Phillies: Five worst teams over the last 50 seasons

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PHILADELPHIA, : Houston Astros Bill Spiers (L) slides into Philadelphia Phillies catcher Tom Prince (R) at home plate on a Jeff Bagwell fly ball, 12 August 2000, in Philadelphia. Home plate umpire Greg Gibson called Spires out on the play. The Phillies won 3-2. AFP PHOTO/Tom MIHALEK (Photo credit should read TOM MIHALEK/AFP/Getty Images) /

2 – 2000 (65 – 97, 30 games behind)

Although Terry Francona had a great deal of managerial success with the Red Sox and Indians after his time in Philadelphia, it was not the case with the Phillies. After a 68-win season in 1997 under Francona, the Phillies improved to 77 wins by 1999 and hoped to see the positive side of the .500 mark in 2000.

The Phillies dropped their first three and four of their first five to start the season. After a 7-17 April, the Phillies were already 11 games out in the division. By the end of May, the team was in a 17-game hole in the NL East.

Philadelphia Phillies manager Terry Francona (far R) paces in the Phillies dugout before his final game managing the Phillies against the Florida Marlins 01 October 2000 at Pro Player Stadium in Miami, Florida. Philadelphia General Manager Ed Wade informed Francona that he would be relieved of his duties following the game. He also informed coaches Chuck Cottier, Galen Cisco, Hal McRae and Brad Mills their contracts will not be renewed for the 2001 season. AFP PHOTO/RHONA WISE (Photo by RHONA WISE / AFP) (Photo credit should read RHONA WISE/AFP/Getty Images) /

June saw the Phillies have their first and only winning month of the season, going 15-11. A five-game winning streak in July and the Phillies put together a respectable 28-25 record during the middle months of the season. However, the Phillies went just 19-39 the rest of the way, including an eight-game losing streak, the longest of the season.

Offensively, the Phils were last in the NL in runs scored and home runs, and next to last in batting average. The Phillies had a couple legitimate offensive threats in Scott Rolen (26 home runs, 89 RBI, .298 average) and Bobby Abreu (25 home runs, 79 RBI, .316 average). Ron Gant added 20 home runs with just 38 RBI and 23-year old Pat Burrell showed promise with 18 home runs.

On the mound, the club had a 4.77 ERA, 11th in the NL. Randy Wolf had the most wins on the staff with 11, but struggled to a 4.36 ERA. No starter besides Wolf appeared in over 30 games and 12 different pitchers made at least one start. The bullpen was the real issue, starting with closer Jeff Brantley. He saved 23 but had a very high ERA of 5.86. Of the top eight relievers in terms of innings, none had an ERA below four.