Phillies Nation

Wacky Wonderful Wildcard

Posted by Brian Michael, Tue, August 15, 2006 02:30 PM

With the Phililes a meager 3 1/2 games back in the wildcard standings fans from all over Phillies Nation are chopping at the bit on returning to the playoff  since 1993. Though 3 1/2 games seems like a meager amount to gain on the Wild Card leading Reds, the journey isn’t going to be a smooth ride.

Despite the 3 1/2 games, the Phillies are separated by four teams which they do not play for the remainder of the season. Their best opportunity to grab hold of the Wild Card came this weekend where they dropped two of three from the Reds. With an uphill battle to climb the Phillies are going too need some prayer, luck and to play great baseball from here on out to have a chance to win.

During this time there are four N.L. West teams attempting to lock up both the Division Title and a Wild Card berth. Four teams are separated by 4 1/2 games or less with 3 teams ahead of the Phillies in the Wild Card standings. If the Phils hope to gain any ground in the Wild Card they must hope that one team emerges from the West and starts to break away from the pack to take the Division.

Meanwhile, The Reds and Cardinals are apart by 1 1/2 games going into tonight’s series where they play each other in St. Louis. Phillies fans should be praying for a Cardinals sweep and Phillies W’s against the Mets for the next three days. The last thing that we need is another N.L. West scenario  to have yet another team, The Cardinals, get into the mix of Wild Card/Division leaders.

Looking forward to the remainder of the season the Fightin’ Phils have 45 games remaining on their schedule, playing a bulk of them on the road. Following the Mets series Thursday, the Nationals come to town for a weekend set at the Ballpark. Then the fun begins.

Our team embarks on a 10 game road trip to round out the end of August making stops in Chicago, New York and Washington , D.C. The Phillies need to come out of this road trip with a winning record. It is going to be hard to gain games in the Wild Card race while the N.L. West is beating up on each other. That’s why we stress that the Dodgers need to destroy that division for us since we can’t do it ourselves. Also, the Padres and Reds will lock up six times before the season ends making the Phillies even more in a bind to gain ground against both teams.

The Battle for the Wild Card is not in the Phillies favor. They need to go above and beyond their ability and find the strength somewhere inside themselves to beat the odds that are up against them. If not, we will be stuck saying "Maybe next year" or start and irrelevent Eagles Chant just because we can.

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