Why Can’t the Phillies Win at Home?

Written by: Josh Landsburg on 22nd June 2009

Why Can’t the Phillies Win at Home? | read this item

Is it their pitching, hitting, defense, what is it? I pose the question to you the readers, why can’t the Phillies win at home? I will offer some possibilities, but I am curious if anyone out there can come up with anything good, because frankly, it does not make much sense. After the Phillies went 1-8 on their home-stand, including losing the last six to the Toronto Blue Jays and Baltimore Orioles respectively, they currently sit at 36-31, still atop the NL East by two games, but that is only because the Mets went 3-7 in their last ten games, and they only picked up a game on the Phils. The Phillies home record is an atrocious 13-22, but they are an MLB best 23-9 on the road. In fact, only six other teams in all of baseball have a winning record on the road, but on the other hand, 20 teams have winning records at home, which is THE WAY IT IS SUPPOSED TO BE! So, I ask you, what is out of whack here?

Here are some possibilities that I have come up with: they feel more relaxed at home because they know their fans love them, coming off winning a World Series last year, so maybe they don’t try as hard sometimes. Their pitching is sub-par as it is, but in a smaller ballpark that certainly can hurt them, but that does not explain the hitting. It has start to become a mental thing because they have been told by multiple media members that this could be a problem, and let’s face it, they know their home record is not good right now. Maybe it’s the home cooking that makes them more comfortable as well, whereas when they are on the road they can get away from it all and just play baseball, maybe at home they have too many distractions. Whatever it is, it’s different this year than last year, because they finished 48-33 at home last year, and they were still playing in Citizen’s Bank Park then. However, there are some other factors this year, like I mentioned above, in addition, everything that went on at the beginning of the year with Harry Kalas and all the hoopla with winning the World Series certainly hurt their home record overall, but that does not explain why they went 1-8 on this most recent home-stand. So, I ask you, what do you think could be the reason, and how do they get things turned around?

Hometeamgal says:

June 22, 2009 at 10:21 pm

You make a good analysis for these phrustratin’ phils.
Definitely, I think that they are more relaxed at home, on the one hand. In addition, because now that they are in a rut of having a lousy, losing record at home, it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.

What will make the Phillies better? Lidge getting back in the rotation and hopefully, returning to last year’s efforts at being an excellent closer, getting another starter, possibly, and just keeping at it day after day, one run at a time, one highlight defensive play at a time. Maybe, the Phillies should take a page from Phil Jackson’s winning LA Lakers and start meditating in the locker room!
gophillies says:

June 23, 2009 at 8:03 am

Comfortable, that’s the problem…and the solution. Anytime a player is comfortable at the plate, it is the pither’s responsibility to clear him away or the ball leaves the park. Anytime a player is too comfortable with a long term contract, he can relax and produce or coast. Winning cures everything until you win it all and then what? Players need goals. It really becomes up to the manager. We’ll see if the Phils still have the right one.