What Makes Philly so Good?

Bill Eichenberger - SportingNews.com

The defending World Series champion Philadelphia Phillies have had at least a share of first place every day since May 30 and appear poised to capture a third consecutive N.L. East title. Sporting News' Bill Eichenberger recently spoke with four members of the Atlanta Braves, who used to own the division, about what makes the Phillies so tough and why they will be hard to catch.

Third baseman Chipper Jones:
"They do what championship ballclubs should do. They beat teams that they should beat. They take care of business. Teams that they should beat, they sweep. A lot of people point to the fact that pitching may be their weak point, but I think their pitching is very, very underrated. Their bullpen has struggled this year, and that's where you have to beat Philly.

"They put up so many runs a game. They have a great offensive ballclub. They have a lot of speed at the top. They steal bases. They run the bases well. They have the well documented power throughout the middle of the lineup. Very rarely do they beat themselves. They have a very fundamentally sound ballclub that pitches and plays good defense, and they have a monstrous offense. When you have solid pitching and solid D, you are going to beat a lot of people."

First baseman Adam LaRoche:
"For whatever reason, they just win a lot of games. It could be the comfort level of playing together. It could be the combination of their starting staff, their bullpen and (several) guys with 20-plus homers. They have seven guys in the lineup who are a legit home-run threat. When you have that, guys get pitched around and more guys end up getting on base and you score more runs.

"Plus, they are coming off some serious momentum from last year. I think even though it is a year later, you still carry that with you — that swagger, that cockiness that there is nobody that can beat us. Just by having that, even before the game even starts, you are ahead of the curve."

Left fielder Garret Anderson:
"It is hard to make up ground on any team that is in first place. There is a reason why they are in first place. They play well and don't hurt themselves. ... No team is immune from playing bad at any stretch of the season. But, generally, the good teams don't make a ton of mistakes at any time during the season. And they are a good team."

Righthander Tim Hudson:
"Any time you play a team of that caliber, you know that they know what it takes to win. And they know what it takes to win in some pretty tough and pressure-packed situations. ... It's been tough in this division for a number of years now. You just need to try to at least two out of three any time you play them and, obviously, avoid getting swept. That can be a tough blow to deal with."

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