Gonzo: Phils' 2012 about erasing 2011

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Its so close now. The truck filled with bats and balls and gum and sunflower seeds and all the other essentials has already headed south. So have many of the players, the manager and the general manager.

Pitchers and catchers report this weekend. That is a glorious phrase, all anticipation and excitement. It is, most seasons, about looking forward. This year, it is also about looking back. It cant be avoided. Not after the Phillies won a club-record 102 regular season games a year ago -- and certainly not after they were prematurely forced from the postseason by supercilious Tony La Russa and the St. Louis Cardinals.

The way last season ended -- with Ryan Howard crumpled on the ground and the Cards celebrating -- has so much to do with how this season begins. Because if last season ended in disappointment, then it follows that this season begins with expectation -- and pressure.

Across the board, Ruben Amaro recently told NBC 10, theyre a hungry group.

The Phillies were supposed to win it all last year. The oddsmakers believed it would happen and so did many of the fans. Then the Phils hit a dispiriting .226 against the Cardinals and failed to register a single run in Game 5 of the NLDS. When the World Series celebration was later held in that backwater burg that Missourians (Missourites? Missourers?) try to pass off as a proper city, it was hard to fathom.

How did that happen? How did the Phillies, a club with a dominant pitching staff and an experienced roster, not finish the year perched on parade floats?

And so, yes, because of that unanticipated and painful setback, this season will be about rewriting last years heart-wrenching script and penning a more agreeable ending -- something that will make the populace smile rather than sob when the curtain finally comes down. They are a veteran group, which is another way of saying that the core is getting older. That probably has a lot to do with why people around here seem so anxious for them to win another title sometime soon.

The average age for the Phillies last year was 31.6. Shane Victorino is 31. Ryan Howard is 32. Chase Utley, Jimmy Rollins and Carlos Ruiz are 33. Placido Polanco is 36. Among prospective starters, only Hunter Pence (who will turn 29 in April) and John Mayberry (28) are under 30.

The age wouldnt be a factor if our guys were healthy, Amaro said in the NBC 10 interview. Really, 32, 33, 34 -- is that old, or are they still in their prime? Thats the question. I think these guys take care of themselves. Im really looking forward to this year, because I think there are some guys who dont feel like they did the sorts of things theyre accustomed to doing. I think theyre chomping at the bit. And I like when people start talking about them being old, because it probably put a little bit of a chip on their shoulders. And thats OK. I dont have any problem with that.

If it is all about health, if that is the only thing that crippled the Phillies last season, then it should be noted that Amaro believes the team has mostly mended going into spring training. Amaro said Polanco is feeling great and Pence (who had offseason surgery) is 100 percent. Amaro also said he expects more from Utley and Howard this year.

People have talked a lot about Chase and Ryan, and I think those guys are going to have great years, Amaro said. I think they have plenty of years ahead of them. Chase is a guy with a great deal of pride. Hes had some injury issues, but I think he knows how to deal with them a little bit better now. I know Ryan was extremely disappointed with how things finished the last couple of years. Hes a guy with a lot of pride who wants to live up to the expectations. I look forward to watching those two guys. Theyre important elements to our club, and I feel very confident that theyll get back to being Chase and Ryan.

Amaro spent a lot of time talking about Utley and Howard, but they are not the only ones who will be scrutinized this season. The entire organization has something to prove -- from Amaro and the front office to Manuel and his staff to the last man on the roster.

This will be the fourth season since the Fightins ended the citys insufferable championship drought. Either they will win it all again or they wont. Either they will pass the only test that matters or they will fail. Either the fans will rejoice or they will weep. Theres no middle ground. Not anymore. This will be a season of absolutes, then. Right or wrong, that is how the Phillies are judged these days.

E-mail John Gonzalez at jgonzalez@comcastsportsnet.com

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