"NO OFF-SEASON TRAP"
In life, there is nothing more unexpected and surprising than the arrivals and departures of pleasure.  If we find it in one 
place to-day, it is vain to seek it there to-morrow.  You can not lay a trap for it. - Alexander Smith 

While Ruben has been collecting the pieces that are going to make the Phillies better for 2010, players have been readying 
themselves for Clearwater.  Last season, we saw the effect that a world championship can have, especially on the series 
MVP Cole Hamels. 

This season, the Phillies are actually a Veteran World Series team.  Granted, last year they knew they were good and they 
knew they had the potential to make it that far.  Having the potential and getting there are two distinctly different things and
living the aftermath of a world series victory has a happy way of claiming its victims. Hamels was one of those. 

This year, the Phillies had no world championship to celebrate and for a team that had the resources to successfully defend 
its championship title, the bitter taste of defeat lingers. With this in mind, Hamels & Company, came to understand the 
world series off season celebration and how much damage it can do.  This off-season, they are a little bit more conscientious 
about preparing for next season. 

Hamels has been preparing for sometime.  Word has that back in November, he began his off-season work out, and he is 
reported to be working on a breaking pitch to complement the fast ball that players seemed to catch up to last season. 

It's one thing to win and a completely different thing to understand what winning is all about and what it takes to be consistent . 
Phillies won the series in 2008 and certainly deserve to celebrate.  On the other hand, a life of an athlete doesn’t always allow 
the individual to prepare for what success can bring.  It is clearly and altered life style, at least for a few months, but 
the way professional sports operates today, it's a year round enterprise.  Unfortunately champions can sometimes be distracted. 

The Phillies clearly have the horses to get to the world series again.  Halliday, Schneider, Gload, Baez, etc. will all help improve 
the team.  The core is solid, defense is enhanced, and the pitching, at least on paper, is as good as just about anyone's.  That is 
all wonderful.  The bottom line however, is if these players don’t come into spring training in championship shape and ready to 
compete for a season that will last seven months, counting that world series, that edge can fade quickly when September rolls 
around.  Having a bench that works this season is a huge plus.  By the time we saw September last season, Charlies players 
were exhausted.  They got through the division and the playoffs intact, but wheels feel off in the series.  Getting back to solid
off-season preparation is an absolute must.  Interestingly, though the Phillies may be picked to get back to the series, the pressure 
isn’t on them to repeat anything, but there will be pressure.

So, it is back to basics, back to a team that doesn’t have a world series lag, and back to a team whose manager, some thirty 
pounds lighter, is ready to take on the world. Ruben did a good job putting the pieces where they need to be and without the 
world series residue, and with the right kind of preparation, just maybe we can get that second trade we all wanted back in 
October. 

The Phillies Fan Union
Faust Ruggiero, Executive Director