Monday, February 14, 2011
Posted: 8:01 p.m.
By Jim Salisbury
CSNPhilly.com
CLEARWATER, Fla.There was a time when it would have been difficult to envision four of the best pitchers in baseball sitting in the same room wearing Phillies uniforms.
Not anymore.
The Phils are an elite franchise with a big payroll, a packed ballpark, and four straight National League East championships to prove it.
And if you needed more evidence of how far the Phillies have come, it was right there for all to see Monday afternoon.
Cliff Lee sat at a dais flanked by Roy Halladay, Roy Oswalt, Cole Hamels and Joe Blanton. A horde of reporters packed the room. One asked Halladay if he had to pinch himself being surrounded by so much talent. He smiled and said, Yeah, definitely.
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So there you have it. The collection of talent that the Phillies have assembled left even a two-time Cy Young winner and perfect game maestro feeling a little awed.
A crowd of about 70 reporters showed up for Mondays news conference with the five members of the Phillies starting pitching rotation. Because of the demand and interest in this potentially historic rotation, team officials decided a mass news conference on the first day of workouts for pitchers and catchers might be best.
And who could blame them for showing off just a bit?
A snapshot like this -- with Halladay, Lee, Oswalt, Hamels and Blanton -- would have been difficult to imagine back in the not-so-distant past, when the team was trotting out the likes of Calvin Maduro as its No. 2 starter. But as Hamels said, Philadelphia is a great baseball town.
Now it is.
So great that Halladay engineered a trade to the Phils last winter. So great that Oswalt waived his no-trade clause to join the Phils last summer. So great that Lee turned down more money from the Yankees to sign a five-year, 120 million deal with the Phils in December.
Phillies fans have heard the reasons for Lees choosing their team. It was probably fun to hear them again in Mondays televised news conference.
It was really about what team gave me the best chance to win World Championships over the life of the contract, he said. I think this is it.
I felt like this is the team that's going to give me the best chance to win a ring, and hopefully multiple rings. Thats what the decision was based on.
They hype surrounding this rotation has been off-the-charts, and rightfully so. Between them, Halladay, Lee, Oswalt and Hamels own 10 top five finishes in Cy Young voting, three Cy Young Awards, 13 all-star selections, six 20-wins seasons, three postseason MVP awards and a 20-8 postseason record.
This Phillies staff could be one of the best ever, right there with Orioles staffs of the early 1970s and the Braves staffs of the 1990s. This fact is not lost on Lee. But, he cautioned, its February and history wont have its say until October. Thats when legacies are made.
I think we haven't thrown a single pitch as a group yet, Lee said. So it's kind of early to say we're one of the best rotations in the history of the game. Obviously, we're a very talented group, and there is potential for all of that. But it's just that -- potential.
As nice as would be to become a historic rotation, that is not what drives this group of pitchers.
Hamels and Blanton won World Series rings in 2008. Halladay, Oswalt and Lee want one, too.
A big part of it for me is not having the best pitching staff in history, but having the best chance to get to the postseason and the best chance to win a World Series, Halladay said.
Thats the ultimate goal, Lee said. We want a ring. But first youve got to get to the postseason. You cant put the cart before the horse.
Lees circumspect outlook was shared by manager Charlie Manuel, who kicked off spring training by saying, We have a chance to have a special club, but added that winning is not easy and it takes constant focus and attention on the daily grind, not the potential prize at the end of the season.
Our goal is to win the World Series, but we have to stay in the moment, Manuel said.
The skipper added that the Phils will have a target on their backs, that teams will be gunning for them. Thats what happens when you assemble a pitching staff like this. Four aces and pretty good fifth in Blanton.
Of course, it remains to be seen how long Blanton will be here. He could be traded at some point in the season, or he could be here for the long haul.
All I'm worried about is going out and trying to win another World Series with Philadelphia, Blanton said. I can't worry about the other part. That is the business part. That is what the people upstairs are for, and they handle that. I love it here. I hope I stay here.
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E-mail Jim Salisbury at jsalisbury@comcastsportsnet.com