Phillies visit Kansas City for just second time since the 1980 World Series

Embed from Getty Images

Phillies visit Kansas City for second time since the 1980 World Series

On the surface, this mid-May series in Kansas City between the Philadelphia Phillies (21-15) and the host Kansas City Royals (13-25) at Kauffman Stadium might not seem very interesting.

However, when you consider the situations of the two combatants and the Phillies upcoming schedule, the importance of winning – better yet, sweeping – this series should become more apparent to all Phillies fans.

First, those situations. You can tell just by looking at the win-loss records of the two squads that they are in far different places this year. The Phillies lead the National League East Division standings by four games, five in the loss columng.

Meanwhile, the Royals are in the basement of the AL Central Division. They already sit 11.5 games in back of the first-place Minnesota Twins, 13 out in that loss column. In fact, they are buried in the cellar at the current time, a full five back in the loss column from the fourth place team in their division.

These are the teams that the Phillies must beat up on if they are going to really pull away in their own divisional race. Also, after this weekend the club returns home for the next nine games. That would usually be a good thing, and it probably is in the scheme of things. But they return home to face some tough competition at the start of a scheduling crucible.

Of the Phillies next 23 games, 20 are against teams who currently have a winning record. And the three against a losing team come next weekend at home against the Colorado Rockies, who are just below the .500 mark and are always dangerous.

The Phillies will return home to a four-game series with the Milwaukee Brewers (23-16) followed by three with the Rockies. Then they go on the road to the Windy City and four with the red-hot Chicago Cubs (22-13) and on to Milwaukee for three more with the Brew Crew. A quick stop home for a three-game series with the Saint Louis Cardinals (22-16) is then followed by a trip out west to face the Los Angeles Dodgers (25-15) and San Diego Padres (21-17).

That, my friends, is what is called a “test” in the sports world. It is the kind of stretch that tells you whether or not you are a legitimate contending team or not. It is a gauntlet that can either make a team, bringing it closer together, elevating it to new heights, or expose it as either a flawed club or an outright fraud.

Philadelphia Phillies Top 25 Players of All-Time: #12 - Billy Hamilton

"Slidin' Billy" Hamilton was described by David Fleitz in his excellent SABR biography on Hamilton as "the greatest base stealer and most prolific run scorer of 19th century baseball".

But as with a handful of others on this countdown: Roy Thomas (24), Gavvy Cravath (23), Cy Williams (21), and Sam Thompson (17), his contributions to the Philadelphia Phillies have been lost to time for most contemporary fans.

Hamilton was born in 1866 to Scottish immigrants in Newark, New Jersey. The family moved to Massachusetts when he was four years old, and that was where Hamilton was raised, learning to play baseball as a boy.

He became a top player in the semipro leagues around his new hometown of Clinton, especially known for his speed game. 

As a 21-year-old in 1887, Hamilton made his professional debut. Less than a year later that speed was his ticket to the big leagues, where he would debut with the American Association's Kansas City Cowboys.

In his first full season in 1889, Hamilton led the American Association with 111 stolen bases. It would be the first of three consecutive seasons and four total over his career in which he would steal more than 100 bases.

At the end of that 1889 campaign, Kansas City folded under the weight of financial problems. Hamilton's contract was sold in January of 1890 to the Philadelphia Phillies organization of the National League.

2014 Best of MLB Awards

Trout, Kershaw are AL and NL POY respectively

It's that time of year again, awards season in Major League Baseball. And this site will be no exception.

This year for the first time, with the renewed emphasis on baseball, I am announcing the first-ever "Best of MLB" awards honorees.

In all, honorees are being named for both the National League and the American League in each of 9 categories, one for each inning in a ballgame: Player of the Year, Starting Pitcher, Relief Pitcher, Offensive Player, Defensive Player, Rookie, Comeback Player, Breakout Player, and Manager.

For the most part, these awards were not subjective. I went to FanGraphs, looked up overall regular season WAR values, and gave the awards to the highest players in their categories. In 2-3 other categories, I weighted those numbers heavily in deciding the honorees. Remember, the honors are based on the regular season.

If you follow baseball, you already know these players and are well aware of the excellence of each of their 2014 season performances. So not much extra commentary is needed. But I did want to make just a few comments on some of the honors.

First, my selection of Cincinnati Reds outfielder Billy Hamilton as the top National League Rookie over New York Mets pitcher Jake deGrom. These were clearly the two most impactful rookies in the league this season. I chose Hamilton, who had a higher WAR value, feeling that his everyday impact as a centerfielder was greater than deGrom's weekly impact as a starting pitcher.

For the American League Starting Pitcher honors, Cleveland's Corey Kluber beat out a strong field that included 'King' Felix Hernandez, David Price, Phil Hughes, and Jon Lester. Kluber was the #2 player in all of baseball in individual WAR, while the others rated 11-14 respectively. All tremendous, but one clearly above the rest.

Corey Kluber, AL's top starting pitcher

At the A.L. Reliever spot, what a horse race. The honor went to Yankees RP Dellin Betances in a very close race with the Royals excellent setup man Wade Davis. While Davis rightfully received a lot of publicity due to KC's postseason run, Betances was every bit as dominant in the regular season, and simply finished with a higher WAR value.

Also, I wanted to single out the Breakout Player winners. What a season for both Michael Brantley and Anthony Rendon, 5th and 6th in all of baseball in overall WAR numbers. The 27-year old Brantley has been one of those "good not great" contributing types, and elevated his game. The 24-year old Rendon stayed healthy in his first true full season and served notice that he should be one of the game's best into the future.

On defense, Boston's Jackie Bradley Jr was the best defensive outfielder in the game this season, and that includes Lorenzo Cain. Only two facts: his poor offense, and that his poor offense kept him from playing every day, all year long with the Red Sox, kept him from what should have been an easy Gold Glove win. If you don't know, watch him closely. He's the kind of player who, with the right offense around him, impacts a game enough defensively to overcome the offensive shortcomings. He should be starting somewhere every day.

Finally, the NL Manager of the Year. Keep in mind, this was a regular season honor, so Bruce Bochy's great postseason run to a 3rd World Series did not factor. But the job that 'Donny Baseball' did in winning the NL West in LA with a frequently dysfunctional core under tremendous pressure to win got him the nod.

Don Mattingly skippered Dodgers to NL West crown

Without further ado, here are the 2014 'Best of MLB' awards honorees:

PLAYER OF THE YEAR
NL - Clayton Kershaw, SP, LA Dodgers
AL - Mike Trout, OF, LA Angels

OFFENSIVE PLAYER
NL - Andrew McCutchen, Pittsburgh
AL - Mike Trout, Los Angeles

STARTING PITCHER
NL - Clayton Kershaw, Los Angeles
AL - Corey Kluber, Cleveland

RELIEF PITCHER
NL - Aroldis Chapman, Cincinnati
AL - Dellin Betances, New York

DEFENSIVE PLAYER
NL - Andrelton Simmons, SS, Atlanta
AL - Jackie Bradley Jr, CF, Boston

COMEBACK PLAYER
NL - Johnny Cueto, SP, Cincinnati
AL - Chris Young, SP, Seattle

BREAKOUT PLAYER
NL - Anthony Rendon, 2B/3B, Washington
AL - Michael Brantley, OF, Cleveland

ROOKIE OF THE YEAR
NL - Billy Hamilton, CF, Cincinnati
AL - Jose Abreu, 1B, Chicago

MANAGER
NL - Don Mattingly, Los Angeles
AL - Buck Showalter, Baltimore