If you would had asked me this question in January (and a lot of people did), I would have said (and did say), “Absolutley not.” He is a poor defensive, upper-cutting, overpaid dissapointment that doesn’t seem to care about Philadelphia or the fans…until now.
For the past 3 or so years, Phillies fans have been counting down the days until Pat’s contract ran out and we could kiss him and his obnoxiously high salary goodbye. He was booed religiously everytime he came to the plate and received Philly’s best verbal abuse from the seats surrounding him in left field. He reacted to the treatment by selecting The Eagles’ “Dirty Laundry” as his theme song preceding at-bats.
Pat’s future in Philadelphia looked dismal. You could tell he really didn’t want to be here anymore (despite his occasional statement of him loving the city) and the fans definitely wanted him gone.
The All-Star break rolled around last year and the Phillies were fighting to catch the NL East leading Mets. It went unnoticed at first; a timely hit here, a big home run there. Then people started noticing that Pat had raised his average significantly and his RBI production left his first half of the season in the dust. He went on to factor in as a huge part of the Phillies clinching the NL East title (and who will ever forget him busting out of the dugout and tackling Brett Myers before Chris Coste even had a chance to figure out what was going on.)
After the Phils were bounced in the first round by the Rockies everyone was talking all off-season about how this is most-likely Burrell’s last season in a Phillies uniform. It was assumed he would not be re-signed or even traded mid-season to an American League team to serve as a DH.
Then the 2008 season began and Pat started on a torrid pace, hitting .326 through the month of April with 8 HRs and 24 RBI. He was looking very comfortable at the plate and Philadelphia fans began getting comfortable with him in the lineup. He has since cooled down to a .275 average, but is still tied for 4th in the NL with 23 HRs. He is now getting near standing ovations from the fans in left field every time he trots out there.
Philadelphia has once again embraced Pat the Bat. After being snubbed from the All-Star game he was placed on the ballot for the final player on the NL roster. The fans responded and did everything they could to get him to his first All-Star game. Including 4 fans that spent 96 straight hours at Citizen’s Bank Park to vote for him around the clock. While the votes fell short of Milwaukee’s Ryan Braun, it became very clear that the fans want him to stay. The outpouring of support culminated on Sunday afternoon when he hit a 3-run 8th inning home run to break a 2-2 tie and secure a lead in the NL East going into the All-Star break. Upon crossing home plate and entering the dugout, the sell-out crowd would not sit down until Burrell emerged for a curtain call. The place was electric during a post-game interview Pat looked truly happy to be in Philadelphia.
With the unbelievably poor defense from So Taguchi and the offensive struggles of Geoff Jenkins, Burrell is obviously the best option in left field.
He may not be the flightest of foot and he isn’t best defensive option in left field, but unless the Phillies can land a top-notch young outfielder in the offseason, they should certainly attempt to re-sign Burrell (at a discounted rate, of course). And based on his apparent love for this city and his teammates I think there is a good chance Pat will be playing left field at the Bank in 2009.
This entry was posted on July 14, 2008 at 8:43 pm and is filed under General Commentary. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
Will Burrell be back next year?
By NickIf you would had asked me this question in January (and a lot of people did), I would have said (and did say), “Absolutley not.” He is a poor defensive, upper-cutting, overpaid dissapointment that doesn’t seem to care about Philadelphia or the fans…until now.
For the past 3 or so years, Phillies fans have been counting down the days until Pat’s contract ran out and we could kiss him and his obnoxiously high salary goodbye. He was booed religiously everytime he came to the plate and received Philly’s best verbal abuse from the seats surrounding him in left field. He reacted to the treatment by selecting The Eagles’ “Dirty Laundry” as his theme song preceding at-bats.
Pat’s future in Philadelphia looked dismal. You could tell he really didn’t want to be here anymore (despite his occasional statement of him loving the city) and the fans definitely wanted him gone.
The All-Star break rolled around last year and the Phillies were fighting to catch the NL East leading Mets. It went unnoticed at first; a timely hit here, a big home run there. Then people started noticing that Pat had raised his average significantly and his RBI production left his first half of the season in the dust. He went on to factor in as a huge part of the Phillies clinching the NL East title (and who will ever forget him busting out of the dugout and tackling Brett Myers before Chris Coste even had a chance to figure out what was going on.)
After the Phils were bounced in the first round by the Rockies everyone was talking all off-season about how this is most-likely Burrell’s last season in a Phillies uniform. It was assumed he would not be re-signed or even traded mid-season to an American League team to serve as a DH.
Then the 2008 season began and Pat started on a torrid pace, hitting .326 through the month of April with 8 HRs and 24 RBI. He was looking very comfortable at the plate and Philadelphia fans began getting comfortable with him in the lineup. He has since cooled down to a .275 average, but is still tied for 4th in the NL with 23 HRs. He is now getting near standing ovations from the fans in left field every time he trots out there.
Philadelphia has once again embraced Pat the Bat. After being snubbed from the All-Star game he was placed on the ballot for the final player on the NL roster. The fans responded and did everything they could to get him to his first All-Star game. Including 4 fans that spent 96 straight hours at Citizen’s Bank Park to vote for him around the clock. While the votes fell short of Milwaukee’s Ryan Braun, it became very clear that the fans want him to stay. The outpouring of support culminated on Sunday afternoon when he hit a 3-run 8th inning home run to break a 2-2 tie and secure a lead in the NL East going into the All-Star break. Upon crossing home plate and entering the dugout, the sell-out crowd would not sit down until Burrell emerged for a curtain call. The place was electric during a post-game interview Pat looked truly happy to be in Philadelphia.
With the unbelievably poor defense from So Taguchi and the offensive struggles of Geoff Jenkins, Burrell is obviously the best option in left field.
He may not be the flightest of foot and he isn’t best defensive option in left field, but unless the Phillies can land a top-notch young outfielder in the offseason, they should certainly attempt to re-sign Burrell (at a discounted rate, of course). And based on his apparent love for this city and his teammates I think there is a good chance Pat will be playing left field at the Bank in 2009.
This entry was posted on July 14, 2008 at 8:43 pm and is filed under General Commentary. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.