Veteran Leadership, Key To Playoff Push

Let's make a run.  Why not?  Heading into this weekend's series against the Atlanta Braves, the Phillies find themselves 9.5 games out of a playoff spot.  But the Phillies are hot, and they have the pitching, the offensive, and most importantly the veteran leadership to make a run.

When you get right down to it, the Phillies have been way back in the standings before and managed to make the playoffs.  In 2007, the Phils were 7 games out on SEPTEMBER 12.  With just 17 games left to play, the Phillies made up 7 games in an unbelievable comeback combined with an epic collapse by the New York Mets.

Can the Phillies pull it off again?  Now I know that the collapse by the Mets in 2007 was one of the worst collapses in the history of baseball.  But think about the vulnerability of the Atlanta Braves, one of the teams the Phillies are currently chasing.

After play on September 1, 2011, the Atlanta Braves held on to a very comfortable 8.5 game lead over the St. Louis Cardinals.  With 26 games left, the Braves too collapsed allowing the St. Louis Cardinals to walk into the playoffs and win the World Series.

The point of me bringing up these two comebacks is to show that a big comeback can and does happen.  The Phillies did it in 2007 and the Cardinals did it as recently as last year.

In addition to the Braves, the Phillies are also chasing the Pittsburgh Pirates who hold the other Wild Card spot.  While the Pirates are certainly playing well behind MVP Andrew McCutchen, they are still a very young team and haven't made the playoffs since 1992.

Overall, these next few games are going to be critical as the Phillies try to put themselves in a good position heading into the final two months of the season.  The Phillies and other teams have put together bigger comebacks in the past, so expect nothing less from your Phils in the remainder of the 2012 season.