​It’s back.After 30 years of waiting, MLB’s Midsummer Classic has returned to Philadelphia. Replete with six Phillies participating, including their two biggest stars in Monday night’s Home Run Derby, the center of the baseball world resides in the City of Brotherly Love through Tuesday night’s All Star Game.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementAnd this time around, the Phils are prominently featured.It’s been a minute since the city last hosted this spectacle, and to say the 2026 Phillies are different from the 1996 group that slogged their way through a brutal last place finish in one of the worst seasons in franchise history is like saying tofu and ground beef are different.Below is an article I wrote back in 2014, remembering one of the most depressing nights I’ve ever experienced as a baseball fan — the night a dilapidated Veterans Stadium hosted the biggest stars in baseball, and virtually none of them played for the hometown nine.***AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementI would like to submit that the 1996 season was the most depressing season in recent Philadelphia Phillies history.As bad as this season has been, it doesn’t hold a candle to ’96. After all, we are watching a core that won a World Series in 2008, got to another one in 2009, and made five straight playoff appearances. Those memories, although they grow a bit fainter each day, are still strong.The Phillies are also officially a big budget team now. Even though it’s hard to imagine this team being competitive in the next two or three years, it is conceivable that, once some of these big salaries are off the books, some key international signings are hopefully made and a couple more draft classes are brought into the farm system, the Phils could be good again soon.Plus, fans still get to see games at beautiful Citizens Bank Park, one of the crown jewels of Major League Baseball.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementIn 1996, none of that was true.The Phillies played at the decrepit Vet, on its very last legs at that point. Their payroll of $30.4 million was 16th in baseball, and although the team won the National League pennant in 1993, the strike of ‘94 killed the sport for many Phils’ fans, leading to a malaise and lack of enthusiasm that was almost stifling for the few of us who actually still deeply cared about the franchise and the sport.That season, the Phillies finished 67-95, and in last place in the National League East, 29 games out of first. This was their starting lineup:Benito Santiago – CGregg Jefferies – 1BMickey Morandini – 2BKevin Stocker – SSTodd Zeile – 3BPete Incavaglia – LFRicky Otero – CFJim Eisenreich – RFLenny Dykstra was limited to 40 games, while Darren Daulton played just five. Stalwarts like Mark Whiten, Wendell Magee, Kevin Sefcik, Mike Benjamin, David Doster, Desi Relaford and Bobby Estalella littered the injury-filled roster, as only three players (Santiago, Morandini and Zeile) played more than 13