Chronology of my Phavorite Phillies

Growing up as a kid in suburban Philadelphia I longed for Sunday afternoons when I could watch my favorite professional sports team on TV.

In those days, the Phillies were pretty bad. It was the lean years of the mid-1980s. Phillies stars included Mike Schmidt, Juan Samuel, Von Hayes, Don Carmen, Shane Rawley, Steve Bedrosian, Lance Parrish, Greg Gross, Luis Aquayo and of course Lefty Carlton. I don't remember actually having a favorite Philly at that time, but I'm sure I liked Mike Schmidt because I knew he was pretty good.

As I grew older and a little more savvy about the game, I suddenly realized that our Phillies teams weren't that good. More names during this era in my life that come to mind are Ron Jones, Rick Schu, Ricky Jordan, Tommy Herr, Pat Combs, the infamous Joe Cowley, Kevin Gross, Steve Jeltz, Chris James and so on... It was about this time, in middle school when I started to realize that the Phillies were destined to be bad every year. I didn't know the business of baseball and just took the heartbreak lightly every year, because it was always assumed that the Phillies would not compete. And as a fan, it was pretty tough.

Then 1993 came. There is nothing better to a 10th grade kid then to see his beloved hometown boys of summer finally put together a squad. It goes without saying that the makeup of that club, combined with the passion of a 15/16 year old mind, makes for my favorite Phillies team and favorite Phillies player of all time. No matter what, there will never be another team that will bring me more joy than the motley crew of the '93 Season.

The season was unexpected, and greatly appreciated. It ended with heartbreak, but hey, we're Philadelphia, and we're going on 24 years of heartbreak. From this team was born my favorite Philly of all time.... Lenny Dykstra.

A true Philly type of player, his clutch hits, and all-out play will never be topped by anyone in my book. So my first official favorite player was "The Dude".

Of course, the success of the '93 team didn't carry over to the strike year or any year after that. Our boys of '93 got old, and started to fall by the wayside. But there was some hope on the horizon. We still had Curt Schilling, who I didn't learn to truly appreciate until college, circa 1996, and Scott Rolen. These two who legitimate stars on teams Philled with Phil-ins like Ron Gant and Gregg Jefferies. Scott Rolen emerged as the stand out, hustler who plays the game like it should be played. And to this day he still does. So during Rolen's tenure, he was my favorite player.

I recall the resigning of Mickey Morandini for one year after his stint with the Expos being an excellent move. He filled in at 2nd base for the year 2000 because Marlon Anderson wasn't the answer. I appreciated that, and loved the Mick for a year too.

By this time I was out of college, working in West Chester and living in Warminster. I had the Sunday season ticket package and enjoyed my Sunday outings. First with my friend Vince for a few years at the vet, and then with my sister Kristy at Citizen's bank park. I eventually passed on the tickets, for other obligations. My sister still has them. During these years, Terry Francona was at the helm and we'd often have to put up with Terry's resting of Rolen on Sundays. No matter, another of our favorites Tomas Perez would fill in... but he wasn't a true favorite, but we loved watching him in the dugout and on the field because you knew he loved playing baseball. Also, I did get to witness Kevin Millwood's no hitter, and though he was never on my radar of likable Phillies, I did enjoy that moment. It was electric.

I'm a true student of the game, I've played baseball at the college level and currently coach at the high school level, so I thoroughly enjoy guys who play the game with great fundamentals. This era of being at the game every Sunday led me to truly appreciate that play of Placido Polanco. While on standing on second base as a runner, Placido was the only player I saw who would check to see where the outfielders were, to get a better jump on the ball when trying to score on a single. He played solid defense. He would always hustle to first, and make a hard turn, and he would rarely strike out. He does not have a weakness. For many years Placido was my favorite Phillie and for a while was the only reason to watch the game. Jimmy was fun to watch too, but Placido is more my type of player. As we know Placido was

And then came Utley. Win or lose, you know that Chase Utley is going to give it his all. We always knew he could hit, but his work ethic has truly turned him into a very well rounded player. He'll be my favorite for years to come. Should Aaron Rowand stick around and keep playing the way he does, he could definitely be in the 1(A) slot.

Below is a list of my favorites in chronological order.

• Mike Schmidt
• Lenny Dykstra
• Scott Rolen (Curt Schilling, Honorable Mention)
• Placido Polanco
• Chase Utley