A Phillies Odyssey: Exploring the Forgotten Players of Fightins Yesteryear

I called my best friend. Whenever there was a huge signing or a big trade, I called BK. BK and I agreed on everything. We were also wrong about everything.

“Coffey is gonna put the Fly Guys over the top, buddy!”

“We’re gonna pour coffee in that Cup!”

“Tartabull should hit 30 in the National League!”

“At least! Maybe 35 if teams don’t pitch around him.”

“I see a lot of Byron Evans in this Barry Gardner, Dave.”

“I’m surprised he slipped to the second round to be honest.”

Whatever reservations I had about trading Curt Schilling were washed away after a five-minute phone call. BK and I ran through each of the players in the D-Backs return one by one.

“Daal won 16 games last year. That’s nothing to sneeze at.”

“Yep, just been unlucky this season. I’ve also heard a lot of good things about this Figueroa kid.”

“Definitely. I’ve heard he’s a control pitcher. He trusts the defense behind him. That keeps his teammates engaged.”

“That’s a great point. Also, Travis Lee may be the best defensive first baseman in the league.”

“A real cool customer, I heard. A slick fielder. And if that bat gets going …”

“And people love this Padilla guy’s stuff.”

“‘Electric’ is the word I’ve heard.”

BK and I threw around ‘people say’ or ‘I’ve heard, ‘ as if we had any sources of any kind. I didn’t have any sources. BK was my source. We were 15, 16 years old discussing prospects on our parents’ landline. We didn’t read anything online. In the summer of 2000, the extent of the internet was AOL chatrooms and Cindy Margolis pictures. We didn’t have regular check-ins with scouts. We didn’t go to school with a kid whose neighbor’s uncle was Mike Arbuckle. I don’t know where we pulled these scouting reports from, but it took just a few minutes to talk ourselves into this massive haul for our star pitcher without the slightest hint of irony. What’s better than one ace, we reasoned? Three aces and Travis Lee.

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A Phillies Odyssey is a collection of essays on forgotten Fightins through the eyes of a fan. From Sil Campusano’s timely hit to Wilson Valdez’ 19th inning heroics and everything in between, A Phillies Odyssey serves as a reminder that, no, you’re not the only one who thought Ricky Otero and Tony Longmire were the next big thing.