SPINNING THE LP

As promised, let's discuss the Phillies ownership group. Bill Conlin, the crusty, corpulent senior scribe for the Philadelphia Daily News, wrote an excellent article last October explicating the complicated proprietorship that is the Phillies, LP. As the official name suggests, the team is actually a Limited Partnership, with all the legal ramifications an LP entails. David Montgomery is the Managing General Partner. This affords him all managing duties over the partnership, and assigns to him the day-to-day operations of the club, as well as the responsibility over any lawsuits or judgments against the partnership. The remainder of the partnership are "Limited Partners", which more or less spells it out. They have no say in day-to-day operations, are not liable for any judgments or lawsuits, and most likely, per their Limited Partnership contract, are not allowed to make any public statements or pronouncements regarding the operation of the team.

The other Limited Partners are:

- Claire S. Betz. She is the widow of John Betz, who originally invested in the partnership in 1981. According to Conlin, she's a nice old lady who attends Spring Training games and splits her time between Key Largo and the Main Line. From all accounts, she does not own a Saint Bernard named Betzie, thank goodness. The Citizens Bank Park grounds crew is especially thankful.

- Double Play, Inc, which is a corporation owned by John Middleton. Middleton, says Conlin, comes from "fifth-generation Philadelphia old money". He also owns the McIntosh Inn chain of motels. If you are not familiar with these, they are in the Red Roof Inn class and are often strategically situated near a Denny's.

- Tri-Play Associates (did they all sit in a room to come up with these names?), owned by Alexander, Mahlon, and William Buck. They are better known (In business circles, anyway, I guess) as the venture capitalists TDH Capital Corporation. Think Duke & Duke, with an extra Duke.

- Giles Limited Partnership. This is the Giles family group, headed by former Managing General Partner Bill Giles. At least they don't have "play" in their name. Giles is the son of former National League and Cincinnati Reds President Warren Giles. Bill started this mess in 1981 by forming the LP and buying the Phillies for $30 million from Ruly Carpenter. Carpenter had built the Phillies into a powerhouse in the late 70's, leading them to their only World Series title in 1980 before promptly selling the team for fear of the impending free agency explosion, of which he was quite prescient. It's not like Giles and company haven't made out like bandits, however. Giles' original investment of about $100,000 from his father's estate is worth many times that (wouldn't W be proud?), and Conlin calculated that John Betz' initial $9.3 million investment would net his widow about $150 million in today's market.

Then there is David Montgomery himself, of course. He started with the Phillies in 1971 fresh out of the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, selling group and season ticket plans. Giles apparently found out about him through a friend, heard he was a Wharton grad, and told him, "Well, let's put you to work and see what you can do!" After that thorough vetting process, Montgomery slowly worked his way up the ranks, acquiring ownership shares along the way, until he was finally installed as Managing General Partner in 1997 while Giles concentrated on building a new stadium. Giles tenure had been marked by a couple of fluky successes, in 1983 and 1993, surrounded by years of mediocrity and worse. The farm system was systematically dismantled throughout the Giles era, and is only now producing quality big-leaguers again, albeit not very many. Montgomery hired Ed Wade away from the Orioles organization to be his General Manager, and has stuck with him through thin and thin. The franchise has not seen the postseason for the last 12 seasons, often not even coming close. In 2004, the team moved into the retro Citizens Bank Park after a long and contentious negotiating process with the city of Philadelphia and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania over public funding. While the park is a monumental improvement over the old Vet, it remains to be seen whether it will translate into the sort of revenue generator that will put the Phillies into the payroll sphere of the upper echelon teams, or if the Phillies LP even wants that.

So, what does this all mean for the fans? Limited Partnerships are pretty common around baseball, and can be very successful. The Red Sox and Yankees are LP's, and they do pretty well. The main problem with the Phillies ownership are the guys at the top. Montgomery is more than likely an able businessman. The franchise value has increased steadily over the years, and together with Giles they were able to get the new stadium built, which will certainly enhance revenue. What Montgomery and Giles have never shown any evidence of is that they know (or even care about) what it takes to produce winning baseball. Giles is the scion of the family who built a franchise once known as "The Big Red Machine", but little seems to have rubbed off. Montgomery has no background in the game of baseball whatsoever. The hiring and apparent undying loyalty to Ed Wade demonstrates that Montgomery and Giles believe in the "old school" of baseball orthodoxy, at least in terms of choosing and paying for talent. Wade almost unfailingly chooses aging veterans to fill open roster spots, never, ever overpays for a star player, and has little or no regard for the now-well-established (since the Red Sox triumph) science of sabermetrics, where computers and statistics are used in imaginative ways to unearth hidden player value. The team's choice of field managers also demonstrates their old school tendencies. After a brief trial with the young Terry Francona, brought in mainly to work with the rebuilding team that Wade had inherited, Wade and Montgomery decided that in order to get to the next level, the Phillies needed to bring in 1980 hero and fan favorite Larry Bowa. The Bowa regime was not an unmitigated disaster, but the team made almost no improvement over his reign, and quite possibly regressed. Bowa had never shown any ability to win at the big league level, and much worse, had shown a marked propensity for pissing everyone off. It was not surprising then when Bowa chased off star third baseman Scott Rolen, who helped lead the Cardinals to the NL title last year. Most of the rest of the players either harbored a seething animosity toward their manager, or were so intimidated by him that they underperformed badly (see Burrell, Pat). After four mediocre and disappointing seasons, the Phillies fired Bowa and replaced him with another, much quieter ante-deluvian retread, Charlie Manuel.

Can things improve? The new ballpark, and what the LP does with the money, is the most important factor in answering that question. If Montgomery and Giles pour it back into the free-agent market, or at least use it to retain the best talent and build the farm system, the Phillies can prosper. The chances of this happening, however, seem remote at best. Wade simply won't go the extra mile to pursue a top free agent, instead spending relatively small amounts of money for veterans with middling value, like Kenny Lofton and David Bell. Even the Jim Thome acquisition, by far Wade's most daring and expensive move, involved a 32-year-old player with only one real skill. Wade also never parts with prized youngsters in trade negotiations, which usually squelches any blockbuster deals. This would be fine if his youngsters developed into stars, but none have to date. The only player Wade either drafted or had a chance to sign who has blossomed lately is J. D. Drew. In a fairly indicative episode, Wade refused the bonus demands from Drew's agent Scott Boras and let him get re-drafted the following year by the Cardinals.

One of Wade's untouchables, righty Gavin Floyd, deals tonight against Horacio Ramirez, a promising lefty for the Braves. Floyd was brilliant in his first start, retiring 19 Cardinals in a row at one stage with a baffling curve ball. If Floyd can maintain this level of domination, Wade will finally achieve some measure of vindication. Much bigger vindication would come with a division title. The Nationals won their home opener last night in front of Tim Russert, Sen. Chris Dodd, and oh yeah, that Bush guy, which puts them in first all alone. The Mets also won, putting the Phillies in a tie for...last place. Keep dreaming, Ed.