Blue Jays at Phillies: September 20th to September 21st

2000 Topps #186

2022 Chachi 2000 Topps Missing Links #24

Tuesday and Wednesday 6:45
Citizens Bank Park - Philadelphia, PA

At the Ballpark:  These two games are #CollegeSeries theme nights, sponsored by Temple University's Fox School of Business

Blue Jays 83-64
2nd Place in the A.L. East, 5 1/2 games behind the Yankees

Blue Jays Probables
Ross Stripling (8-4, 2.94)
Kevin Gausman (12-10, 3.45)

Blue Jays Leaders
Average:  Alejandro Kirk - .295
Runs:  Bo Bichette - 84
Home Runs:  Vladimir Guerrero - 29
RBIs:  Bo Bichette - 89
Stolen Bases:  George Springer - 13

Wins:  Alex Manoah - 14
ERA:  Alex Manoah - 2.40
Strikeouts:  Kevin Gausman - 186
Saves:  Jordan Romano - 34

Phillies 80-66
3rd Place in the N.L. East, 12 1/2 games behind the Mets 

Phillies Probables
Kyle Gibson (10-6, 4.45)
Zack Wheeler (11-7, 3.07)

Phillies Leaders
Average:  Alec Bohm - .289
Runs:  Kyle Schwarber - 87
Home Runs:  Kyle Schwarber - 39
RBIs:  Kyle Schwarber - 81
Stolen Bases:  J.T. Realmuto - 17

Wins:  Zack Wheeler - 11
ERA:  Aaron Nola - 3.38

Strikeouts:  Aaron Nola - 210
Saves:  Corey Knebel - 12

2022 Virtual Phillies Wall / 2022 Season Summary Index / 2022 Chachi Set Checklist

1999 SkyBox Premium Autographics #42 Robert Person

Diamondbacks 10, Phillies 2
Game 68 - Friday Night, June 17th in Philadelphia
Record - 30-38, 4th place, 13 games behind the Nationals

One Sentence Summary:  The free fall continued as every aspect of the Phillies game looked awful in a 10-2 loss to the Diamondbacks.

What It Means:  As pointed out in this Tweet from Meghan Montemurro, the 17 home runs allowed by Phillies pitchers in their last four games is a franchise record in a four-game span.  The previous record of 16 home runs allowed was set by the 1999 Phillies over two different four-game spans between September 3rd and September 6th, and between September 4th and September 7th.

I put together the little chart below to show those responsible for this damage.

What Happened:  A pair of errors by Cesar Hernandez led to three unearned runs in this game. Adam Morgan departed in the fifth having allowed 10 hits and seven runs, although he did strike out eight.  Cameron Rupp's two run triple in the first was the sole bright spot of this game.

Featured Card:  Despite appearing in 31 games for the 1999 Phillies, I believe this is Robert Person's only Phillies baseball card from that season.

Transaction:  Desperately in need of fresh bullpen arms, Colton Murray was sent down to Lehigh Valley and Severino Gonzalez was recalled to take his place.  Gonzalez had started seven games for the Phillies last season, pitching to a 7.92 ERA.  He's had more success so far this season as a reliever.

Be sure to check out the 2016 Season Summary page with game results and links to game summary posts.

2002 Topps Phillies

2002 Topps #545, #13, #610 and #164

Two weeks in a row for a Topps Phillies post!  My motivation for getting through these difficult years is the knowledge that better years are coming up.

2002 Topps #221 (Back)

The Set

Number of cards in the set:  There are 718 cards in the base set - 364 cards in series one and 354 in series 2.  Card #365 commemorates Barry Bonds' record breaking 73 home runs in 2001, with a different card for each home run.  There are 275 cards in the Traded & Rookies set.  The total tally of 993 cards falls a little short of the prior year's 1,055 cards.  The Traded & Rookies set is especially difficult to track down as Topps (perhaps mistakenly?) short-printed the 110 traded players and managers in the set.  I only recently added this team set to my collection after realizing I'd have to pay more than I was willing in order to cross it off my list.

My very brief thoughts on the set:  For the third time in five years, Topps went with a full gold border.  I don't mind this set, but before digging through my 2002 Topps cards for this post I would have been hard pressed to picture in my mind what the 2002 Topps base cards looked like.  (I can't picture the 2003 Topps cards in my head right now either.)  One of the things I noticed about these cards when scanning them in groups - the gold border on the cards isn't always an exact color match.  Weird.

Notable competition:  Collectors had a ton of different sets from which to choose from in 2002.  Pacific was gone, but Fleer, Playoff and Upper Deck put out dozens of sets.  Collectors had a few more years of this flooded landscape before only Topps remained as the sole baseball card manufacturer.  I definitely miss the other card companies, but I don't miss the hundreds of different sets that used to be released.

2002 Topps #367, #199, #269 and #577

2002 Phillies

Record and finish:  The Phillies took a step back in 2002, finishing a game under .500 (80-81) and in third place behind the Braves.  They never recovered from a poor April, in which they went 9-18.

Key players:  Pat Burrell had a terrific season, hitting .282 with 37 home runs and 116 RBIs.  Bobby Abreu (.308, 20 home runs, 85 RBIs) was solid again, as was Scott Rolen (.259, 17 home runs, 66 RBIs) before he demanded to be traded.  Jimmy Rollins joined Rolen as a starter in the All-Star Game and led the league with 10 triples.  Converted reliever Vicente Padilla led the pitching staff with 14 wins and Randy Wolf enjoyed another nice season, going 11-9 with a 3.20 ERA.  Jose Mesa set a franchise record with 45 saves, but most of us remember his painful 9 blown saves.

Key events:  The biggest event of the season was the ongoing Rolen saga.  After making it clear that he wanted out of Philadelphia, Rolen was traded to the Cardinals on July 29th for Placido Polanco, Mike Timlin and Bud Smith.  Jeremy Giambi joined the team in May and became the first Phillie in history to hit two home runs in his first two at-bats.  Robert Person had a disappointing season on the mound, but on June 2nd he hit two home runs (including a grand slam) while driving in 7.

2002 Phillies in 2002 Topps

Cards needed for a complete team set:  There are 24 Phillies cards in the base set and another 16 in the prospect-heavy Traded and Rookies set.

Who’s in:

• Cards of the eight starting position players - 8 cards

#367 Mike Lieberthal (c), #199 Travis Lee (1b), #269 Marlon Anderson (2b), #164 Jimmy Rollins (ss), #610 Scott Rolen (3b), #545 Pat Burrell (lf), #577 Doug Glanville (cf), #13 Bobby Abreu (rf)

For the first time since 1994, the entire starting line-up received Phillies cards within the base Topps set.

2002 Topps #221, 2002 Topps Traded #T83, 2002 Topps #578 and #394

• Cards of the starting pitching rotation - 5 cards

#221 Randy Wolf, #T83 Vicente Padilla, #578 Brandon Duckworth, #394 Robert Person, #524 Terry Adams

So not only do we have cards of the entire starting line-up, the top five starting pitchers also have cards.  This marks the first year since 1991 that Topps went 13 for 13 in this department.  Nice going, Topps.

• Base cards of players who played with the Phillies in 2002 - 7 cards

#83 Ricky Bottalico, #184 Jose Mesa, #594 Ricky Ledee, #T16 Dan Plesac, #T31 Mike Timlin, #T62 Placido Polanco, #T77 Jeremy Giambi

• Base cards of players who didn't play with the Phillies in 2002 - 2 cards

#155 Omar Daal, #557 Turk Wendell

Daal was traded to the Dodgers in November 2001 and Wendell spent the entire 2002 season on the disabled list.

• Base cards of players appearing on Prospects cards - 13 cards

#311 Marlon Byrd, #675 Taylor Buchholz, #680 Nate Espy, #T122 Mark Outlaw, #T124 Michael Floyd, #T126 Pete Zamora, #T130 Gavin Floyd, #T136 Elio Serrano, #T166 Carlos Cabrera, #T189 Josh Cisneros, #T228 Ezequiel Astacio, #T235 Jorge Padilla, #T259 Travis Chapman

This is where I have a problem with the 2002 Topps Traded & Rookies set.  I mean no offense to any of these minor leaguers, but there was absolutely no reason for the majority of these players to have a Topps baseball card in 2002.  Byrd was the only "Prospect" to actually see time with the Phils in 2002.  Gavin Floyd and Chapman both eventually played briefly with the Phils.

• 2001 Gold Glove Award Winner card - 1 card, #709 Scott Rolen
• Phillies cards in Who Would Have Thought subset - 1 card, #T271 Curt Schilling

This subset was an insert with the 2001 traded series, but Topps decided to include it within the main set in 2002.

• America: United We Stand subset - 1 card, #359 Braves vs. Phillies
• Team card - 1 card, #662
• Manager card - 1 card, #294 Larry Bowa

2002 Topps #184, 2002 Topps Traded #T62 and #T77 and 2002 Topps #524

Who’s out:  The bench got largely ignored, with Tomas Perez (again), Todd Pratt and Jason Michaels deserving of cards.  Rookie Brett Myers (started 11 games) and Joe Roa (started 11 games) would have been good candidates for the traded series.  Pitchers Carlos Silva (68 games), Rheal Cormier (54 games), Jose Santiago (42 games) and David Coggin (38 games) all got ignored by Topps.

Phillies on other teams:  Giambi (#236 with the Athletics) and Polanco (#268 with the Cardinals) are in the first series with their former teams.

What’s he doing here:  Overall, Topps did a great job with player selection for the Phillies with this set.  Daal and Wendell weren't around in 2002, but it makes sense why they'd have Phillies cards.  I'll award this to the 10 minor leaguers appearing on Prospects cards who never actually played with the Phillies.

Cards that never were candidates:  I'm trying to cut down the number of candidates for this set, so I'll go with the six most deserving again - Perez, Pratt, Michaels, Myers, Silva and Cormier.

Favorite Phillies card:  By far the most meaningful Phillies card in the set is featured within the America: United We Stand subset.  I spotlighted the card in a post last week.

2002 Topps Traded #T166

Other Stuff

Recycled:  The 2002 Topps Chrome set used the same design, just with shiny silver borders and the 2002 Topps Opening Day set went with the same basic design, except with silver foil for the nameplates.

Blogs/Websites:  I'm fresh out of ideas here when it comes to the Topps sets from the 2000s.  Unless I'm missing something, there just isn't a good reason for a blog dedicated to the 2002 Topps set.

Did You Know?:  One of the Phillies minor leaguers included within the Prospects subset in the Traded & Rookies set was right-handed pitcher and 1999 free agent signee, Carlos Cabrera.  In June 2003, it was discovered that Cabrera had lied about his age (he was actually almost two years older) and his real name was Alfredo Simon.  The Phils sent him to the Giants in July 2004 as part of the Ricky Ledee/Felix Rodrgiuez deal and he played in the Giants and Orioles systems until making his big league debut with the O's in September 2008.  He's had an eventful past few years after he was arrested in the Dominican Republic as a suspect in a fatal shooting incident.  He was eventually cleared of all charges and bounced back in 2012 to have a great season with the Reds as a late/middle inning reliever.  So if you're trying to track down an Alfredo Simon rookie card - you'll need to start your search with the pitcher formerly known as Carlos Cabrera.

2001 Topps Phillies

2001 Topps #487, #478, 2001 Topps Traded #T66 and 2001 Topps #144

This post has been sitting in my draft folder for the better part of 9 months.  I started the Topps Phillies series of posts in January 2011 with a look at the 1951 Topps Red and Blue Backs sets.  The next 49 posts focusing on the Topps Phillies cards from 1952 to 2000 came together quickly and easily as it was genuinely fun and interesting for me to revisit those years in Phillies history.

And then I hit 2001.  And I fizzled out.

2001 is divided very clearly in my mind into two distinct parts - before 9/11 and after 9/11.  The entire year was fraught with turmoil for me personally, and it's not a year that I'm necessarily keen to revisit at this point.  But for the sake of the ongoing Topps Phillies project, I'll soldier on.

The Set

2001 Topps #487 (Back)

Number of cards in the set:  The set comes in at a whopping 790 cards - 405 from series one and 385 from series two.  There's another 265 cards available in the Traded set, meaning there are a total of 1,055 base cards available - by far the largest tally for a Topps flagship set to this point in time.

My very brief thoughts on the set:  The set uses an all-green border, which works surprisingly well.  There's a little too much foil for my taste, but I can say that for just about every Topps set released from 1995 through the present day.  Topps acknowledges its 50 years in the baseball card racket with a tasteful "Topps 50 Years" gold rectangle logo on the front of each card.  The backs of the cards are nicely done, carrying over the green theme to the back borders and using the front photo as a watermark behind the player's statistics.  Honest to goodness team cards return for the first time since 1981 and manager cards are present for the first time since 1993.

Notable competition:  The scientific term for the amount of baseball cards released in 2001 is crap-ton.  By my very unofficial count, the card manufacturers released 74 different sets as follows - Fleer (16), Pacific in its last year (2), Playoff (11), Topps (23) and Upper Deck (22).  Perhaps the biggest competitor to the Topps flagship set was the Topps Heritage set, which used the design of the classic 1952 Topps set.

2001 Topps #124, #523, #574 and #592

2001 Phillies

Record and finish:  Larry Bowa brought some excitement to the club in his first year as manager, and the Phillies put together a winning season (86-76) for the first time since 1993.  They entered the All-Star break in first place, but they ultimately finished just two games behind the Braves in the N.L. East.  Bowa was named the National League Manager of the Year for his efforts.

Key players:  Right fielder Bobby Abreu contributed his third straight stellar season, leading the club in home runs (31) and RBIs (110) while hitting .289.  He became the first player in club history to have 30 home runs and 30 stolen bases in the same season.  Shortstop Jimmy Rollins, playing in his first full season, made the All-Star team, led the league in triples with 12 and tied for the league lead with 46 stolen bases.  Third baseman Scott Rolen (.289, 25, 107), left fielder Pat Burrell (.258, 27, 89) and first baseman Travis Lee (.258, 20, 90) also enjoyed strong seasons at the plate.  Robert Person (15-7, 4.19) and Omar Daal (13-7, 4.46) led the pitching staff while new closer Jose Mesa notched 42 saves.

Key events:  All-Star catcher Mike Lieberthal missed most of the season after tearing up his right knee in May.  Following the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the Phillies and Braves helped the nation try to return to a sense of normalcy with an emotional game on September 17th.  Topps would commemorate the game with a card within its 2002 set.

2001 Phillies in 2001 Topps

Cards needed for a complete team set:  There are 23 Phillies within series one and two, and another 8 Phillies base cards within the traded set.  The 31 total cards are the most since there were 39 cards in the 1995 Topps base and traded sets.

Who’s in:

• Cards of the eight starting position players - 7 cards

#124 Travis Lee (1b), #523 Marlon Anderson (2b), #T66 Jimmy Rollins (ss), #478 Scott Rolen (3b), #144 Pat Burrell (lf), #574 Doug Glanville (cf), #487 Bobby Abreu (rf)

Only starting catcher Johnny Estrada got left out.  Fleer, Playoff and Upper Deck all managed to include Estrada in a few late season releases, but Topps neglected to include the rookie in their Traded set or any other set.

2001 Topps #676, #236, #131 and 2001 Topps Traded #T24

• Cards of the starting pitching rotation - 3 cards

#676 Robert Person, #236 Omar Daal, #131 Randy Wolf

Dave Coggin (17 starts), Bruce Chen (16 starts) and Amaury Telemaco (14 starts) were left out by Topps.  Coggin and Chen were featured in the other manufactuer's sets.

• Base cards of players who played with the Phillies in 2001 - 10 cards

#172 Kevin Jordan, #194 Rob Ducey, #563 Nelson Figueroa, #592 Mike Lieberthal, #639 Wayne Gomes, #656 Paul Byrd, #T12 Rheal Cormier, #T24 Jose Mesa, #T40 Ricky Bottalico, #T50 Brian L. Hunter

• Base cards of players who didn't play with the Phillies in 2001 - 6 cards

#13 Brian R. Hunter, #182 Mike Jackson, #274 Jeff Brantley, #539 Kevin Sefcik, #T159 Carlos Silva, #T229 Ryan Madson

Jackson, Brantley and Sefcik were with other organizations by the time this set was released.  It seems particularly odd that Sefcik received a card in series two since he signed with the Rockies in early January.  Hunter made it through Spring Training with the Phillies in 2001 before getting released.  Silva made his Phillies debut in 2002 and Madson followed with his debut in 2003.

• Phillies appearing on multi-player Prospects cards - 1 card, #733 Eric Valent
• Phillies appearing on multi-player Draft Picks cards - 1 card, #751 Keith Bucktrot

After what seemed like dozens of appearances on prospect and future stars cards, Valent finally made his debut with the Phils in June 2001.  He'd play in 29 games for the team in 2001 and 2002, hitting .118.  He eventually found some success with the Mets in 2004, hitting .267 in 130 games.  Bucktrot never made it to the Majors, but the player he shares this card with - Reds catching prospect Dane Sardinha - played in 18 games with the Phillies in 2010 and 2011.

• Manager cards - 2 cards, #347 Terry Francona and #T146 Larry Bowa
• Team card - 1 card, #773

2001 Topps Traded #T146, #T40, #T12 and 2001 Topps #199

Who’s out:  The biggest omission is the eventual starting catcher - Estrada.  He hit .228 in 89 games after taking over for the injured Lieberthal.  Tomas Perez was a valuable utility player, hitting .304 mostly as a pinch-hitter and late inning defensive replacement.  As mentioned above, three of the main starting pitchers were left out, as was reliever Jose Santiago, who appeared in 53 games.

Phillies on other teams:  There are quite a few here.  Brian L. Hunter (the actual one) appears with the Reds on card #199 while Ricky Bottalico appears with the Royals on card #283.  Both would have Phillies cards in the traded set.  Or would they?  (See the Did You Know? section below for an explanation.)  Other 2001 Phillies appearing on cards with their former teams are - #23 Todd Pratt (Mets), #156 Dennis Cook (Mets), #168 Turk Wendell (Mets), #309 Matt Walbeck (Angels), #589 Turner Ward (Diamondbacks) and #590 Felipe Crespo (Giants).

2001 Topps #773

What’s he doing here:  For the second year in a row, both Jackson and Bucktrot share the honors.  Jackson missed the entire 2000 season due to injury, was granted free agency immediately following the season, and signed with the Astros.

Cards that never were candidates:  I'll go with just six, although the number could easily reach a dozen - Estrada, Perez, Coggin, Chen, Telemaco and Santiago.

Favorite Phillies card:  The photography used for the cards continued to improve, but there really aren't any Phillies cards that stand out from the others.  I'll pick Rollins' card as my favorite as it was his first base Topps card.

Other Stuff

Recycled:  The Topps Opening Day set from 2001 uses the same design and photos, but with a navy blue border instead of green.  Maybe it's just because I'm used to the green borders by now, but the navy blue borders look odd.

Blogs/Websites:  Topps produced a novel insert set in 2001 called Through the Years, featuring reprints of key cards from its 50 year run.  It was a cool idea back then, but Topps has sort of run the idea into the ground with seemingly a new reprint set every year since then.  bdj610's Topps Baseball Card Blog ran a post several years ago featuring a gallery of the 50 cards included in the original Through the Years insert set.

Did You Know?:  Brian L. Hunter appears in the 2001 Topps Traded set as a Phillie in name only.  I wrote a couple of posts a few years ago explaining this conundrum and celebrating the fact that at least Brian L. Hunter received a team-issued Phillies card for his efforts.

2002 Phillies - Ten Years Gone

2002 Fleer Focus Jersey Edition #45, 2002 Topps #557,
2002 Topps Chrome #394 and 2002 Topps Ten #171

This time of year usually means there's a whirlwind of activity in my house.  The halls have been decked, Christmas lists have been submitted to Santa and (most of) the shopping is done.  Cookies have been baked, some have been sampled, and the Christmas ham is in the fridge ready to go.  The stockings are hung, the kids are bouncing off the walls and I'm counting down the hours until I can officially check out of work for the year.  And finally, as has now become a holiday tradition, the annual package of Phillies baseball card cast-offs has arrived from Section 36.  What a joyous time of year!

Each year, Ron from Section 36 begins the process of making room for the new year's baseball cards poised to arrive at some point in the coming months.  He keeps his unwanted baseball card doubles for exactly a decade and then they're shuffled off to fellow collectors willing to make room at the inn for them.   I've been the recipient of past packages containing Ron's 2000 and 2001 Phillies cast-offs, and this year I was thrilled to receive a package of 2002 Phillies cards.

I'll admit that I've been looking forward to this year's package as Ron makes room for his 2012 baseball cards.  2002 was the darkest of the dark years for me, and I didn't spend much time collecting.  What 2002 cards I have were acquired on a few eBay team set binges in the mid-2000's as I attempted to remedy the gaping hole in my Phillies collection from 2002 through 2005.  The cards featured in this post were all cards recently deleted from my 2002 Phillies Wantlist, and I'm happy to add them to my 2002 Phillies binder.

Thanks again Ron!  Only 365 more shopping days until the 2003 Phillies package arrives!

2001: Already 10 Years Ago?

2001 Upper Deck Black Diamond #80
2001 Ultra Tomorrow's Legends #14
2001 Fleer Premium #105

With the World Series of Blah over, and the official start of the off-season upon us, it's time to shake off the cobwebs and overcome the bit of blog writer's block I've been suffering through recently.  (Is it writer's block if you just don't have anything interesting to write about?  Isn't that writer's apathy?  I guess I could have done a few posts during the World Series featuring past Phillies' baseball cards of Cliff Lee, Pat Burrell, Aaron Rowand or Mike Maddux, the Rangers' pitching coach, but I couldn't get myself motivated enough to scan in any of their cards.  But I digress.)

2001 Ultra #68

I recently received in the mail a nice surprise package of various Phillies baseball cards, mostly from the year 2001.  It was a pleasant pick-me-up, and I sincerely appreciated the gesture.  As he does every year at this time, Ron from Section 36 cleans out his baseball cards from ten years ago in order to make room for the upcoming new releases.  (Last December, I received a nice stack of Phillies baseball cards from 2000.)  Does it seem strange to anyone else that the year 2001 was already ten years ago?

The 2001 Phillies finished second in the NL East during Larry Bowa's triumphant return to the city where he enjoyed the finest years of his playing career.  By all accounts, it was a successful campaign as the Phils spent the entire season in either first or second place.  After almost a decade of suffering through mediocre, sub-.500 teams, it seemed as if we were finally turning the corner.  Of course, it was a long corner to turn, and the team wouldn't break through into the Postseason until 2007. 

2001 Topps #523 (No Gold)

Burrell, Bobby Abreu, and Scott Rolen led the offense, while the pitching staff was anchored (?) by Robert Person, Randy Wolf and Omar Daal.  Section 36's package contained a fair share of Burrell, Mike Lieberthal and Doug Glanville cards.

One of the cooler cards in the package was this 2001 Topps Marlon Anderson card.  This card was produced on a day when the conveyor belts at the Topps factory must have gone screwy, as the gold foil with Anderson's name and the "Topps 50 Years" logo is stamped not on the front, but on the back of the card.

2001 Upper Deck Vintage #302

Looking through this stack of 2001 baseball cards, I was struck by the variety and uniqueness of each of the sets.  I was also struck by this surprising thought - I miss Fleer and Upper Deck.  Topps has just gotten too predictable with its releases and it was always nice to have a bunch of different flavors to choose from, like Fleer Ultra or Upper Deck Black Diamond.

Finally, Ron included a quick note in the package, written on the back of what used to be a full score card.  The score card was from a Phillies-Red Sox game in which Nomar Garciaparra hit his 100th career home run, as noted by Ron in the "Game Notes" section.  With the help of Baseball Reference, I determined the partial scorecard was from June 3, 2000, when Nomar connected for his 100th career home run off Wolf in the 6th inning.  The Phillies would eventually win the game, 9-3, led by Lieberthal's two home runs and five RBIs.

Goodbye 2000's

2000 Upper Deck #461 Robert Person

2000 Upper Deck #462 Paul Byrd

In a few short weeks, we'll bid adieu to the decade of the 2000s (the aught's?) and enter the '10s. It's hard for me to grasp that 10 years have passed since the year 2000. For both me personally and the Phillies, the decade started out rough but it will end with happiness and hope.

I recently received a package from the proprietor of Section 36, one of the best places to visit if you're a Sox fan, a baseball fan, or if you just generally despise the Yankees. Section 36 was cleaning out his 2000 baseball cards to make room for the 2010s, and he was kind enough to send along an assortment of Phillies cards from the beginning of the decade.

Looking through the cards reminded me just how far the Phils have come since the lean Terry Francona years. In 2000, Tito was in his final year of service with the club, piloting them to a last-place finish with a 65-97 record. He ran out a woeful line-up littered with the likes of Desi Relaford and Ron Gant and Alex Arias. Bobby Abreu, Scott Rolen and Doug Glanville provided a few highlights here and there, but the team just wasn't very good. Featured here are two guys who, in my mind, epitomize the Phillies' struggles of the early 2000s. Both Robert Person and Paul Byrd at some point early this decade served as the team's "ace." We've come a long way.