Phillies Diary: Ben Rivera 1993

Before they imploded the Vet, the Phillies staff were giving away a big box of things left by the players who were too busy or ashamed to come and clean out their lockers.... I was fortunate enough to get my hands on some diaries... and lucky for you, I will share them with you from time to time...

October 13, 1993

Dear Diary it's me Big Ben,

We just beat the Braves to go to the World Series!!!

I can't believe what's happening here. Our team has capitalized on our amazing April record and held on to make it to the playoffs. That's great news. It's the first time the Phillies have made the playoffs in 10 years. That's a long time.

And winning the NLCS was no picnic... but we showed the Braves who was boss. I think there run of making the playoffs 3 years in a row now is over.... no way they can reload again.... Pendleton, McGriff, Blauser, Lemke... they're all over the hill... and those pitchers they have, Glavine, Smoltz and Maddux...they're overrated... i was on their team at the beginning of last year....they'll be out of baseball in a few years.

Let's face it... it's the Phillies time to reign!!!

What's better is that even if we don't win this year... I have confidence we can be there again shortly... we have a pretty good hitting SS in Kevin Stocker... his move from AA Reading has been seamless. Mickey Morandini seems to have entrenched himself as an All-Star second baseman. That could be a good Double play combination for the next few years.

And don't even get me started with Kim Batiste... talk about a clutch hitter. Did you see that hit in Game 1 to beat the Braves? Amazing... we're grooming him to be the best pinch hitter in the game.

Our outfield has Wes Chaimberlain... who is still kind of young at 27 years old, man he has a gun and he has glimpses of power and when Eisenreich decides to retire, he'll fill his shoes nicely. Tony Longmire is primed to be a super-star and I think Pete Incaviglia appears to be back to his old form... we can expect 35 homers from him next year, no problem.

And Lenny Dykstra.. what can I say about Lenny Dykstra. The man is a machine. He takes such good care of his body. Have you see that animal in the weight room? Actually, I've never seen him in the weight room... he must have a gym at home... anyway... he takes such good care of himself, He'll play until he's 40. He led the league in walks, hits and runs....And that's nice to have at the top of the order.

Ricky Jordan will have a long career as a pinch hitter, and he's good insurance behind John Kruk, and he too will be weened to take over the starting job soon.

And though our pitching staff is kind of old with Mulholland and Jackson.... me and Schilling and Tommy Greene should hold down the fort for a few years. I won 13 games this year. There's a lot to be said about that... never mind my 5.02 ERA, this team will always put up runs to support me.

I here we have a pretty good 3rd base prospect playing down in Rookie Ball with Martinsville. The organization is really high on him, has a glove like Schmidt.... his name is Scott something... he probably won't pan out... but we won't need him. Dave Hollins will do just fine. His 24 homers this year, are just the beginning of what this guy can do... his intensity alone is responsible for 4 homeruns a year.

We're going to win the series this year and be in contention for the next few years, at least to win another. And I'm confident our farm team will continue to produce superstars like Ruben Amaro Jr. and Kevin Stocker...

Mitch Williams is looking better than ever he had 2 saves and 2 wins in the NLCS...Can't wait to beat the Blue Jays!

signed,

Big Ben Rivera