Fans gather outside of Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia to celebrate the 2008 Philadelphia Phillies World Series Championship (Photo by Miles Kennedy/MLB Photos via Getty Images)
The Philadelphia Phillies missed the postseason for the ninth consecutive season in 2020.
Two years after signing outfielder Bryce Harper to a then-record $330 million contract and acquiring star catcher J.T. Realmuto from the Miami Marlins, the Phillies have remained in a state of mediocrity.
The unceremonious end to the 2020 season spurred emphatic negativity among fans, largely based on assumed impending circumstances in which the Phillies would let Realmuto and shortstop Didi Gregorius leave via free agency this past offseason.