Fueled by postseason failures, the Phillies are riding high with the best record in baseball

PHILADELPHIA — The Phillies are winning games at such a torrid pace, you have to stretch to the halcyon days of when Grover was a hip name in America to find anything like what Philly’s favorite team ready has achieved this season. Riding a high with the best record in baseball, the Phillies are 29-6 over their last 35 games, which matches the best 35-game span in franchise history, last done in 1892. Who can forget the 1892 presidential election, when Grover Cleveland beat Benjamin Harrison to become the only president elected for two nonconsecutive terms? Grover may be out-of-style these days as a first name — with apologies to the furry blue monster, if the Phillies win it all, they’ll take a parade ride down Broad Street rather than Sesame Street — but the Phillies are still rocking winning streaks like they did more than 130 years ago. “That’s hats off to ownership and the front office for believing in pieces that were already here.” The Phillies boasted a $243,476,617 payroll on opening day, a far cry from 2002 when The New York Times writer Murray Chass described the franchise as “a major-market team disguised as a small-market welfare recipient.” Oh sure, Harper is on a tear again, with 12 homers. Just throwing different pitches in different counts and they’re all for strikes when they want them, that’s rare in this game and we have a lot of guys that can do it.” So yeah, maybe the Phillies are keep it old-school, in comparisons to the best teams and players in franchise history, and with a way of thinking that has them tops in baseball.