Time for Middleton’s quiet year to end

Whether pre- scripted or from an in- the- moment adrenaline rush, certain quotations from pro sports owners will be seared into the permanent record.

Jeffrey Lurie once called the Eagles the NFL’s gold standard, then had to hear about it until his team became the gold standard.

Josh Harris looked at a 19- win Sixers season and called it a “huge success,” a faulty statement that will follow him into Philadelphia sports lore.

Bill Giles, otherwise a public relations magician, once called the Phillies a “small market” team. Before the sentence was completed, he was being mailed census reports.

So, it happens. There are microphones and there are opportunities and there is the reality that moneyed individuals can say plenty without much fear. It’s what happened to John Middleton a couple of times.

Once, he vowed to yank theWorld Series trophy back to Philadelphia or “die trying.” Later, he volunteered to be a little “stupid” in his spending for free agents. His theme was clear: Hewas never going to be satisfied with finishing a seasonwithout a head full of confetti.

It’s been a year sinceMiddleton has saidmuch in public. Made aware that he came off as unnecessarily bossy in a rambling public firing of Gabe Kapler last October, he has avoided mass press gatherings, even those of the cyber variety. That’s his choice. Besides, actions always beat the spread over words.

To his credit, Middleton has been close towhat he promised. He signed Bryce Harper for 13 years. He realized that Kapler was the wrongmanager for the wrong city and, against the counsel of his baseball people, fired him just a few hours after treating himto dinner. He authorized the extra barrel full of bucks for Joe Girardi, themost appealing manager available. He even showed the courtesy ofmeeting with the fanswho’d been irrationally banned from the ballpark this season, yet who nightly would act up beyond the centerfield gate. That was a sign of a genuinely decent man and neighbor.

Eventually, though, the managing- partner- ownerCEO or howeverMiddleton insists on being described will be judged by the same standards that Gabe Kapler was judged: Did youwin? And because the Phillies haven’t had a winning season in five years, that tosses Middleton into familiar and dangerous public territory. He is either going to take command of the situation, the way he promised to do six dozen times in his last public rant, or he is going to morph into a punch line.

Middleton tried to step out of the way after exposing his true feelings last October. That’s when he basically told the public that Matt Klentak’s opinions were worthless. But he can’t ramble about how he is the corner- office company big shot one October, then keep his teampresident and general manager employed after a disastrous year the next.

As the Phillies were tumbling into a 1964- ish collapse in the last 10 days, Klentak and Andy MacPhail were being rightly ridiculed. Girardi escaped that, for he is a 1,000- win manager who does not deserve to be blistered after 60 games, too many of the cockeyed seveninning variety, another handful played under nonsensical extra- inning rules. The players who deserved to be roastedwere roasted. The ones who didn’t were not.

Then, therewasMiddleton, who one year ago so famously roared that he has this. Well, does he? That is the No. 1mystery of a Phillies offseason that has arrived too soon. DoesMiddleton have the determination tomatch the pot in the bidding for J. T. Realmuto, a catcher on a Hall of Fame arc? That’s what Harper demanded, all but publicly calling in some kind of IOU from management, saying, “The ability to sign free agents and get to the playoffs iswhy I came here.” Maybe Middleton did promise that, or maybe he was business smart enough to just make Harper think he was promising that. But his “die trying” outburst suggests that hemade his Hall of Famebound right fielder confident that the Phillies would play in the no- limit room.

Due to unreasonable governmental restrictions on personal liberty this summer, the Phillies’ business office took one high and tight. But even if the coronavirus shutdown costs Middleton a quarter- billion dollars, that would only downgrade him from a $ 3.5- billionaire to a $ 3.25- billionaire.

So spare Phillies fans any suggestion that a drain on popcorn sales compromises his ability to finance a contender.

There is no reason to believeMiddleton will go there. Not only is he too smart for that, but spending is not the reason why the Phillies keep failing. No, they keep failing because Middleton has invested in the wrong decisionmakers. MacPhail has shown nomotivation. Klentak can’t judge talent. They both should have been fired Sunday, before the bat racks were dumped. Who would trust them to recruitRealmuto, or to properly spend themoney the Phillies would save should he sign somewhere else?

Middleton is known for thinking things through. That’s what he did in the Harper chase before finally making the right move. That’s what he did last year, waiting 11 days before tossing Kapler. So if he wants to think, let himthink. But his grace period is over.

JohnMiddleton has said he will make all the right decisions, for he is the boss. He has tomake themnow and emerge as a franchise savior, or stay underground and be viewed as a failure in his hometown.

As he said 10 times just a year ago, he’s in charge.