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Early Playoff Exit Spoils Phillies' Season

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The Associated Press

Published: October 8, 2007

PHILADELPHIA - The Phillies put so much into just making the playoffs, they couldn't do anything once they got there.

The Rockies spoiled Philly's postseason party with a three-game sweep, leaving players to ponder their failures over a long winter.

'Having this feeling we're having right now, hopefully that can be a little bit of a motivating factor for next year,' slugger Ryan Howard said.

Few expected the Phillies to get this far, especially after another poor April put the team in an early hole and injuries started piling up.

But, the Fightin' Phils lived up to their moniker by rallying to capture their first NL East championship since 1993 on the final day of the season. It took an historic collapse by the New York Mets - they became the first team in major league history to blow a seven-game lead with 17 remaining - for the Phillies to finish one game ahead in the standings.

Then they celebrated their first playoff appearance in 14 years like they'd won it all. A wild party on the field at Citizens Bank Park on Sept. 30 was followed by a downtown pep rally the next day.

It was downhill from there, mainly because a potent lineup was awful against the Rockies' inexperienced-but-talented pitching staff. The league's highest-scoring team got eight runs in three games against Colorado and hit .172 with 26 strikeouts.

'Whether we were trying too hard or not, I guess that's a question to think about in the offseason,' All-Star second baseman Chase Utley said. 'I'm extremely proud of this team. This team had the most heart and desire to win than any team I've ever been on.'

Piniella's First Year Ends With Sour Taste

CHICAGO - For most of their first season under Manager Lou Piniella, the Cubs reveled in the home atmosphere of Wrigley Field, where fans came in record numbers to join the party.

The fun run ended Saturday night. Instead, the old neighborhood ballpark was filled with loud boos, especially for Aramis Ramirez and Alfonso Soriano, as the Cubs were swept out of the first round of the NL playoffs by the Diamondbacks.

Even though the Cubs went from worst-to-first by winning the NL Central, it still wasn't good enough. The drought without a World Series title now stretches to 99 years and counting.

'Right now, you're going to view it as a disappointment. There's no other way to view it,' said second baseman Mark DeRosa, one of the major acquisitions in a $300 million spending spree last offseason.

When the Cubs reconvene in Mesa, Ariz., in February, the team likely will be under new ownership. The Tribune Co., which has owned the team since 1981, is expected to complete a sale during the offseason. The futures of President John McDonough and General Manager Jim Hendry are uncertain.

The Cubs' bats simply went flat in the opening series of the postseason. Team RBIs leader Ramirez was 0-for-12 and Soriano, who had 14 homers in September, went 2-for-14.

The Cubs didn't get an RBI from Ramirez, Soriano or Derrek Lee. Chicago scored six runs in the three games, was 2-for-23 with runners in scoring position and hit into four double plays in Game 3.

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