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The Phillies might have made a decent homecoming opponent for the Marlins, were baseball to adopt such a tradition. For one, they’re stacked with marquee talent, even if Babe Ruth reincarnate Ryan Howard has been injured much of the season. Philadelphia still brings the inexorable Jimmy Rollins, whom Baseball-Reference.com describes as historically most similar to Ryne Sandberg. He engages in all sorts of laudable hobbies, from 30-game hitting streaks to pissing off Mets fans by describing Philadelphia as “the team to beat” in the National League East. These guys sell tickets.
What caps the Phils’ status as a terrific team to invite over, though, is their predilection to be the team to get beaten. On paper, they should be a bear. Instead, they’re nearing paper tiger territory. If you’re shelling out hard-earned greenbacks to drag your rugrats to the ballpark, you’d just as soon see a team that lobs grapefruits for Miguel Cabrera to swat into the reserved-for-charity cheap seats. And maybe Howard will hit a dinger with his crutch, to make things interesting. Tickets are as cheap as nine bucks.
Tue., May 22, 7:05 p.m.
