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Confused yet?

John Powers Middleton, pictured here on just a lazy Thursday evening with LEONARDO FUCKING DICAPRIO*, is the son of Phillies part-owner, limited partner John S. Middleton, who, thanks to some awkward insinuation from Dennis Deitch of the Delco Times and Bob Brookover of the Inquirer, has been rumored to be “taking control” of the Phillies.

You may recall that the Family Middleton, who made their money in cigars, was allegedly the driving force behind the Phillies spending $125 million on Cliff Lee in 2010. John, the faaaaather, is also, for some reason, viewed as the one man who can save the Phillies, because he ostensibly cares the most about winning out of the grab bag of birth lottery winners that have their hands in the Phillies’ pot. That may or may not be true, but it makes for a nice, neat story for people to project on the Phillies, and so it is written, by Deitch

David Montgomery’s battle with cancer has created a change above Amaro, with senior advisor Pat Gillick serving as acting team president and part-owner John Middleton showing signs that he might become more actively involved in the operations.

… and by Brookover:

A man who can tell them what to do was visible after Sunday’s season finale. John Middleton, the most involved of the ownership partners, sat alone just outside the clubhouse following the final game and admitted it has been a long, difficult season.

Exactly how much influence he’ll have in the offseason decision-making process remains to be seen, but his is definitely a voice that is growing louder, and the Phillies have some serious financial issues to resolve in the coming months.

Last night and this morning, the son, John Powers**, who executive produced The Lego Movie (and who is exactly my age, which makes me feel wildly unaccomplished), went on a weird Twitter rant about the whole thing, explaining to people that, um, he’s not the droid they’re looking for but go Phils! It’s aggregated here for your reading ease:

To whom it may concern, I have not read these articles – not because I’m not interested in fan opinion but rather because false conjecture bothers me – but I have heard from friends in Philly there is wild speculation today over the Phillies. Remember 99% of what you read is totally inaccurate. And one more point brought to my attention. A general partner control baseball operating decisions. Limited partners vote on a variety of things, which may or may not be specifically on the field related. Limited partners are owners, the people involved in said limited partnership are equity shareholders and directors technically. The structure is far more complexed than it appears is being discussed and understood in articles and/or online. Also, I am a film and tv producer – seemingly confusion there also. But there’s this fantastic invention called Google, as well as other sites like IMDbPro (regular often inaccurate). I live in Malibu because I work in LA. One thing I can tell you, the Phillies are doing their best in a bad situation. The team just gave you arguably one of the three best runs in NL history, the others being, in my opinion, the 60s Cardinals and 90s Braves. Philly prides itself on being tough, but also LOYAL to its core. Changes and new additions, rough stretches, these are a fact of sport. Death, taxes, and your sports team will not win the championship every year. So please continue to support a team trying to right its ship, certainly spending the money necessary to do so, and look forward to the upswing and many more years of great baseball, consecutive pennants and division titles, and world championships to come. I’m proud to be a Philadelphian, but I’m not proud a fan base built on LOYALTY is abandoning ship because of a series of bad years. We are better than that. #GoPhils

The questions being directed towards me about the team. And to let people know I understand and respect their disappointment and opinions, but that doesn’t give me the right or appropriate amount of first hand knowledge to responsibly answer the questions being directed at me.

 

On Cuban sensation Yasami Thomas:

It would be great to have him from all accounts. Top 3 payroll the past 5-6 years should show the Phils are committed if he’s the real deal. I can assure you they know you bleed PHILLIES red, & they want to reward that just as much as you them to.

OK, two thoughts:

1) That was weird.

2) People are dumb. From the looks of it, a handful of knuckleheads have been tweeting questions about the Phillies to The Powers of John – the Phillies limited partner’s movie prodoucer son, mind you – as a result of those reports, to the point that J to the P felt the need to go on a weird Twitter rant explaining business and basic common sense. Idiots abound.

*Not gonna lie– I like Powers’ shirt here.

**Also thinking about coopting his middle name. Kyle Powers Scott.

UPDATE: Can probably do without this Dodgers hat, though:

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Hashtag GoPhils?

via (@laurasgoldman), Bleed Philly