Unfortunately, the head coach of the Philadelphia Phillies decided to terminate his contract due to…

Unfortunately, the head coach of the Philadelphia Phillies decided to terminate his contract due to…

PHILADELPHIA: The Phillies of 2022 finished 14 games out of first place, got hot in the bloated playoffs, then went back to their level and famously floundered before pledging to come back and try it all again.

The Phillies of 2023 finished the regular season 14 games behind the leaders, got a little hotter in the bloated postseason, then fell back to earth and had a famous collapse.

To kind of quote that old football coach, “cut through all the lies about the fans—fair weather frauds, too many of them—and the ballpark noise and dubious choice of a theme song, and the Phillies were what everyone knew they were in 2023.” Regardless of their willingness, they didn’t work. They also lacked a manager who could have helped with the repair quickly.

They were streaky, prone to strikeouts, and designed to counter illegal defensive shifts. They had slow-afoot double-play carriers in their everyday lineup, which was unclean in an era when pitchers had fewer chances to keep runners close to the plate and bigger bases. Their defense was adequate, if not spectacular.

Rich from John Middleton’s mad money, Dave Dombrowski tries every year to fill in the gaps in a bullpen by trying players like Sam Coonrod and Archie Bradley here, Corey Knebel and Brad Hand there, Yunior Marte, and, surprise!, Craig Kimbrel here, there, and everywhere. That would work if there had to be a manuscript for wild-card contention. However, the ruling party virtually went all out last week with its self-congratulations on Josh Harris’s “huge success.”

“We have a good team when you start looking through the haze,” Dombrowski remarked.

That’s the issue in that area. Too many people are either ignoring the haze or actively contributing to it with their habitual post-game clubhouse smoke show after each regular-season victory.

There was no immediate call for managerial change, even though Dombrowski was willing to let Rob Thomson start the season on the final year of his intriguing two-year contract, suggesting the props department keep a Wawa bag on hand in case of the yearly slow start. The suggestion that Johan Rojas will start the upcoming season of the show in the Children being taught how to…