfect game against the New York Mets on Father's Day of that year.

This column was published on April 4, 2001, in the Northeast Times in Philadelphia, which owns the copyright. It may not be reproduced anywhere else without permission.

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