Philadelphia Phillies: 3 good things that happened in 2020
2. Dave Dombrowski hire
Although Dave Dombrowski was hired well after the 2020 season, his addition nonetheless came during the 2020 calendar year. In becoming the organization’s first-ever president of baseball operations, there is plenty of reason for optimism that the two-time World Series champion front office executive will bring much-needed change to the franchise, which has not seen postseason action in nearly a decade.
During his introductory press conference, Dombrowski said that he considers the current state of the Phillies as being in a “retool” rather than a “rebuild.”
“I think there are too many good players on the club,” he said. The way I’ve looked at it, we have a star player in right field in Bryce [Harper] and some other good players around him. But, any time you have three good starting pitchers as we have at the top of the rotation, you’re in pretty good shape to be competitive.”
While Dombrowski said there are other things that need to be done, having Aaron Nola, Zack Wheeler, and Zach Eflin at the top of their starting rotation is a good place to start. And, earlier this week, Dombrowski completed his first trade at the helm of the organization, acquiring left-handed reliever Jose Alvarado from the Tampa Bay Rays. This will surely be the first of many in his “retooling” of the big-league roster.
Dombrowski likely will not turn the Phillies around from a National League East division bottom-dweller to a championship contender in one offseason — especially with limited funds to spend amid the COVID-19 crisis — but fans would have to assume the franchise is in better hands, now under his leadership and expertise.
1. Phandemic Krew
The Phandemic Krew, spearheaded by South Jersey’s Oscar Alvarado, of Audubon, and Brett MacMinn, of Haddon Township, will always be remembered from the 2020 season.
The fact that fans were not allowed inside Citizens Bank Park to witness Alec Bohm‘s rookie season, or the team led by new manager Joe Girardi, was surely a disappointment. Yet, the Phandemic Krew still made sure the Philadelphia fan was represented, bringing their ladders, air horns, you name it, to the centerfield fences outside of the venue.
Named after Bryce Harper‘s son, Krew, the Phandemic Krew cheered on the team ever since the start of summer camp. Who could forget, early on in the season, when New York Yankees manager Aaron Boone complained they were making too much noise with air horns?
“When I was doing it when Giancarlo Stanton was batting, we were laughing about it,” Brett said on 97.5 The Fanatic. “I was like, ‘Oscar, I think Boone is complaining about us!'”
Oscar said Boone complaining was definitely a “point of pride” for the group. “You are talking about Boone, who last year said they were ‘savages’; now, they are crying about an air horn,” he said. “There’s no stopping us. We are still going to be out here for the rest of the season.”
The Phandemic Krew did just that, and even got their own bobblehead along the way. It would have been fun to see what they would have done during a Phillies postseason series.
When the gates open again to fans, hopefully in 2021, the Krew will have its own section. What started out as a small group, really became a fixture that will never be forgotten from the 2020 Phillies.
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