In 2015 the Philadelphia Phillies were the worst team in Major League Baseball, finishing at the bottom of not just the NL East or the National League, but all of MLB with a 63-99 record.
That finish was the worst for the organization in 43 years. It came on the heels of back-to-back 73-89 seasons.
So entering the 2016 campaign the Phillies were mired in their worst stretch of poor play since the late-1990’s teams suffered through seven straight losing finishes.
Hopes were not high for this current team. Most prognosticators had them finishing in last place once again. The most optimistic believing that they could finish in fourth place, ahead of the similarly rebuilding Atlanta Braves.
You could count me among those optimists. In fact, in my own preseason prediction, I had the Phillies finishing in 3rd place with a record of 75-87, ahead of both Atlanta and the Miami Marlins in the division, a full dozen games better than a year ago.
The Fightin’ Phils headed out on their final road trip of the season a week ago with a record of 69-83, and my prediction was still well within their grasp.
They needed to finish 6-4 over the final 10 games to make it happen.
