Ryan Howard: The Phillies can ‘catch a wave’ and ride into the playoffs, like his teams once did | Marcus Hayes

The Big Piece says: relax and enjoy the ride.

It’s been seven seasons since the Phillies made the playoffs, and while the Phillies almost certainly won’t regain the lead they once held in the National League East, they are a half-game out of the second wild-card spot and just one game out of the first. Ryan Howard can’t believe he’s watching a summer of discontent.

“They’ve staggered a bit, but they’ve just got to figure out who they are,” Howard said last week. “Just catch one of those waves.”

He played through the thrill of a turnaround, and he’s watching another. The similarities are astonishing.

When Howard landed in the major leagues for good on July 2, 2005, the Phillies were 40-40. That mediocrity seemed to assure a 12th straight year without a postseason. Things didn’t bode well for first-year manager Charlie Manuel, who’d replaced popular firebrand Larry Bowa after the 2004 season. Things boded even worse for general manager Ed Wade.

» BOB BROOKOVER: Former Phillies managers Charlie Manuel and Larry Bowa are baseball’s odd couple

Howard got two hits that day, and the Phillies won. They won 47 more times that season, which made them wild-card contenders until the season’s final breath. After they won their last game, they watched the Astros play the Cubs on a small TV in the cramped, clammy visitors’ clubhouse at RFK Stadium.

“I remember we had to go into Washington and sweep the Nationals to stay in it,” Howard said. “So, we go into Washington, boom, win all three games, and are sitting in the clubhouse. ...”

The Astros won, and they claimed the wild-card slot. There was only one in those days; had there been two, as there are now, the Phillies would have been in. Instead, they went home.

“It was bittersweet,” Howard said. “But it was fun.”

Fast-forward 14 years, with no winning seasons among the last seven, and Howard sees a problem. Supporting this edition of the Phillies doesn’t seem to be much fun. Things don’t bode well for second-year manager Gabe Kapler, whose unpopularity with the populace rests just above that of general manager Matt Klentak, who authored an offseason overhaul that sent expectations into the stratosphere.

The Phillies are 54-48 at the 102-game mark, after sweeping the Tigers. Know what those 2005 Phillies were? They were 52-50.

The 2006 Phillies were 48-54, and they sold a wagonload of veterans at the trade deadline a few days later, most notably Bobby Abreu. New general manager Pat Gillick declared they would be irrelevant for at least two more seasons. He was wrong. They finished 85-77 and had a shot at the wild card through Game No. 161, which they won ... then, in a deja-vu scene in the musty visitors’ clubhouse in Dolphins Stadium, watched the Dodgers beat the Giants.

Howard hit 58 home runs that season, but what he remembers most is the thrill of a playoff chase.

“We all had the common goal of wanting to win. For me, it started in ’05,” he said. “When I came up in ’05, we were in the race for the wild card. For me, it was fun. Showing up to the ballpark meant something.”

It still does. That's what matters.

Howard was the National League Rookie of the Year in ’05, then won the NL MVP award in 2006. Jimmy Rollins was MVP in 2007. The 102-game record for what Rollins had called the Team to Beat? They were 53-49.

The Phils won 37 of their last 62 games in 2007 and finished 89-73. Yes, they backed into the NL East title, as the Mets lost 12 of 17, but they did the job, with 13 wins in 17 games. It ended a 13-year playoff drought.

Why does any of this matter?

Because baseball is quirky. Baseball is weird. More than anything, baseball is hard, and when the team is decent, baseball should be enjoyed.

» READ MORE: Phillies rest Bryce Harper, finish off sad-sack Tigers before looking forward to big series with Braves

The 2006 Phillies, suddenly decent, added fading funky left-hander Jamie Moyer that August. He went 47-31 in 104 games through the 2009 season, and the Phillies won three of his four postseason starts.

On Sunday, the Phillies added unemployed funky left-hander Drew Smyly. He won his debut. Just sayin'.

The Phils entered the month of June flying high; 9 games over .500, in first place in their division, and playing to a level of the unreasonable expectations that accompanied the arrivals of Bryce Harper, Jean Segura, J.T. Realmuto, and David Robertson.

They left Detroit two games better than where their 2005 team stood, and that team was relevant until the final day of the season; ahead of the 2006 edition, left for dead by their GM but in the race through the penultimate game; and ahead of where the 2007 team stood 60 games before Rollins was proven right.

They’re a half-game out of the final wild-card slot. They’ve won seven of 10, four of those in their last at-bat. They’ve won five of six. They split a four-game series with the Dodgers, who are the class of the league.

Catch a wave? Maybe they will.

Maybe they already have.