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Home / Philadelphia Magazine / The Phantom Five

The Phantom Five

By Richard Rys

Page 10 of 10

TAKE OUR BASEBALL TEAM. PLEASE.

A few potential owners we'd love to see step up to the plate.

Pat Croce
Why: Croce won’t comment, but it’s said that he’s tried to buy the team in the past — only to be frustrated at how long it took even to get his phone calls returned.
Impact: Hyper-kinetic Pat brought passion, fun and an appearance in the NBA Finals to the Sixers. We’d expect nothing less with the Phillies. Oh, there’d also be pirates. Lots and lots of freakin’ pirates.

Comcast-Spectacor
Why: The company already owns the Sixers, the Flyers, and the sports network that carries the Phillies games. Why not add baseball to the stable?
Impact: With Comcast’s deep pockets, the Phils become the next Red Sox. And with Ed Snider running the show, the guy in charge will care as much as we do.

Larry Magid
Why: Legendary concert promoter and Live Nation big cheese is among the biggest fans in town.
Impact: Upside: Way cooler National Anthem singers. Downside: Possible “transaction charges” on everything from parking to buying a beer. (But if the latter means more money for the starting rotation, we’re cool with that.)

David Field and Shanin Specter
Why: Arlen’s son, the successful plaintiffs’ attorney, and Field (left), CEO of the country’s fourth largest radio company (Entercom), are both über-fans. And loaded.
Impact: Both are tough, results-oriented guys — something the organization desperately needs. And the influence of Arlen and his obscure legal mind could be interesting. (“Citing Scottish common law, the Phillies last night insisted they be given four outs in every inning.”)

Ed Rendell
Why: Sports-obsessed Eddie doesn’t have the net worth to pull this off on his own, but he’s no slouch at raising money. (Witness the way he got some Hillary backers to offer to pay for a redo of the Michigan primary.)
Impact: In a nod to Rendell’s 700 Level past, the team schedules “Pelt an Umpire With a Snowball Night.”

Jim Cramer and Lenny Dykstra
Why: Financial whiz Cramer discovered that Nails, the former Phil, is the world’s most unlikely stock savant. They have the dough—and mojo—to pull this off.
Impact: Maybe none on the field. But Cramer’s uncontrolled screaming and Dykstra’s incoherent rambling have reality show written all over them: “Dude, Where’s My Baseball Team? Arghhh … !”

Originally published in Philadelphia magazine, June 2008

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A sad story
Posted by Anonymous | May. 22, 2008 at 9:52 PM

COMMENT:

I once applied to the Phillies PR department and received a reply from Larry Shenk, who retired after last season (following some 45 years with the team). The reply was essentially "there are no openings and we don't anticipate any." Rys is correct that these owners are cowards. Bastards should show their faces and answer questions for their conduct. Maybe the city and state should have made it part of the deal when they gave the team money for CBP. The bright side is that four of the phantom five are fossils who can't possibly live too much longer.

A Very Sad Story
Posted by Anonymous | May. 23, 2008 at 10:38 AM

COMMENT:

I can't figure WHAT these owners are in this for? They're already filthy rich. What is their goal? They couldn't die fast enough for me. The one old owner, Betz, complains about Bill Conlin writing about here dog. Maybe she should pick up the phone and call him. How hard is that to do?

Running a business
Posted by Matt | May. 23, 2008 at 11:28 AM

COMMENT:

This is amazingly disappointing. I don't even care that they run the business for the sake of making money instead of winning-- the two don't have to be mutually exclusive, and I don't expect someone else to foot the bill for my happiness. What bothers me is that they run the team as a bad business, instead of efficiently trying to maximize their profits. Adjusting spending proportionally to revenue is exactly how bad businesses are run. You are supposed to evaluate if the expected inflow of revenue added by making a decision exceeds to the expected cost added by making the decision. It's very simple. Keeping a payroll like they do is incredibly foolish. They would make more money by raising payroll by 10-15 million and increasing their playoff revenues by far more, or by lowering payroll by 10-15 million and still making it occassionally when lucky. It's as though they are minimizing profits.

Phantom Five
Posted by Anonymous | May. 23, 2008 at 12:21 PM

COMMENT:

This article was terrific, it just shows once again in writing what most of what the Phillies fans already know. They are cheap and do not like criticism constructive or otherwise. This team needs new owners.

They Need To Sell
Posted by Anonymous | May. 23, 2008 at 1:50 PM

COMMENT:

This just confirms what many Phillies fans already knew. That this team NEEDS to be sold ASAP. This city, the 4th largest in the U.S. and the LARGEST with ONE team deserves a lot better.

"These" owners
Posted by Nero | May. 24, 2008 at 9:31 PM

COMMENT:

Do you know what these owners really are? They will say it's absured, but they are truly tyrants.

Makes you sick
Posted by Anonymous | May. 27, 2008 at 1:38 PM

COMMENT:

Doesn't it just make you want to vomit? How infuriating. These people should be pilloried in shallow center during the seventh inning stretch.

We're saps
Posted by Anonymous | May. 27, 2008 at 3:07 PM

COMMENT:

Reading this piece makes us all want to swallow our own vomit, but guess what??? NOTHING will change in our lifetimes because THEY DON'T CARE. And they obviously have no real reason to sell... And yet we diehards live and die with every pitch (even transplants like me on the West Coast), but I have to ask myself: "Wjhy should I care so much when my team's actually not trying their best to win?" If they win, it would be almost by accident... Pathetic, Monty admitted as much, unbelievable. Our media should be staking out their houses like they did with AI

Disgraceful
Posted by Thunder | May. 28, 2008 at 3:05 PM

COMMENT:

It's about time someone exposed this ownership group as the frauds they are. They have all but stolen baseball in this town from the fans. Before these people bought the team Philadelphia was a baseball town. Fortunately the team is better now, but most fans attend the games for the same reasons the owners want them to, dollar dogs, college night and to see the nice ball park and not to see a championship team. Congrats Monty you got what you wanted. The team isn't tied to wins and losses. On the bright side most of the owners are over 75 most likely can't live forever. FYI while Monty might come off as a your nice old uncle he's anything but a nice man. If someone robs you, but does it in a nice calming voice with a smile and a gentle chuckle you still got robbed.

Touches a Nerve
Posted by Anonymous | May. 29, 2008 at 9:22 AM

COMMENT:

Interesting article and in keeping with the book I just read about the relationship between the Phils and the city: "The Fall of the 1977 Phillies: How a Baseball Team's Collapse Sank A City's Spirit." Both the book and Rys's article do a good job in explaining why it is that Philadelphia has never warmed to the team. In fact, as the book notes, Philadelphia has disliked the Phils for much longer than the tenure of the Phantom 5. Sadly, they are just perpetuating the tradition.

SAD STORY, BUT GOOD
Posted by Anonymous | May. 29, 2008 at 12:08 PM

COMMENT:

Do you think they'll keep Hamels and Howard for the long haul? I'm suprised Utley's on a longterm deal. People need to start hurling stuff at the owners box at the bank. The only thing I wonder about is if they care so little about the team. Why own it? This shit just pisses me off.

It Is What It Is
Posted by Anonymous | May. 30, 2008 at 5:16 PM

COMMENT:

The Phillies are, right now, setting the stage for the trading of Ryan Howard. The sniping about his fielding and about how he "might" be an American League designated hitter, tell that story. There is no way this white bread country club Main Line ownership is going to pay an African-American player their kind of money. They are probably fuming at having to pay him Ten Million this year. I HATE THIS OWNERSHIP. I HATE THE FRONT OFFICE. I HATE CHRIS "The ArseKisser" WHEELER. They should all drop dead.

Bring back the A's
Posted by Eddie | May. 30, 2008 at 7:30 PM

COMMENT:

Excellent article. Sounds like John Middleton is our only hope. Buy them out big guy,quickly. Or perhaps better yet sell your stake in the Phils and then bring the A's back to Philadlephia to play in the AL East. Pay the Phils ownership some shakedown franchising money to allow an AL East franchise in the Philly area.KOP, Cherry Hill,Malvern etc. Oakland A's fold. 10 oakland fans mourn for a day, no big deal. Philadlephia A's- AL east starting 2010 Look out Yanks and Red Sox. KC Royals move to AL West. TB and their 3 fans move to AL Central.Dont deserve to be in the same division as the Yanks/Red Sox

Sad but true
Posted by Fred | Aug. 1, 2008 at 1:31 PM

COMMENT:

Wheeler is just another part of the problem. Acension through the ranks without even really being qaulified for the job. If you are friends with people in the organization, it's impossible to fired. Great way to run a business........into the ground.

What else is new?
Posted by Anonymous | Aug. 15, 2008 at 9:39 AM

COMMENT:

This is the reason that we wont see CC or Sheets in a Philly uniform anytime soon? Maybe we can start a charity called "Save the Phillies" in which we all pay John Middelton to buy out those other rats.

Comcast
Posted by Travis | Aug. 17, 2008 at 2:11 AM

COMMENT:

could we possibly talk comcast into buying the phillies????? we could be like ted turners braves and buy ourselves a couple world series'

Eat Crow
Posted by Rys The Idiot | Oct. 15, 2008 at 10:17 PM

COMMENT:

Must be pretty embarrassing to have chosen this year, of all years, to write this article. Not that it shouldn't have been obvious at the time it was written, considering that the team had already made the playoffs just last year, and that all of its core players were just about to enter their primes. Phillies management has certainly made its share of mistakes over the years, but it would have been obvious to a knowledgeable baseball fan -- as opposed to some random ex-English-major with a ridiculous chip on his shoulder and no baseball insight to match -- that the decisions it's made recently have been fairly sound.

I Second That
Posted by Phillies | Oct. 16, 2008 at 12:22 AM

COMMENT:

The '83 and '93 trips to the World Series were not enough, they never are. But great choice of years to write this article--brilliant really. The Phils are heading to the World Series and looking great. The ownership isn't flashy? Since when is that a problem? They should spend more--we will see what happens after this season. They have a great team right now that was built from the ground up after moves to get big name and big $ players like Thome failed. Rollins and Utley are under long term contracts. But if they don't shell out to keep Hamels, then that is their mistake.

How unfair
Posted by Anonymous | Jul. 17, 2009 at 6:15 PM

COMMENT:

Now that we have won the WORLD SERIES!!!! Please hold your hatred for the owners at bay. And 2009,we are in 1st place at the Allstar break. Go owners,they are quite, but TERRIBLY effective!

two in a row!
Posted by Chris | Oct. 22, 2009 at 9:55 AM

COMMENT:

It is funny. I was just watching the Phils clinch their second straight pennant--a feat that not many NL teams have accomplished--and wondering why you don't see the owners, a la Jerry Jones, and I found this article. Going back to early 2008 seems so long ago; they had no idea that they were on the cusp of the greatest period in Phillies history. Four more wins and they can lay claim to being the best NL team in over 30 years. Now the management/ownership looks great.