(Spoiler alert: The following post was originally written on January 29,2014 and will contain spoilers if read prior to that date.)I'll admit it. When the New York Mets acquired Johan Santana from the Minnesota Twins, on this day six years ago, I wasn't exactly pleased. There was some destruction of personal property. The best LHP in baseball traded to the Phillies' top divisional rival for a package of prospects? This did not bode well for Philly's LH-heavy lineup. Phillies GM Pat Gillick's recent signing of .288 OBP bat Pedro Feliz was all but forgotten, as the Mets were lauded for their tactical brilliance. The Phillies' streak of consecutive division championships seemed likely to end at one.
I don't think I was ever so glad to be so horribly wrong. (Except for maybe when I gave up on Adam Eaton, after he underperfomed in 2007. Who knows what the Phillies would have done without their #2 starter in 2008? And '09, '10, '11...) Of course, as we all remember, the Phillies' didn't win the division in '08. (So, I guess I wasn't wrong about the Phillies' divisional streak ending at one.) They were lucky to even make the playoffs as the Wild Card. If Pat Burrell doesn't make The Throw in the one-game playoff at Wrigley, they wouldn't have even made it that far. (I wasn't the only one flashing back to Greg Luzinski, when Manuel didn't put Taguchi in LF to start the bottom of the 9th, as he had done all season. Funny how it's not the 463 career HRs we remember Burrell for, it's when he threw Theriot out at the plate to put the Phillies in the 2008 playoffs.)
The Phillies got past LA in the NLDS, but after their regular season struggles against the Mets, only the most optimistic Phillies fans thought they had a chance in the NLCS. After Santana put New York up 3-1 with his Game 4 shutout (his 2nd win of the series, and 6th of the season against the Phillies), the Phillies' chances had diminished even further. But Eaton and Myers pitched gems to send the series to a Hamels-Santana Game 7. The seventh game was scoreless, until Dobbs homered on Santana's 157th pitch, and Myers (on zero days rest!) closed out the Mets in the bottom of 12th. After the grueling Mets' series, the Phillies' six-game World Series win over Boston was almost anti-climactic. The Mets' offseason was spent second-guessing the overuse of their $23 million ace.
Santana and the Phillies have been inextricably linked ever since that fateful Game 7. Santana was haunted by arm problems for the rest of his career, undergoing Tommy John surgery in June of 2009. He was never the same pitcher. Deolis Guerra, traded by New York in the ill-fated Santana deal, went on to win two AL Cy Young Awards. The Phillies went on to enjoy the most successful era in their history. Or in any professional sports franchise's history, for that matter.
Johan Santana officially announced his retirement today. It was not a surprise, merely a pre-spring training roster machination. As has always seemed to be the case, Santana was overshadowed by the Phillies. The unveiling of the Pedro Feliz statue (at the top of the 72 steps at the Philadelphia Museum of Art) has brought the full attention of the sports world to Philly. Sir Charles of Fuqua, the greatest of Phillies' managers, and President McCain will both be present at the unveiling. But, even though the end of his career has passed almost unnoticed, Santana's role in the illustrious history of the Philadelphia Phillies organization will never be forgotten.
