In the time I was away from Philly between 1996 and 2001, Lieberthal went from being an example of why not to draft smallish HS catchers to two-time All-Star to one of the reasons that the Phils couldn't win -- not clutch, didn't care enough, not into the game or emotional enough. He wasn't appreciated for what he was -- a pretty darn good player to have as your catcher.

Does he have to retire? The IronPigs are 3-22, they could use some help.

Lieberthal is probably the second-best catcher in Phillies history, next to Darren Daulton. He deserves this -- he meant so much to the Phillies teams he was on and to the fans who watched him.

Does he have to retire? The IronPigs are 3-22, they could use some help.

Yeah, really.

Just because the Phillies are the first MLB team to 10,000 losses doesn't mean the IronPigs have to try to equal that number as soon as possible.

I count two players on that team (Jason Jaramillo and Brandon Watson) who have a good chance at appearing in more than 30 major-league games in the future.

The offense contains a few AAAA journeymen in their thirties (Chris Woodward, Andy Tracy, Val Pascucci), and then a bunch of guys who are young but not prospects.

The pitching staff contains:
- 3 prospects in their late twenties who are getting their last chance to prove themselves, and failing to do so (J.A. Happ, J.D. Durbin, Travis Blackley)
- 7 AAAA journeymen in their thirties (Kevin Beirne, Matt Childers, John Ennis, Gary Knotts, Steve Green, Brian Mazone, Ron Chiavacci)
- 2 guys in their LATE thirties who were once good MLB relievers (Steve Kline and Vic Darensbourg)

Lieby joined the Phils the year AFTER they won in '93 and left them the year BEFORE they won again in '07 -- almost a Don Mattingly thing going on...

Courtesy PhuturePhillies, a list of the 20 best OPS+ seasons by Phillies catchers since WWII:

Daulton, 1992 - 156
Daulton, 1993 - 135
Burgess, 1954 - 147
Seminick, 1950 - 143
Seminick, 1949 - 138
Lopata, 1956 - 137
Sawatski, 1959 - 131
Burgess, 1952 - 125
Lieberthal, 1999 - 123
Lieberthal, 2003 - 121
Dalrymple, 1962 - 121
Santiago, 1996 - 117
Daulton, 1990 - 117
Daulton, 1990 - 117
Diaz, 1982 - 115
Boone, 1978 - 115
McCarver, 1970 - 111
Boone, 1979 - 113
Virgil, 1984 - 112
Seminick, 1947 - 115
Seminick, 1946 - 114