When was the last time a Phillies team was this disappointing?

I understand that when you first read that headline you are going to think that I’m a moron, and that’s fine. But, I can explain. You are probably wondering if I have watched the Philadelphia Phillies at all in my 33 years on this planet.

But, think about it for a minute. How many truly disappointing Phillies teams can you remember? Sure, they’ve been stinking up the joint for years and years. That’s been par for the course. But, have they been disappointing?

Not really. A quick review of recent history shows us a team that ran into a better team in the New York Yankees in 2009. A team that won the World Series in 2008. A team that ran into a white-hot buzzsaw in the Colorado Rockies in 2007.

Before that? Well, they had some decent teams with some talent scattered on the roster, but I don’t think anyone was really surprised that they didn’t do much. Remember all the years we wanted Ed Wade to make a blockbuster deal at the trade deadline, only to hear a response to the effect of “we don’t need better players, we need the players we do have to play better”? (Side note: If Wade did make one of those deals and they included the names of prospects like Chase Utley and Ryan Howard, the Phils don’t have a World Series ring right now. Bravo, Ed). Yeah, at the time it was really annoying. If a guy is a career .250 hitter, Ed, then chances are that’s what he’ll be this year and next. You can ask all you like.

So I want to ask everyone to help me here. When was the last time a Phillies team was this disappointing? When was the last time the distance between expectations and performance was the equivalent of a kayak ride from Thailand to San Diego? When did these Phillies have an ace like Roy Halladay, a former World Series MVP in Cole Hamels, and a lineup built of guys who formed the best lineup in all of MLB for much of last year?

Not making the playoffs with Robert Person as your ace? It happens. In fact, it’s expected. That’s not disappointing. Tyler Green as the savior of the franchise? No thanks. Pat Combs? Same answer. “World Series or Bust” with Tom Herr and Randy Ready? C’mon.

Even in 1993, the team overachieved. They gave us a ride we never expected; that wasn’t disappointing at all. The Blue Jays were a better team.

Was 1964 the last big-time letdown from this franchise? The late 1970’s probably produced some disappointing teams, considering they had guys like Mike Schmidt and Steve Carlton.

The Flyers disappointed us in 1997 (and many, many other years) with a talented roster that didn’t get it done. The Eagles? How about 2002 and 2003? And that’s just off the top of my head. Disappointment happens in this city all the time, but when was the last time you think you were truly, truly disappointed in a Phillies season?

For my money, I haven’t seen anything like what we’ve seen out of this 2010 season. Injuries, lack of a bullpen…sure those are problems. But there is still enough talent out on that field that they shouldn’t be putting up yet another one-run performance like they did Wednesday night in a loss against the St. Louis Cardinals.

So tell me, when was the last time you had expectations for this baseball team that fell so woefully short?