Yesterday's Home Runs: Jimmy Rollins: The Perfect Phillie

J Roll with his World Series ring

Every team has certain players who are the icons of the franchise, the most recognizable and beloved stars the organization has ever had. The Yankees have had a bunch from Ruth to Gehrig to DiMaggio to Mantle to Jeter. The Orioles had Cal Ripken, The Cardinals had Stan Musial, the Cubs had Ernie Banks. The Marlins had a bunch of greats but they traded them all. Some players, due to their leadership, charisma, and connection with their fans transcend statistical measures and become legends. The Phillies are one of the MLB's oldest teams, and have had their share of great players. The greatest third baseman to ever play the game, Mike Schmidt, played in Philly. Steve Carlton, Robin Roberts, Pete Alexander, and Bobby Abreu all spent most or all of their careers there. The Phillies have had an incredible number of great players recently. From the years 2005-2014 Phillies players have combined for 26 All Star Games, a Rookie of the Year, 6 Silver Sluggers, 7 Gold Gloves, 2 MVPs, a Cy Young, and have had players lead the league in home runs twice and in RBI and triples 3 times. They went to two World Series and won the National League East for four consecutive years. Three of the top five seasons in WAR by a pitcher since 2005 have come on the Phillies (Roy Halladay 2011 and 2010, Cliff Lee 2011). Three of the top 6 pitchers in total WAR since 2005 played on the Phillies (Halladay is second, Lee is third, and Cole Hamels is sixth). Chase Utley is second only to Albert Pujols in total WAR since 2005. In this giant group of all time greats, only one player is the perfect icon for the team: Jimmy Rollins.

Short, scrappy, and absurdly talented: Jimmy Rollins is the perfect Philadelphia sports icon.

Rollins' career saw him lead two generations of Phillies teams. From 1988-2000 the Phils only had 1 winning season, their 97 win 1993. The next best season after that was 78 wins in 1991. Then, in 2001, Jroll's rookie year, they started winning. From 2001-2012, they only had one losing season (2002 when they went 80-81). For his first few years, Rollins was part of a pretty good core of Phillies along with Bobby Abreu, Scott Rolen, Placido Polanco, Mike Lieberthal, and Jim Thome. With that group they were able to average 85 wins per year from 2001-2004. When the Phillies were ready to transition from a good to a great team Rollins led the way. Before the 2007 season began, he said:

“The Mets had a chance to win the World Series last year. Last year is over. I think we are the team to beat in the NL East, finally. But, that's only on paper."

That season the Phillies won the first of their four consecutive division championships. From 2005-2007 the Phillies young talent exploded as they brought up players like Utley, Hamels, Ryan Howard, Carlos Ruiz, Shane Victorino, Jayson Werth, and Ryan Madson as well as adding Jamie Moyer and Brad Lidge in free agency. In the late 2000s and early 10's they added Halladay, Lee, and Roy Oswalt. Throughout all this time, Jimmy Rollins remained the team's leader.

Lidge and Ruiz after winning the World Series

With his leadership alone, Rollins' status as a Phillies legend would have been guaranteed. But Rollins was never all talk. He is an incredible player. In Phillies history, he is 10^th all time in career WAR, second in games played, third in runs scored, first in hits, first in doubles, third in triples, ninth in home runs, and second in steals. He is among the leaders in pretty much every statistical category for a team that has been around since 1883.

Rollins sets the Phillies all time hits record. Great moment for a great player.

Rollins' variety of skills is almost unbelievable. In only 14 seasons, he has 2306 hits, 216 home runs, 479 doubles, 111 triples, and 453 steals. There have been only six players in the history of the MLB with 2,000+ hits, 200+ home runs, and 450+ stolen bases: Paul Molitor, Rickey Henderson, Barry Bonds, Roberto Alomar, Joe Morgan, and Rollins. Only Molitor and Rollins have also had over 100 career triples. Rollins has played 289 fewer career games than Roberto Alomar, the player with the next fewest career games played in this club.

J Roll and Manager Charlie Manuel

How about this for well-roundedness: in 2007, the year Rollins won the MVP, he hit .296/.344/.531 with 30 homers, 38 doubles, 20 triples, and 41 steals. That season put him in the exclusive 20-20-20-20 club of players who recorded at least 20 homers, doubles, triples, and steals in a single season. He is only joined in this club by Willie Mays in 1957 (35 homers, 26 doubles, 20 triples, and 38 steals) and Frank “Wildfire” Schlute in 1911 (21 homers, 30 doubles, 21 triples, and 23 steals). You know you're good when the only player to match you within 90 seasons is Willie Mays.

Willie Mays: You might have heard of him. He was pretty good.

Rollins has had five seasons with at least 10 hr, 20 2b, 10 3b, and 30 sb, and had two more where he met all of the criteria but with only 9 triples. This is tied for the most such seasons in MLB history. Only Carl Crawford and Jose Reyes match him with five, only George Sisler has done it four times, and only Willie Mays and Johnny Damon have three 10-20-10-30 seasons. Very few players can even come close to comparing to Rollins in his ability to fill up a stat sheet.

During his Phillies career Rollins wasn't just the team's vocal leader and one of the most versatile offensive players ever. He is a fantastic defensive player at shortstop, the second hardest position on the field after catcher. Of all shortstops in MLB history, Rollins is 21^st in double plays turned, 30^th in total fielding runs above average, 3^rd in fielding percentage, and is tied for 6^th in Gold Gloves with 4.

Rollins and Utley, the greatest double play team of their generation

Rollins wasn't a perfect player. He struck out too often for a lead off hitter, and could have probably hit for a much higher average if he swung with less power. These flaws were often criticized by the Philadelphia fans (you know, the ones who booed Donavan McNabb when he was drafted and drove Scott Rolen and Eric Lindros out of town). However, Jimmy Rollins is the perfect Philadelphia athlete.
Philly wants tough guys and big talkers, hyper competitive types who have been called too small or too slow their whole lives. We want Brian Dawkins, Brian Westbrook, and Allen Iverson. Philly sports fans have a completely different attitude from that of fans of other teams around the country. That comes with having incredibly passionate fans and teams that are mostly successful but rarely great. The Eagles have never won the Super Bowl, the Phillies have more total losses than any other major sports franchise, Villanova and the 76ers haven't won a championship since the 80s, and the Sixers' current goal is to lose as many games as possible. Compare that to fans in New York who can root for consistent excellence with the Yankees, Giants, and Rangers, or, if they are masochists, choose to cheer on the Jets, Nets, Mets, Islanders, and Knicks. Being New York fans they will also be completely ignorant of whether their team is actually any good and just assume that they are. San Francisco fans have had 2 of the 5 greatest football players ever (Montana and Rice) and 2 of the 3 best baseball players ever (Mays and Bonds), have won 5 Super Bowls, and seem to be on track to win the World Series every other year for the rest of time. Boston fans have a chip on their shoulder like Philly fans, but their 4 major teams have won 25 championships since 1960 and 9 in the past 15 years, so they really shouldn't complain. The most similar sports city to Philadelphia is really Seattle, who had their beloved Sonics stolen to go play in one of America's worst states, have won zero championships with the Mariners (despite having all time greats like Ken Griffey Jr, Alex Rodriguez, Ichiro, Jamie Moyer, and Randy Johnson and winning a MLB record 116 games in 2001), and had never won a Super Bowl with the Seahawks until 2014.
Effortless greats like Alex Rodriguez or Shaquille O'Neal would never fit in in Philly. Terell Owens is one of the most hated athletes in Philadelphia sports history. Philly boxers are always the underdog to the more perfect, more polished, more athletic guy; think Rocky Vs Apollo Creed, Joe Frazier vs. Muhammad Ali, or Bernard Hopkins vs Roy Jones Jr. Philadelphia was once America's capital, home of Benjamin Franklin and the Liberty bell; but today is always overshadowed by New York, Boston, and Washington DC. Now remember that back in 2001, Jimmy Rollins finished fifth in Rookie of the Year voting after Albert Pujols, Ichiro Suzuki, Roy Oswalt, and CC Sabathia. Looking back to that year, as a Phillies fan, who would I want to pick to play on my team for the next 15 years? Pujols, the muscular baseball god who would go on to be the greatest hitter of his generation? Ichiro, the smooth, polished, ready-made superstar from Japan? The short Mississippi ace Oswalt, or the giant fastballer Sabathia? Given the choice, I think it worked out perfectly. I would want to have the short, speedy guy from Oakland who was just cocky enough to believe that he could be a power hitter and that the Phillies could overcome years of mediocrity to win the World Series. He may not have been as great a player as Chase Utley or Roy Halladay, but the Phillies would not have become the team they became without Rollins.