As I watched the Mets shellack the Dodgers, 4-1, tonight—if you're entire offense is Wilson Betemit, you've had a bad night—and inch closer to my prediction of a sweep, I couldn't help but notice, being a Phils fan and all, that there seem to be more ex-Phils strewn across the various playoff rosters than Phils on their current roster, given that half the team is one the way out of the revolving door that constitutes the team's short-, middle-, and long-range plans. The Mets had Endy Chavez start in right, called in Billy Wagner to close, and pinch-hit with Julio Franco while the Dodgers (inexplicably) started ex-Phils second baseman Marlon Anderson in left.

There are actually four former Philly third basemen peppering the various playoff rosters: Franco (who was mostly a shortstop when the Phils promoted him three decades ago), Nick Punto in Minnesota, ex-"Clubhouse Cancer" Scot Rolen, and Placido Polanco. In total their 16 ex-Phillies still active in the postseason. Besides the ones already mentioned there are Carlos Silva, Michael Tucker, Bobby Abreu, Sal Fasano Corey Lidle, Todd Jones, Josh Hancock, Gary Bennett, and the infamous Robert Horrendous.

I wondered if this was some sort of "record". Was there ever another team that had more ex-teammates playing in the postseason while that team sat at home and watched the playoffs on TV?

It turns out that the Phils don't hold the "record", but they are up there:

You might think that this preoccupation with ex-Phils is rather odd, but if you followed the team, you would know that seeing an odd Nick Punto or Gary Bennett make it to the World Series, it's as if the Phils made it there. That's as close as we get besides the occasional Series lambasting every decade or so. It's like cheering for your team's sole All-Star rep even if it is Wayne Twitchell.