Phillies Mailbag: Service Time, Bobbleheads, Favorite Phillies

If they don’t play this year (I pray they do) do players accrue service time and will Didi Gregorius be a free agent again??
~ J.T.

This is a really good question. We just saw that the entire Summer Olympics were postponed an entire year, which leads to the question as to whether or not Major League Baseball could potentially delay an entire season. If that happens, what could be the fallout?

The service time issue is going to be a really difficult one to resolve. Above five days ago, Joel Sherman of the New York Post reported some of the negotiating that was taking place behind the scenes.

The MLBPA argued that the players should earn full service time for a missed season. That indeed, would let Didi Gregorius and J.T. Realmuto free agents without playing a game for the Phillies for their last year of the contract. For many reasons, that would be a tough sell for the teams. Imagine if, after trading some top talent for Mookie Betts, the Los Angeles Dodgers never have a game from Betts.

MLB argued with a counter proposal that they would be willing to reduce the total service time required for a year from 172 days to 130 days.

I think this is something both sides are very interested in, and the fact that they are exchanging proposals shows how important an issues it is to both sides. But in reality, until we know when we are going to have a baseball season, we will not know just how to handle this.

A full missed season, it would be contentious. But let's hope it does not come to that.

Which bobblehead do you like better...Harry and Whitey or Franzke and LA?
~Jason

Which of your children do you love more, Jason? In all seriousness, I certainly love both of them. But without Harry Kalas and Richie Ashburn in our lives anymore, there has to be a softer spot for them at the moment. I remember the day of the giveaway well.

While almost no one went to Phillies games at Veteran's Stadium in 2002, the attendance on August 18 was 58,493 officially. That number was not the number of people in the seats, but the tickets sold. The game was officially a sellout.

I went down to Veterans Stadium that day, hoping to grab a ticket as I did almost every other game. But when I arrived, people were hoarding these bobbleheads. I remember one guy, who must've bought 50 tickets, putting them into big department store shopping bags and then leaving.

We could not even get into the game, even as the guy who bought 50 tickets grabbed bobbleheads and left.

Instead, my dad and I ended up going across the street to the X Games, this year taking place in the Spectrum parking lot.

By the next Father's Day, I was sure to find one for my dad. $60 later, there is one in my dad's home bar. We consider it ours.

At my home, I have my Scott Franzke & Larry Andersen bobblehead. I do not have the same type of story surrounding that one, so I will have to go with Harry & Whitey.

What was your favorite Phillies team from the 2000’s-now not counting the 2008 World Series team and why?
~Luke

Without a doubt, I would have to say that the 2011 Phillies season was my favorite, aside from their championship teams. The reason I liked it was that the season started with unprecedented excitement, the whole town was on board and happy, and every night felt like the Phillies were going to win.

I remember driving home from my job at La Salle University Monday, December 13, 2010. Of course I listened to sports radio all the time. Cliff Lee was expected to make a decision really soon. That day, maybe. Would he go to the Yankees, or would he sign with the Texas Rangers?

There were some very minor whispers that the Phillies were in, but there was no real indication the Phillies were, other than the likes of Jayson Stark trying to put together pieces he was hearing and saying, "it almost sounds like the signs point to the Phillies". But the Phillies had a bloated payroll and already had three aces.

Then finally, T.R.Sullivan of MLB.com, a Texas Rangers writer posted a short blog post stating that Lee was coming back to Philadelphia. Then it was on.

"The Four/Phour Aces". "R2C2". Joe Blanton not getting traded after all. This was the rotation people dreamed of.

So in addition to Opening Day, which featured reigning National League Cy Young winner Roy Halladay starting, there was a second Opening Day that year: the return of Cliff Lee. What fun that was.

In the end, the sad part was, what I thought was the most talented Phillies team I had ever seen, did not win a championship. Lee could not hold a lead in the NLDS. Then came the fateful moment that would define the Phillies for the next five seasons: Ryan Howard tearing his Achilles and the season ending with him on the ground.

I never knew 50,000 people could be so quiet.

Though the season ended on such a bad note, I found 2011 to be the most enjoyable season of my time as a fan.