Lieby Gets His Place In The Sun
Posted by Tim Malcolm, Mon, June 02, 2008 09:09 AM | Comments: 10
Posts
I let this one go yesterday, but it’s definitely worthy of a post.
Mike Lieberthal retired as a member of the Phillies yesterday. He signed a one-day contract worth $4 (How do they come to that figure?) and threw out the first pitch before the Phils-Marlins tilt. Said Lieby:
“To put everything I had into the Phillies for 13 years, it’s pretty special. You don’t see too many players who stay with one team in any sport for that long of a period. It’s definitely an honor to come here and finish with the Phillies.”
Lieby caught 1,139 games for the Phils, the most ever for a red-pinned catcher. He hit .276 with 150 home runs and 609 RBI with the Phils. His best season was probably 1999, when he hit 31 homers and drove in 96, batting a cool .300. He hit .313 in 2003.
Most Phillie fans would place Lieby behind at least Bob Boone and Darren Daulton on all-time franchise lists. But statistically, Lieby trumps Dutch in major categories. Where would you put Lieby all-time?
Posts: 0 Don M
Dutch was just the “leader” on a team with good players… Kruk, Dykstra…
Leiberthal had to go out there everyday with nothing else on the field… remember when Doug Glanville was among the best players on the roster?? Marlon Anderson, Rico Brogna, Desi Relaford…
Lieby had his good seasons, always seemed like a good guy. I heard they signed him to a whopping $12 contract… $1 a month, for a year-long, minor league contract (that David Montgomery paid out of his own pocked…) So enough with calling the owners cheap ok!? $12 is serious change.. that could be 3 gallons of gas right now…
Posted: 09:24 AM on June 2, 2008
Posts: 0 Geoff
Lieb goes behind bob boone. daulton bolted for money and a title for one year in florida then retired. i think lieb goes second all time in phillies history because of the longevity. not the geatest hitting catcher but was a steady option at that position for a long time in this organization. anytime someone can be a stabilizing force for a decade you have to appreciate that to some extent.
Posted: 09:33 AM on June 2, 2008
Posts: 0 Lewisauce
It’s good to see this happen. I liked Lieby a lot. His last season or so was kinda painful, but he was here through thick and thin (mostly thin). He’s a character guy who deserves some honors and accolades.
Posted: 09:34 AM on June 2, 2008
Posts: 1650 Tim Malcolm
Edit: So David Murphy’s story says Lieby was given $12 (one for each year of his Phils tenure) out of David Montgomery’s pocket. Nice symbolic move. But the DN headline for the story? “Lieby costs a lot less this time.” That’s trash.
Meanwhile, Randy Miller says the $4 (he signed with Reading) were for a $1 every month.. Finally, nice tidbit about how Lieby celebrated the Phils division title last season while in the Dodgers clubhouse. I’m glad he got a nice send-off yesterday.
Posted: 09:38 AM on June 2, 2008
Posts: 0 Phil
Lieby was a good hitting catcher in the middle of his career…
Posted: 09:41 AM on June 2, 2008
Posts: 0 Brian
Lieberthal is symbolic of the loser Francona years and the Bowa years where the teams were never good enough and they were all either too comfortable under Francona or too uptight under Bowa.
He was an average hitter for a couple of years…that’s about it. The only reason he was here so long was the ridiculous contract he had and the fac that no one else wanted to pay him that and the ownership was too cheap to pick up part of it or release him outright.
He did play with a bunch of stiffs for a lot of years but I’m not sure that retiring a a phillie was necessary.
Also what was up with the shirts that the broadcasters wore yesterday?
Posted: 10:58 AM on June 2, 2008
Posts: 0 Don M
haha, thats funny about the shirts… i thought the same thing… at some point they need to realize that you can’t just put team logo’s on everything and pass them off as merchandise… what the hell does a royal blue shirt with navy blue palm trees have to do with the Philadelphia Phillies…
anyone that plays with one team for more than a decade should retire with that team.. good move by the phillies and leiberthal to make that happen.. no, he’s not great and probably shouldn’t be celebrated too much, but a standing ovation on a sunday afternoon… good for him…
Posted: 11:27 AM on June 2, 2008
Posts: 0 Phil
Are you guys crazy? He had several good seasons with the Phils. 2 time all-star and a gold glove. He has a career BA of .274 which isn’t shabby by any means, and it’s much better than Darren Daultons career BA of .245. I don’t say retire the guys number or anything but he was a staple of the Phillies for a long time. He just played on the team when they were really, really bad.
Posted: 11:58 AM on June 2, 2008
Posts: 0 Greg
Lieby was a solid player, but he’s waaaaaaayyy behind Daulton in UFO spottings
Posted: 12:40 PM on June 2, 2008
Posts: 0 Phil
Daulton has to win the award for most insane baseball player of all time.
Posted: 12:43 PM on June 2, 2008