Larry Bowa's Phillies showed their fightin' spirit in a brawl with the Marlins on April 22. AP

More than one preseason darling has stumbled out of the gates this season. The Blue Jays, Diamondbacks, Mariners and Royals come to mind. And we can't forget that outfit in the Bronx.

But the most fascinating case of underachievement may be taking place in Citizens Bank Park, the new home of the Phillies and (for now, anyway) manager Larry Bowa. Sure, the Phils' 9-10 record going into Thursday's games isn't that bad, even if they were expected to have their way with the rest of the NL East. Heck, they're only four games out of first.

But take away their 5-1 mark against the Expos, baseball's worst team (see below), and the situation takes on a bleaker look. Even more telling is the fractious Bowa. Will Rogers, as they say, never met the Phils' skipper.

Bowa's temperament is so grating that months after they parted ways, Phillies expatriate Tyler Houston, now writing a newspaper column in Las Vegas, is still taking shots at him. And vice versa.

Last week may have been the capper. Asked why he yanked Randy Wolf after 86 pitches and used Billy Wagner for a fourth straight day, Bowa went off, accusing reporters of trying to get him fired. "Two or three of you [expletive] are doing everything in your power to stick a [expletive] knife in my back," he said during a four-minute rant that eventually included 19 words that would make your mom dash for the Ivory.

And that was after a victory.

Maybe Bowa is right. Maybe it's not paranoia if they really are out to get you. On the other hand, perhaps he should be worrying more about how to beat the Marlins, a team that's 9-0 against the Phillies since last Sept. 23. Just a thought.

MLB Power Rankings Rank LW Team 1 2 Florida Marlins So far, so good for Armando Benitez, whose 10 saves are tied for the most in the majors. The well-traveled closer has taken more than a few shots over the years. Then again, he's given up his share, too. 2 6 Boston Red Sox Backup catcher Doug Mirabelli hit two home runs in a game last week, but don't expect him to ask for more playing time. "Overexposure," he said, "is the quickest way out of this game." 3 1 Los Angeles Dodgers When Eric Gagne gave up a homer to Barry Bonds on April 16, he became the 14th Cy Young Award winner to be so victimized. Hey, don't pretend you don't want to know this stuff. 4 3 Minnesota Twins Lew Ford asked a teammate during spring training if the opposing pitcher was someone they'd faced in Pawtucket last season. The pitcher was Keith Foulke. In this case, ignorance really is bliss: Ford is batting .529 with runners in scoring position, tops in the AL. 5 9 Chicago Cubs How about Dusty Baker screwing up the double switch the other night, then getting kicked out of the game when he argued about it with an ump? Could have been worse, I guess. Could have happened in Philadelphia. 6 7 Cincinnati Reds Danny Graves got upset last week in Chicago when Cubs broadcaster Ron Santo said Graves looked like he'd had a few Krispy Kreme donuts. Three words, Danny: pinstripe road unis. 7 8 Chicago White Sox Then there's Frank Thomas complaining about his $6 million salary being too small, then complaining about writers making him sound negative. Gee, Frank, you made $9.9 million for playing in 20 games in 2001 -- how could anyone do that? 8 4 Baltimore Orioles When Martin Sheen, as The West Wing's Jed Bartlett, threw out the first pitch last week at Camden Yard, he became the third fictional president to do so at an Orioles game. No, smart guy, Dubya isn't one of the others. 9 5 Houston Astros They're barely above .500 right now, but don't blame Andy Pettitte's absence. Jimy Williams' team is 3-0 in games the lefty would have started if he weren't on the DL. 10 18 San Diego Padres The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) sponsors a commemorative brick at new PETCO Park. The brick reads: "Break Open Your Cold Ones! Toast The Padres! Enjoy This Championship Organization!" Spell out the first letter of each word. 11 17 Texas Rangers They went into Thursday's games leading the AL with a .314 average. Only the mean-spirited would note that's 61 points higher than former captain Alex Rodriguez's .253. 12 10 Detroit Tigers Brandon Inge has started games at catcher, third base, left field and center field this season, the first major leaguer to do so since Ron Pruitt in 1980. He's also the Tigers' emergency spare-the-bullpen pitcher, a much less demanding job this season than last. 13 15 Anaheim Angels Reliever Ben Weber decided to shave off a new 8-inch beard after giving up runs in five of his first seven appearances. "The chicks were digging it, but the ERA was not," he said. "Actually, the chicks weren't digging it either." 14 12 Atlanta Braves How much does Bobby Cox hate the team's new gray road jackets? "I'd rather wear pink," he said. At least, we hope those jackets are the reason he said it. 15 16 St. Louis Cardinals When Mark McGwire returned to St. Louis last week, he called his time with the Cards the "greatest four years of my life as a ballplayer." Somewhere, a disconsolate Jose Canseco is saying, "You know, you think you know someone ..." 16 19 Milwaukee Brewers They're the only team in either league that hasn't used the disabled list this season. Which, as long as Ben Sheets is on the roster, has to make Ned Yost extremely nervous. 17 14 New York Yankees There's talk that Milton Bradley's role model, Kenny Lofton, is available for the right price. Who wouldn't be interested in a grumpy, injured 36-year-old outfielder hitting .167 with a two-year, $6.2 million contract? 18 11 Oakland Athletics Barry Zito was tipping his pitches, shaking his glove slightly before throwing a curve, until ESPN's Rob Dibble and teammate Jermaine Dye alerted him. He also no longer yells, "Swing, batter!" before throwing his fastball. 19 13 Pittsburgh Pirates Pitcher Kris Benson has six sacrifice bunts this season. Only three AL teams, the Indians (8), White Sox (7) and Tigers (7), have more. See No. 3 above. 20 24 Philadelphia Phillies They lost five in a row, won four, then lost three before winning four of the past five. Said Randy Wolf: "I think we're sponsored by Tums." 21 21 Tampa Bay Devil Rays Their average attendance of 25,839 isn't bad -- until you realize MLB is counting the two sellout crowds of 55,000 for the Tokyo games with the Yankees. Otherwise, it's 18,548 -- 28th out of 30 teams. And Donald Fehr thinks baseball fudges figures. 22 20 Colorado Rockies Because Preston Wilson refused to sign a waiver, the team was restricted in what it could disclose about his condition after undergoing knee surgery this week. Still, the word "ouchie" doesn't really tell us a lot. 23 30 Arizona Diamondbacks Roberto Alomar, out for two months with a broken hand and maybe done, still gets way too much heat for that spitting incident a few years back. An old-timer named Frenchy Bordagaray was once fined $500 for doing the same thing. "The penalty was a little more than I expectorated," he said. 24 22 San Francisco Giants Even more impressive than his string of homers is Bonds' on-base percentage of .687. That's 105 points higher than the record set by Bonds in 2002. Not bad for a guy whose worst month usually has been April. 25 23 New York Mets Mike Piazza hit his 351st homer as a catcher this week, tying Carlton Fisk atop the all-time list. And Fisk never did a TV commercial with ALF, did he? 26 29 Toronto Blue Jays Is Carlos Delgado unflappable or what? Last week someone asked him if his bad knee was responsible for an early season slump. "It only hurts when I run," Delgado said. "So it's feeling great right now." 27 26 Kansas City Royals Then there's Tony Pena, the anti-Bowa. Pena is so loose that after a fifth straight loss last week, he walked into the showers and began soaping up -- in full uniform. The story would have a better ending if the Royals hadn't gone on to lose No. 6 the next night. 28 27 Cleveland Indians The only pitcher who didn't give up a run in last week's 15-5 loss to the Royals was catcher Tim Laker. Of course, Laker was working on 960 days' rest. He also pitched a scoreless inning against the White Sox in 2001. 29 25 Seattle Mariners Closer Eddie Guardardo needed to get four outs for his save Tuesday night against the Orioles. None of his 45 saves last season required more than three outs. "I can't remember the last time I came into the game in the eighth inning," Guardardo said between puffs of oxygen. 30 28 Montreal Expos They scored 27 runs in their first 16 games. The Cardinals hit 34 home runs in their first 15 games. Yeah, baseball is a game of inches. Sometimes, though, it's a whole lot of inches.

Dan George is a Senior Producer for SI.com. Information gathered from various news sources.