J-Roll

Last week, Phillie for life Jimmy Rollins broke Hall of Famer Mike Schmidt's franchise record for hits at 2,235. Rollins, with a weeks worth of games since then, now sits at 2,241 entering play on the 22nd of June. First of all, congratulation J-Roll, whose 5'8", 170 pound frame is in the top 10 of nearly every offensive category in Phillies history. And second, what an amazing moment for he and the Phillies fans to see Mike Schmidt come out and celebrate. 

Courtesy of the Phillies on Instagram. 

On a 3-1 count in the 5th inning, Rollins took a fastball from Cubs starter Edwin Jackson and sent it into right field and also sent Citizens Bank into pandemonium for a new franchise leader. This ESPN article does a nice job recounting his career accomplishments and his place in the Phillies organization. In case you don't want to click on the article, I'll highlight it for you: 

• First in doubles (466)
• Second in: extra base hits (782), total bases (3,540), games (2,015), at-bats (8,331)
• Third in: steals (436), runs (1,281), triples (109) 

And he still has the rest of this year to rise up in the ranks. At age 35, this is probably his final season, but we shall see. He and fellow middle infielder Chase Utley (also 35) have been in double play partners for 11 years in the City of Brotherly Love, so if one goes, they both will. I think they'll both retire Phillies and I also think this won't be their final year. 

Is Jimmy Rollins a Hall of Famer? Unfortunately, I do not think so. He is a great player and has been a tremendous leader for the Phillies, but he's not one of the greatest players to ever win the game. He plays the game the right way and you can tell he respects it, but is he in the top 1% of all time? No. That said, I don't want to leave you with a bad taste in your mouth, here are some of my favorite career highlights of his:

1) The 2008 World Series

The Phillies had not won a World Series since 1980 until this exciting matchup with the miracle Rays. Though Rollins did not necessarily hit at an incredibly high level (.227/.261/.318), he scored 2/3 of the times he was on base. I think that is an amazing stat (as well as a good indication of the Phillies situational hitting) - his leadership at its best.

2) 20-20-20-20

This quad-twenties is another incredibly impressive feat that shows a well-rounded nature to a player's game. In 2007, the same year in which Rollins won his only MVP, he hit 38 doubles, 20 triples, 30 home runs, and stole 41 bases. Only three other players in the history of the game have managed to log at least 20 of each doubles, triples, steals, and home runs (Frank Schulte, Willie Mays, Curtis Granderson) - but what makes this more impressive is that he was the leadoff hitter. He also didn't miss a game. 

3) Once a Phillie, Always a Phillie

J-Roll's rookie year was with the Phillies in 2000. His final year will be with the Phillies. For a guy who was born and raised in Oakland, California, it could have been very easy for him to start with the Phillies and go home back to Oakland or LA, but he stuck with them for his entire career. I love that in players. It's rare nowadays and to be honest, if I were a pro, I would probably want to hop around to whoever would pay me the most / my best chance at a title was. He's seen 5 different managers, but only 2 losing seasons. Just to prove how important he is to the team: the Phillies went 65-97 his rookie year. The year after his best personal season ever they won the World Series - and now that his career is on his way out, so are the Phillies as they are 34-39 going into play today (a lot of this has to do with Ryan Howard, Papelbon, Cliff Lee, Chase Utley, Chooch, etc, but HEY this blog is about J-Roll guys, come on!)

Congratulations, Jimbo Slice. Coming soon - a tribute to the great Mr. Padre, Tony Gwynn. 

Thanks for reading.