TORONTO — When I arrived in Philadelphia for college in the fall of 1998, the Phillies were playing out the string on a 75-87 season, their fourth straight year with a losing record, and there wasn't much reason to believe things were getting any better. After two more lousy years, including 97 losses in 2000, the manager got canned, and nobody in town really had much of a case that it was the wrong decision.
The Phillies got better under Larry Bowa, starting on the path that led them toward winning the World Series under Charlie Manuel in 2008.