My question:

What, in your opinion, needs to happen for ownership to finally step up and get the pitching? What will trigger them to get up off their asses and try to win a championship?

(”Flying monkeys oughtta my butt,” “The apocalypse,” “Hell freezes over,” and similar answers won’t be accepted.)

My answer: I don’t think we need a big lead. I think two things need to happen: 1.) we need to be right there in it — not necessarily with a lead — come mid July; 2.) Gillick has to make an impassioned plea to ownership that this could be, not just “the year,” but the first of many years.

No. 1 will definitely happen. No. 2 is unlikely, because Pat is a lame duck who, let’s face it, isn’t going to give much of a sh*t about this team the day his last paycheck clears.

but for this year, its all up to the phillies. the NL pennant is theirs for the taking as long as they go out and add the necesary pieces to the puzzle along the way here. Once you get to the last round anything can happen if you have the pieces in place. The Phillies need to buckle down and really play hard in May and June to try and grab a lead and open up some space on the division so that when, and im saying when, the ownership buckles and asks gillick to get the pitchers they need to win at the deadline, theyll be primed to explode and blow the division away and steamroll through the playoffs. the key time is now. they need to start playing much better because the NL is up for grabs every year and theres no reason why they shouldnt be the ones to step up and grab it.