We have not seen this before. You have to start there with Rhys Hoskins, whether you are a longtime and long-suffering fan of the Phillies, a casual follower of Major League Baseball, or a person who immerses yourself in the sport. No player had ever hit 11 home runs in his first 18 major league games until Hoskins. No hitter has needed so little time to thrill a fan base so much.
The start of Hoskins' career is special not only because of what he has done. It is special, too, because he has done it for the Phillies. When Gary Sanchez hits 20 home runs in 53 games as a rookie, he is presumed to be merely the latest in a line of great Yankees catchers: Bill Dickey, Yogi Berra, Thurman Munson, Jorge Posada, now Sanchez. When Aaron Judge launches 30 home runs before the all-star break, he launches himself immediately into the realm of myth, inspiring references to Ruth and Gehrig and Mantle. When you play for the most successful and renowned franchise in baseball, such comparisons are a cliche. With Hoskins, sure, people reference Ryan Howard and Chase Utley and maybe, if they were around for and remember his prime, Mike Schmidt. Still, Hoskins is not regarded as the latest link in a chain of greatness. If anything, there is surprise that he is doing this, and that he is doing it here, for this team.
That surprise, if you know anything about Phillies history, is understandable. Hoskins appears to be the real thing: an accomplished slugger who has hit well at every level of the team's system, who has an advanced command of the strike zone, who by all accounts possesses the maturity to handle the pressure and expectations that are ahead for him. But in watching Hoskins' space-rocket rise, it's difficult not to think back to those players from the Phillies' past who showed similar promise but couldn't sustain it. It is a familiar, recurring story for this franchise. This, we have seen before. Here are six of the most infamous and egregious examples of a Phillies phenom who flamed out, in order of increasing infamy. (They're not quite as egregious as the alliteration of that previous sentence, but you get the idea.)
