No more fun of any kind

When Steve Garvey smacked a clutch home run in the 1984 NLCS to help the Padres force another epic choke job by the historically laughable Chicago Cubs, he circled the bases with one fist in the air. It was a simple gesture for the biggest hit of a series that ultimately sent the Padres to their first ever World Series. Kirby Puckett famously circled the bases with a fist in the air after hitting a 12^th-inning homer in Game 6 of the 1991 World Series. Puckett's homer helped the Twins stave off elimination and force a Game 7 against the Braves that might be the greatest game ever played.

What about Kirk Gibson's histrionics after launching a walk-off piece off Dennis Eckersley in Game 1 of the 1988 World Series? It was as if Gibson were limping around the bases and pretending to start a phantom lawnmower all at the same time.

And of Reggie Cadillac-ed every home run he ever hit - whether in the World Series or the regular season. Reggie also had that distinctive home run trot in which he usually adjusted his wire-framed glasses with a push of his index finger to settle the frames back onto the bridge of his nose.

Who would have ever thought a guy adjusting his glasses could ever be so cool?

Nevertheless, when we were kids we loved all of these shows. Sure, Reggie was a player fans loved to hate - mostly because he was a Yankee - and Garvey seemed to grate on folks, too. But who didn't like watching ballplayers rise to the occasion? Who didn't like a show?

Better yet, who doesn't like to watch people have fun? Baseball is supposed to be fun, right?

So when Jose Reyes ran the bases with one finger raised following his game-winning, three-run blast off Ryan Madson last night at Shea Stadium, the hand wringing was inevitable. You just knew it was coming. A showboat like Reyes running the bases like he was excited about hitting a homer in a key spot...

For shame!

Reyes is a showboat whose antics irk even his teammates, some blathered. He's unprofessional, others said. Perhaps he should be plunked with a pitch the next time he comes to the plate for "showing up" the Phillies.

Yeah, he was showing up the Phillies by trying to hit a home run. Maybe he should have struck out, gently replaced his bat and helmet in their proper receptacles, poured himself a cool drink from the corporately licensed barrel and found a comfortable seat in the dugout.

After all, Ryan Howard, Jimmy Rollins and Chase Utley never do anything showy when they hit home runs. They are the models of professional decorum when they circle the bases...

Come off it!

Then again, the self-righteous blatherings from us media types are part of the show, too. We're all actors in the same game only they jocks like to pretend they are just modest athletes trying to make a living, and the press likes to pretend it is above it all and is merely a conduit to the fans.

Insert sarcastic comment here.

Look, Reyes' act is clownish and a little embarrassing with the array of dance steps, ridiculous handshakes and other juvenile sideshows. But really, who cares? He's a baseball player getting paid a lot of money to play a game. If Reyes had an important job maybe the jitterbug routine would be offensive, but he doesn't. Baseball players are entertainers.

Most people get this. In fact, no one in Philadelphia seems to mind when Ryan Howard and Jimmy Rollins pull off their tributes to Reggie whenever they really get a hold of one. Heck, even Utley's speedy dash around the bases is a type of showboating. After all, sometimes no style is, indeed, style. Truth be told, I'm surprised Rollins doesn't ratchet up the theatrics to an Ozzie Smith-level of hotdogging with the flips and other stuff.

Better yet, maybe Rollins could do a series of cartwheels around the bases after a home run. Why not? I've seen it before. After a particularly meaningful home run in a wiffle ball game at the ol' backyard diamond on Wilson Drive, my friend John performed a cartwheel as he reached each base. The cool thing about this "trot" was that even as a high schooler (as John was at the time) he was still quite a bit bigger than Jimmy Rollins. So to see a young man like John able to pull off these acrobatics was a sight to behold.

Sure, it was a bit over the top, but it was a really big home run. Still, if Rollins doesn't want to do the cartwheels, maybe we can settle for an interpretive dance or something.

Still, the old-school baseball establishment will continue to look down on fun of any kind because it is "disrespectful" to the game and "shows up" the opposition. Never mind that these are the same people that are descendents of baseball's other traditions such as an industry-wide ban on players of specific races... don't get these same folks started up on Sabremetrics.

Yeah, baseball has (and had) bigger problems than whether or not Jose Reyes enjoys hitting home runs. Heaven forbid if someone enjoys their job.

Stay in the yard

The last time we saw the Phillies they couldn’t hit or score runs unless it came on a long ball. In fact, I even hatched up some harebrained idea that the Phillies’ brass should go out and shore up the offense by signing Barry Bonds to some type of bargain basement deal. But rather than dig into the T.J. Maxx of all free-agent signings, the team was reportedly kicking the proverbial tires around the Colorado Rockies and All-Star Matt Holliday.

Holliday ain’t no T.J. Maxx or even Filene’s Basement, you know.

Anyway, the Phillies’ hitting and more to the point, it’s so-called “situational hitting” was so freaking lousy that skipper Charlie Manuel called out his hitters by telling them how much they stunk.

“You’ve got to really concentrate on moving a runner,” Charlie vented last Sunday in Miami after an extra-inning loss. “You’ve got to want to move him. Sometimes they feel like we’re giving up an at-bat. No, you’re not. There’s hits all over the field. If you hit behind the runner, you can still get hits. That’s just called execution and hitting the ball in the right direction. When we don’t do that, I was telling some of our guys around the cage, it’s going to be hard for us to win.

“I hear everyone [praise] our lineup, but people don’t realize, we've got a different lineup than we had last year. We’ve got three or four top-notch major-league hitters. Have they had better years? Yes. At the same time, they’re still good hitters. But if you follow our team, we’ve got different people. Sometimes, one guy makes a difference.”

Was that one guy Aaron Rowand, the gritty and playoff-tested centerfielder who took a multi-year deal from the Giants last winter? Or maybe past league MVPs Ryan Howard and Jimmy Rollins had grown complacent with the fundamentals? After all, the national TV media digs the long ball.

Regardless, it’s difficult to get the fawning attention the ballplayers crave without the October spotlight. After all, that’s where the real legends are made and the statistics really matter. To feed the narcissism, the Phillies need to score runs and that just isn’t going to happen if they decide to wait around and hope someone hits one over the fence.

It ain’t beer league ball, folks.

But maybe the Phillies finally got it during the ninth inning of last night’s improbable comeback at Shea Stadium to knock off the Mets, 8-6. Sure, Johan Santana leaving the game after eight stellar innings of work probably spurred the Phillies in the six-run ninth, but it wasn’t so much about the finish as it was the journey.

Sure, So Taguchi and Jimmy Rollins drove in the biggest runs with extra-base hits, and some mental errors by the Mets clearly helped the Phillies in the big ninth inning, but look at what they did to set the table for the game-breaking hits.

Look:

• Jayson Werth, Greg Dobbs and Shane Victorino singled to start the ninth and load the bases. • Carlos Ruiz reached on a fielder’s choice when Jose Reyes inexplicably missed stepping on second base. One run scored. • Taguchi tied the game with a two-run double. Still no outs. • Rollins drove home the go-ahead runs with a two-run double. No outs. • Chase Utley advanced Rollins to third on a ground out. • Pat Burrell walked. • Ryan Howard drove home Rollins for the sixth run of the inning on a ground out.

What’s missing? You guessed it, the home run.

See how fun that was without a homer.

Anyway, the important part was that the Phillies kept the lead in the NL East and should return to Philadelphia for the weekend series against the Braves no worse than a game out of first place. Prodigal right-hander Brett Myers makes his return to the big leagues tonight at Shea…

It should be interesting.

Going up top

It took the three tries for the legendary, prolific mountaineer Apa Sherpa to summit Mount Everest. Only after hooking up with Peter Hillary, the son of Sir Edmund, and a group of Kiwis was ol' Apa able to reach the rooftop of the world. But since that first successful ascent up Everest, a lot has changed for Apa. Raised in the foothills of the mountain in Nepal in 1960 or 1962 - the Nepalese don't keep track of such trite things such as one's birth year - Apa moved his family from the highlands of the Himalayas to the Rockies of Utah, because, as he once told an interviewer, "the schools are better."

He also summated Everest 17 more times since that maiden effort with Sir Ed's boy. That's more than anyone in the history of mountaineering.

Like Apa Sherpa, I moved from the Philadelphia suburbs to Lancaster, Pa., because "the schools are better." At least that's what I tell people from Philadelphia. This morning on the shuttle bound from the car rental joint to the main terminal of Denver International, I told some Texans I was passing the time with that "Philadelphia is the ugly step-brother of New York, Washington and every other major Northeast city."

But as my man DMac says, "Philadelphia will do..."

At least for the time being.

Anyway, unlike Apa, I reached the summit of the first peak I aimed for. I also did it without any technical gear other than a pair of Brooks Radius shoes and blue and red-trimmed Brooks running shorts. Yessir, I ran to the top of Twin Sisters Peak, which is located to the east of the more famous Longs Peak in the Rocky Mountain National Park. I ran to the top of Twin Sisters in 67 minutes, took a short drink, checked out the view where I saw the town of Estes Park, some clouds, what I think was the city of Boulder, and a whole bunch of lakes. I stood there with the view and felt the stiff wind through my flimsy clothes and looked down at the tree line a few hundred feet below the edge of the peak as one of those dreaded altitude headaches began pounding against my temples.

That was my cue to get down.

With that, I headed down the same route from which I climbed. Fifty-four minutes later I was at the trailhead where my rented car was parked.

Yes, 67 minutes up and 54 minutes down for the slowest nine miles I ever clocked.

And yes, unlike Apa Sherpa, I ran up my first mountain on the first attempt...

Of course Twin Sisters Peak (pictured above from the back porch) isn't quite Everest. My run started at 9,000 feet of altitude and rose to a little more than 11,400. Though it's quite a bit of climbing packed into those four-plus miles of trails, Apa's mountain is three-times higher than mine. For a sea level dude like me, the daily runs in Colorado from 7,500-feet up and over 8,100-feet are pretty substantial. Going up to 11,400-plus takes some effort.

Apa, of course, probably looks at something like Twin Sisters as a walk in the park. In fact, a walk in the park might have been the best way to describe my pace as the trail became rockier and the wind a little more fierce as I pushed on past the tree line. If I can run up over the tree line with relative ease, Apa probably would have skipped up while juggling flaming torches.

Hey, I'm not exactly Jon Krakauer here... or even CSN's Lance Crawford, who once did a technical climb up the famed diamond of Long's Peak. Lance, our resident Apa, took mountaineering classes in Estes Park, practiced on some smaller climbs, and then took down one of the most famous "14ers" in the Rocky Mountain chain.

Legend has it that Lance performed a series of one-armed, fingertip pushups at the summit of Longs.

I believe the legend.

And while I was in Colorado running up a mountain and visiting such places as Boulder, Black Hawk and the exquisite Sundance Lodge [1]in Nederland, I also was privy to a few more tales that could be called legends, stories and, better yet, rumors. The fact is stories and rumors are the currency of ball writers everywhere and this is no different in Colorado. In fact, folks I talked to told me that the Colorado Rockies are debating whether or not to trade away All-Star outfielder and 2007 MVP runner-up, Matt Holliday. Because the Rockies were/are beset with injuries all season and Holliday's contract status doesn't exactly give a ballclub much wiggle room when contemplating a move toward rebuilding, the so-called conventional wisdom looks at Holliday's days as a Rockie as numbered.

The Phillies, they say, are a team that could package a deal for a player like Holliday.

I'm not so sure. After cornering the market for overweight, right-handed and underachieving Opening Day starters in the acquisition of Joe Blanton, the Phillies cleaned out the cupboards and sent the top-notch minor-league prospects to Billy Beane in Oakland. Therefore, to get a star like Holliday, the Phillies would have to pick up all of the remaining years on his contract and throw in some big leaguers like Shane Victorino, Jayson Werth and whomever else the Rockies fancy.

Meanwhile, after being told the Holliday tales, I countered with the idea that the Phillies had long been interested in side-wheeling left-handed reliever Brian Fuentes. The Phillies have just one lefty in their solid corps of relievers and Fuentes has always given them fits. But when I broached the idea of Fuentes being dealt from the Rockies to the Phillies, I was told, “Take him. You can have him.”

From the outside Fuentes seems like a good fit for the Phillies' bullpen. After all, he strikes out more than a hitter per inning, has a respectable 3.23 ERA and has saved 16 games in 20 chances. Plus, Fuentes has not allowed a run since June 30 and is hell against the Phillies. In 16 career appearances (including three playoff games), the lefty has never allowed a run when facing the Phillies.

But Fuentes has whetted his peak in the closer pond and likes it. In fact, he told the Denver Post in last Sunday's edition that if he gets traded, he would like to go somewhere to be the closer. A free agent at the end of this season, Fuentes said he would seek out a gig as a closer during free agency.

That kind of eliminates the Phillies right there. Brad Lidge is going to be the closer until at least 2011.

So that leaves us with a lot of unfinished stories with plots left to twist. The non-waivers trading deadline is just nine days away and even though the Phillies already made a move for Husky Joe, it doesn't seem as if Trader Pat Gillick is finished with the wheelin' and dealin'.

At least it doesn't seem that way if ol' Pat wants to go out standing on top of the mountain.

---

[1] If you ever find yourself in Nederland or on the Peak-to-Peak Highway an hour west of Boulder and Denver, you owe it to yourself to have a meal at the Sundance. The first time I ever heard Ted Leo's song "La Costa Brava" I immediately thought of the little spot just off the road near Nederland. They serve breakfast, lunch and dinner at the Sundance; have an ever-changing menu with tons of choices and some of the best fresh-brewed iced tea ever tasted. Plus, the view can't be beat. It's always hard not to stare at snow-capped mountains through large picture windows (or on a sun/windswept deck). My wife and I snuck away for a quiet dinner last Thursday where she had homemade chicken marsala and I had tofu steaks with a citrusy teriyaki that came with grilled veggies and fantastic mashed potatoes. Man, what a place.

Bob reads Baseball Weekly in the Kwik-e-Mart

I'll be back on Tuesday... next stop LA.

How are you going to get that out?

Wouldn't you know it... there is a high-school girls distance running camp here in Estes Park this week. Melody Fairchild, regarded by some as the best high-school cross country runner ever is the director. I suspect we'll see a few of the campers galavanting around town.

Anyway, I will report back tonight while watching Chase Utley in the Home Run Derby in Yankee Stadium. I also may report on the Phillies first half, a trip to Boulder as well as other adventures.

The truth about the Home Run Derby is that I'll watch until the local guy goes out and then I'll turn it off. Oh, I might stick around a little longer tonight because it's at Yankee Stadium and the visages are bound to be much more interesting than any other ballpark, but really, who can stand to listen to Chris Berman.

Generally I don't care about the announcers of sporting events at all. It's easy to block them out as long as the focus is on the actual game, but Chris Berman... man is he awful.

Listening to Chris Berman is a lot like trying to put your entire fist into your mouth. Not only is it difficult and a tremendous waste of time, but if you succeed and get those knuckles past an incisor and/or molar and actually get your fist in your mouth, now what? All you are is some jackass sitting there in front of the TV with your fist in your mouth... how are you going to get it out?

My advice? Don't listen to Berman -- turn down the sound if you must. And please, for the love of all that's holy, do not put your fist in your mouth.

***

Hey, aren't you that guy?

BALTIMORE – Here’s a question: Say a person is going to Denver, but along the way he has to stop in Dallas to buy a themed snow globe for his sister’s collection, get a drink (hydration is important), shake the weasel and change planes…

Does this count as “being to” Texas?

This is an important question because I have never been to Texas and if a layover on an airplane counts than, yes, I lose my Texasinity. Hey, some Texan is going to take my money and redistribute it into the local economy and I will also use the utilities and the infrastructure.

I say it counts.

However, I can understand how it wouldn’t count. After all, I’m not really visiting Texas, just like I didn’t visit Utah, Detroit, St. Louis, Charlotte or Chicago on various other connecting flights. I’m also unsure if I get credit for being in Arizona when I drove over the Hoover Dam from Nevada.

Oh sure, I’d like the credit so I can tick off another state on my checklist, but I don’t want a cheapie, either. I don’t want it to be like Cal Ripken extending the streak with a pinch-running appearance.

Anyway, the coach of the Baltimore Ravens is sitting directly across from me as I type this. Brian Billick. I actually did a double take when I saw him because I wasn’t sure how I knew the dude – I had the same experience when I once stood in line behind Steffi Graf to see Dracula. I knew I knew her, but from where…

”Hey, how do I know you? Did you go to McCaskey? You look very familiar.”

Yes, I am losing my mind. Steffi Graf is only one of the best three or four tennis players in the history of tennis and she did not go to McCaskey. She did see Dracula, though.

On another note, I once sat at a blackjack table in Las Vegas with Joe Theisman and Sugar Ray Leonard. For a D.C.  like me, seeing those guys was kind of odd.I was half waiting for John Riggins and Mark Moseley to show up with his single-bar helmet and straight-ahead kicking style.

I'm not sure why a guy would where a helmet in a casino, though.

Apropos of seeing Brian Billick in the American Airlines terminal at BWI, I also saw about nine guys that almost kind of looked like Rick Dempsey.

OK, off to Texas (or not). Word out of Estes is that my four-year-old son is not much of hiker. Apparently my wife took him to Bear Lake in the Rocky Mountain National Park and he wasn’t too jazzed about it. He only perked up when told about the various types of animals that live in the mountains.

Truth be told, when out for a walk tales of possible mountain cat attacks definitely livens things up.

Taking the act on the road

Hey folks -Posts around here will be a bit sporadic and/or delayed during the next few days. It's vacation time for the family and since my wife and two boys got a head start on me earlier this week, I have to batten down the hatches here in The Lanc before heading out.

Nevertheless, I'll check in tonight/tomorrow with a few items pertaining to the Phillies, fun-time travel tidbits and maybe even a little something on 41-year-old Olympic swimmer, Dara Torres.

After that, everything else will come direct from Estes Park, Colorado where the big plan is run up a mountain (not hike, run). Other than the big run, I plan on sitting around with some coffee, and a book for some decoration so it looks like I'm doing something while I stare out into the middle distance for a week or so.

Check out the picture from the backyard...

Anyway, I'll be sure to write all about the adventures and goofiness I get tangled up in over the next week(s)... stay tuned.

Barry Bonds, anyone?

It’s gotten to the point where manager Charlie Manuel will use utility outfielder So Taguchi only if he has no other choices. In fact, Taguchi has just six at-bats in the last month and seven going back to May 30, which was the last time he started a game. It seems as if the manager is loathe to use Taguchi even as a late-inning defensive replacement for left fielder Pat Burrell after the former Japanese star misplayed a few fly balls in a couple of losses. Even in pinch-running situations Manuel has turned to infielder Eric Bruntlett or sometimes pitcher Adam Eaton.

No, Charlie probably isn’t going out of his way not to use Taguchi, but it sure does seem like it.

Meanwhile, right fielder Geoff Jenkins’ season batting average has dipped to .237 thanks to getting just five hits since June 7, and 11 hits after May 28. Over the last month, the left-handed hitting outfielder is batting just .089 (5-for-56) with one homer, one double and 16 strikeouts.

Some say the Phillies’ offensive swoon has come because of a power outage. Even Manuel and some of the Phillies brass have been critical of the team’s inability to score runs without the long ball as well as its reluctance to manufacture runs with situational hitting. Since scoring 20 runs against the Cardinals in St. Louis on June 13, the Phillies have lost 15 of 22 games. Worse, they have averaged just 3.74 runs per game during that stretch. With a lineup featuring the past two NL MVPs – Ryan Howard and Jimmy Rollins – as well as perennial All-Star Chase Utley and slugger Pat Burrell, the Phillies should score runs by accident.

But they don’t.

“The biggest problem we have is situational hitting,” Manuel said. “Moving runners or knocking in a guy from second with no outs or from third with one out. We definitely have to have more of that.”

If there is one player to symbolize the Phillies’ feast-or-famine offense, it’s Jenkins. This season he has seven home runs, which account for 12 of his 24 RBIs. Howard, too, has personified this symptom by getting 49 of his league-leading 78 RBIs on 24 homers. Howard is also on pace to shatter his single-season Major League record for strikeouts in a season. With 124 whiffs in 91 games, Howard should be the first man in Major League history to eclipse the 200 strikeouts barrier.

Feast or famine.

“Our offense is generated by the top of our order. We manufacture runs by getting (Jimmy) Rollins and (Shane) Victorino on base with (Chase) Utley. Usually from Howard and (Pat) Burrell that’s where our RBIs come from – that’s where we get our runs. Sometimes some guys pick up the slack, but we’re not doing that right now. We’re not getting too much from the bottom of our lineup.”

So while the Phillies acknowledge that the need help with the pitching and are looking to add a starter (and/or a reliever) by the July 31 non-waiver trading deadline, maybe they ought to consider a hitter, too, as they cling by the edge of their fingernails to first place in the NL East.

And if the Phillies are looking for a power bat to come off the bench or to play some right field from time to time against right-handers since Jenkins is hitting just .249 against them as the left-handed bat in the platoon with Jayson Werth, we might have the guy for them.

The guy we’re thinking of has struck out just once every seven at-bats during the past two seasons. Also during that span, he has clubbed 54 homers – or one every 13 at-bats – hit a modest .273, but has a .467 on-base percentage.

Oh yeah, he also has nearly 2,000 career RBIs, seven MVP awards and 762* home runs.

Yes, we’re talking about Bonds…

Barry Bonds.

Yeah, Bonds brings a whole lot of baggage and that isn’t even bringing the upcoming trial for perjury into the equation. He is also two weeks away from his 44th birthday, which would help the Phillies corner the market on mid-40s lefties. And of course there are all the accusations regarding performance-enhancing drug use and all-around surliness. Bonds will never be a candidate for the Roberto Clemente Award, which is given each year to a ballplayer who exemplifies character and charitable contributions to his community.

Yes, Bonds’ off-the-field situation is troublesome and quite serious, but the Phillies need a hitter. On Tuesday night Cole Hamels pitched yet another gem by holding the Cardinals to just a pair of runs and three hits in seven innings, but took a hard-luck 2-0 loss.

The lack of offensive support is beyond frustrating for the Phillies’ pitchers.

“Any time you don't score runs it's hard to win,” Manuel said. “I say it all the time, but when Hamels pitches like that we have to win the game. We came up short. We won four straight on the road and then came home and lost four straight.”

But enough of the hang wringing. If Bonds can play – and all reports indicate that he wants to – why not let him? Surely his skills likely have eroded a bit, but then again, Taguchi and Jenkins only have a combined six more hits than Bonds.

Heck, they have just six more hits than me.

If someone can explain how Bonds can be worse than Taguchi or Jenkins then call the whole thing off.

Here’s the good part – Bonds will work cheap. The Phillies are paying Taguchi $1.05 million this season with a $1.25 million club option for 2009 or a $150,000 buyout. Not bad work if you can find it. They are also paying Jenkins $5 million in 2008, $6.75 million in 2009 with a mutual option for $7.5 million in 2010 or a $1.25 million buyout. Again, not exactly chump change for a guy hitting .089 since early June.

Bonds’ agent Jeff Borris says his client will work for a prorated share of the league minimum, which is $390,000. In other words, the Phillies could have Bonds for the rest of the season for less than $190,000.

“The fact that no team in Major League Baseball has made an offer for Barry even at the minimum salary has created a level of suspicion that is currently being investigated,” Borris said.

“Let's look at the facts. Barry performed admirably in 2007. Barry is healthy. Barry has been offered at the minimum salary and Barry's trial date is in March of 2009, so there would be no interruption of the 2008 season. It defies explanation as to why he is not employed in 2008 with a Major League club.”

There have been grumblings that American League teams Tampa Bay, Seattle, Detroit and Boston have looked at Bonds as a possible designated hitter. There are also some rumblings about the Mets being interested in the star-crossed home-run king. But so far there have been no takers.

Perhaps Bonds could mentor young-ish slugger Howard? Maybe he could teach the Phillies’ first baseman that he can strikeout significantly less without compensating his home-run power?

And who knows, maybe Bonds can still play a little, too. Hey, he can’t be any worse than what they already have.

Erik Bedard, anyone?

CC Sabathia - gone. Rich Harden - gone.

How about lefty Erik Bedard of Seattle?

It's no secret the Phillies are looking to trade for a pitcher before the July 31 deadline, but it's not even the All-Star Break and the top two pitchers on the market have already been dealt. Last Sunday the Indians traded CC Sabathia -- a pitcher highly coveted by the Phillies -- to the Milwaukee Brewers.

Meanwhile, the A's traded away another top-notch young pitcher when they sent Rich Harden to the front-running Chicago Cubs.

Yes, the proverbial gauntlet have been thrown down in the NL Central...

Oh, it's on.

Anyway, the next best available pitcher on the trading block is Erik Bedard. The former Oriole turned disgruntled Mariner recently went on ESPN radio in Philadelphia to discuss the trade rumors and got himself noticed a bit back in Seattle.

Take a look.

Though Bedard says otherwise, the move to Seattle hasn't been too good for the pitcher. Maybe he needs a change of scenery?

Then again, if Bedard has trouble with the media in Seattle as evidenced in the interview in the linkage above, wait until he gets a load of us...

We aren't exactly a sewing circle around here.

Myers on the way back or way out?

From the way it looked on the tee-vee, it appeared as if there was some excitement down there at Citizens Bank Park. Based on reports on the Internets it seemed as if the Mets were going to win in a laugher, but those wily Phillies made ol’ Billy Wagner sweat it out again in the ninth. Is it me or does Wagner’s fastball look as if it has slowed to Myers-esque velocity?

Speaking of Brett Myers, a few of us got to chat him up after his second minor-league outing at Coca-Cola Park in Allentown after he earned his first win since he beat the Florida Marlins on May 30. Myers pitched 7 1/3 innings, making through three hitters in the eighth inning. He allowed three runs, two of which were earned, as well as seven hits, two walks and a hit batsmen.

The hit batter came on a fastball, which I thought was a good sign because it showed that the big righty was finally throwing his fastball inside on hitters. I guess he got it in a little too much in that case, but still, progress is progress.

I wrote all about it right here.

Even better than burying one in some dude’s ribs was that Myers’ best inning of the game came in the seventh when he responded to his teammates scoring four runs to take a 4-3 lead in the bottom of the sixth by striking out the side. In fact, the radar gun on TV showed that Myers had his speediest heater during that inning.

Obviously, when handed a lead late in the game, Myers wasn’t interested in giving it up.

“That's what a winner does,” pitching coach Rod Nichols said when asked about Myers’ seventh inning. “He got the lead and went out and struck out the side.”

Still, the big issue isn’t so much as if Myers will get it together in the minors. Why wouldn’t he? Say what you will about the big fella… just don’t think he doesn’t have his pride. Better yet, give him credit for stashing his ego to the side for a moment and realizing that he needed to fix some things.

Then again, perhaps he should have showed up to spring training focused on being a starting pitcher.

Regardless, Randy Miller of Bucks County and yours truly asked Myers about his future as a Phillie and whether or not recent developments affected his immediate or not-so distant tenure with the club. After all, the trading deadline is a little more than three weeks away AND Myers’ contract runs out after next season. If the guy really wants to be a reliever more than a starter as reported, it would seem that his time with the Phillies is tenuous at best.

Nevertheless, when the subject was broached whether or not he “needed a change of scenery,” Myers had a pretty clever answer.

“What, this isn’t a big enough change of scenery?” he joked.

Touché.

Indeed, pitching for the IronPigs in Allentown is quite a change of scenery compared to pitching for the Phillies in Philadelphia. So too is riding to the next game on a chartered bus as opposed to a chartered plane. One flies and the other might have bunk beds.

So next time out Myers will pitch on Saturday for the Phillies… that’s the Reading Phillies. Rather than travel with Lehigh Valley to Syracuse, Myers will pitch in Reading against Akron. After that, Myers is hoping to rejoin his old teammates back in Philadelphia.

“Hoping? I'm planning on it. There's no hope about it – I'm just getting my work in and working hard to get back there and show them I'm ready.”

Two in the books

The first inning went pretty well for Brett Myers. Just like in his last outing, he threw a lot of fastballs to start. Plus, he got some help from the Louisville Bats. Chris Dickerson, the first hitter of the game, popped up on the first pitch. Former big leaguer Rob Mackowiak worked an eight-pitch walk after Myers got ahead 0-2. But Myers got out of the inning when he got Aaron Herr to ground into a 1-6-3 double play on the first pitch.

Needless to say, Louisville isn’t very patient.

Interestingly, Aaron Herr is from Lancaster, Pa. where he was a star baseball player for Hempfield High just like his dad, Tom Herr. Tom, of course, played for a long time with the Cardinals, Twins and Phillies before he quickly got washed up and caught on with the Mets and Giants. Tom Herr also managed the Lancaster Barnstormers in the sandlot league Atlantic League before he spent one season managing in the Nationals chain.

Aaron Herr was a first-round pick for the Braves in the 2000 draft, but still hasn’t made it to the Majors. He’s has played in the Braves, Reds, Indians and Cardinals organizations, but for one reason or another hasn’t gotten the big call.

Even more interesting than that, Lancaster resident Gordie Jones is sitting to my left.

The Lanc is definitely in the house tonight!

Anyway, Myers allowed a run in the second after the Bats scratched out three straight singles. None of them were hit particularly hard, but it is worth noting that Myers is throwing strikes – 19 of his 24 pitches in the second were strikes – and he is using the fastball exclusively.

Still, after two Myers is trailing, 1-0.

On another note, Ricky Bottalico is the TV analyst for the Pigs’ games. He’s pretty good though I suspect the FCC ought to tune in from time to time just in case. Before the game, Ricky talked to a couple of writers and then went on the tee-vee to talk to the good folks at CSN and dropped this little nugget on Myers:

“This whole situation is partially in his head,” Ricky Bo said. “He just seems a little confused. I think he was confused at the whole situation at the beginning of the season. When you don't put your heart into something you're really not going to do well in your job, and I don't think he's put his heart into the starting rotation at all.”

So we're waiting here in Allentown

Hey, we’re back here at lovely Coca-Cola Park here in Allentown, Pa. to watch Brett Myers make his second minor-league start. So far things are going much more smoothly since the last time we were here. For starters, I actually found the place without taking a wrong turn. Yes, we take our victories where we can.

Nevertheless, it should be an interesting to see Myers tonight. This time Myers will face the Louisville Bats, the Triple-A affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds, and fellow first-round draft pick, Homer Bailey.

As far as big-time matchups in the minors go, Myers vs. Bailey is pretty good.

Meanwhile, Myers needs a good outing tonight because… well, because he needs a good outing. That’s pretty obvious seeing as he went from starting on Opening Day during the past two seasons and now he’s pitching for the Lehigh Valley IronPigs.

If there is a team Myers could do well against it’s Louisville. Last night the Bats did a whole lot of missing against IronPigs’ lefty starter Les Walrond, who notched 17 strikeouts in a 2-0 victory. Word from some scouting-type dudes is that the Bats can’t hit a curveball if it were placed on a tee.

Since Myers seemingly abandoned his fastball last time out for the Pigs, maybe tonight is his night?

Anyway, if I get to it I’ll post some updates from here in A-town. One note: last time there were 13 writer dudes covering Myers’ outing. This time we have Gordie Jones from Allentown and Randy Miller from Bucks County.

You know it’s a big game when Randy is lurking around.

Lidge signed for 3 more years

After a spate of surprising moves made by the Phillies this week, one has to wonder if there is more coming. Could a big trade be looming on the horizon? With the team in first place in the National League East and the team’s brass on the record indicating that they would like to bolster its pitching staff, it’s a fair assumption. That assumption is greatly enhanced by the developments this week.

It started on Tuesday when the club announced that it had coaxed maligned Opening Day starting pitcher Brett Myers to accept an option to Triple-A Lehigh Valley in order to iron out his difficulties on and off the mound. A season removed from working as the team’s closer, Myers struggled with the transition back to a starting role in 2008. In 17 big-league outings, Myers was 3-9 with a 5.84 ERA and had allowed a Major League-leading 24 home runs.

Upon accepting the… ahem… mental rehab trip to the minors, Myers told The Philadelphia Inquirer that he preferred pitching out of the bullpen and saw a future as a big-league closer.

“I want to be great, and honestly, I realized last year that I'd only be a good starter,” Myers told the Inquirer. “I felt like I had rock-star status as a closer. I enjoyed the bullpen. I felt like they liked me in that role. But it was easier to get a closer than another starter. (Closer Brad) Lidge has done a hell of a job for us. I don't think I could do better.”

Based on the developments on Sunday morning, the Phillies don’t think Myers could (or can) do better, either. As a result, general manager Pat Gillick announced that the club had agreed to a three-year contract extension with Brad Lidge worth $37.5 million. The deal lasts through the 2011 season with a club option for 2012 plus a few performance incentives and bonuses thrown in.

So if Myers is going to pitch for the Phillies in the future, it won’t be as the team’s closer. Yet then again, the Phillies did sign Myers to a three-year deal worth $25.75 million before last season to be a starter.

Clearly, the Phillies were serious about that.

“People have drawn the conclusion that he would rather close, and that may be the case, but let me put it this way: There's a lot of things in life that a lot of people don't want to do. But you're getting paid, and you've got to show up for work and do the best job you can,” Gillick told reporters on Sunday morning. “He's a gamer, and I think he'll give 100 percent whether he's in a closer situation or as a starter.”

Frankly, Gillick and the Phillies need Myers to start.

“We're kind of stubborn. We think that Brett can start,” Gillick said. “We don't see reason he can't start. If he gets his mechanical issues straightened out down there, I don't see any reason he can't be in our starting rotation.”

Myers began his minor-league stint last Wednesday in Allentown for Triple-A Lehigh Valley where he allowed three runs and five hits with six strikeouts in five innings against the Yankees top Triple-A club, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. The big right-hander will make his second start in Allentown on Monday against Louisville and Reds’ top pitching prospect, Homer Bailey. But whether Myers will be elbowed out of the Phillies’ starting rotation appears to be up in the air, too. Of course if Myers irons out his trouble, which Major League and Minor League coaches say is mechanical and mental, then, yes, the Phillies will have a spot for him.

However, all indications are that the team will had another arm to the rotation. Rumors abound, of course, with names like starters C.C. Sabathia, Erik Bedard, A.J. Burnett, Jarrod Washburn, Greg Maddux, Bronson Arroyo and Randy Wolf, as well as reliever Brian Fuentes linked to a potential trade with the Phillies. Moreover, advance scouts from the Twins (Dennys Reyes? Livan Hernandez?) and Mariners have been watching the Phillies closely during the past week.

Yes, the future will be interesting for the Phillies.

While Myers’ place in the Phillies future is the great unknown, Lidge, 31, the closer acquired from Houston for Geoff Geary, Mike Costanzo and Michael Bourn last winter, isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.

Though he could have tested a very lucrative free-agent market this winter, Lidge figured that all things being equal, he’d rather be in Philadelphia.

“Coming into the year, I knew that this was my free-agent year, but pretty early on, I started really enjoying everything here,” Lidge said. “I understand what [free agency] could be like, but for me, this is an easy decision. I'm enjoying everything so much here. I don't know where I could go that would have a team with a better opportunity to get to the World Series, to win a World Series. For me, that's the most important thing, so where better than Philadelphia.”

The Phillies appear to have gotten a relative bargain with Lidge, too. During the past three winters, Billy Wagner signed a four-year, $43 million contract with the Mets; B.J. Ryan signed a five-year, $47 million deal with the Blue Jays; and Francisco Cordero signed a four-year, $46 million contract with Texas last winter.

Based on Lidge’s statistics so far (19 saves in 19 chances, an 0.77 ERA in 35 games and 47 strikeouts in 35 innings) he could have earned a fatter paycheck if he played the market.

The Phillies, obviously, went going to let it come to that.

“Right out of the chute, when we made the trade, we knew this wasn't going to be a one-and-done type of guy,” assistant general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. said in announcing the deal on Sunday morning. “We view Brad as somebody who can help us contend for many years. We all know how important it is to close out games you should win. This is an important piece to our organization's future.”

Interestingly, Lidge has thrived in Philadelphia after a rough ending to his time in Houston. Between a few injuries and a crushing home run allowed to Albert Pujols during the 2005 NLCS, Lidge struggled with effectiveness and his confidence in his last year with the Astros. But during the second half of the 2007 season, Lidge regained what was missing and has reestablished himself as one of the best closers in the Majors.

The fact that some hitters say his slider is the nastiest pitch in the game certainly helps, too.

Nevertheless, Lidge has found himself with the Phillies.

“I think if you're closing and you're going through a rough time, it's difficult no matter where you're at,” the newly named All-Star said. “I was really excited for this challenge. For whatever reason, coming in here, I felt like this was where I needed to be. I enjoy the fact that the fans here are so passionate about the game. That gives me a lot of energy. I love it here.”

And Philadelphia loves him back... so far.

Next, is a deal for Pat Burrell in the works?

Stay tuned.

Coming up: The team that loved Tom Gordon and even more from the Olympic Trials.

Sticking with it

Typically, a distance runner begins his competitive racing career in the shorter distances like the mile and two-mile on the track and 5k in cross country. When the runner gets stronger and more experienced they generally focus on track events like the 5,000 and 10,000-meters until they plateau or the speed starts to wane a bit. That’s when siren call of the marathon is finally answered. That usually occurs just as the runner is entering their late 20s or early 30s. By then good runners are strong enough to handle the pounding of high-mileage training and longer (yet slower) speed sessions.

If a runner is still at it after the marathon speed has deserted them, that’s when it’s time to give those geeky ultra-marathons a whirl. Those types of races don’t necessarily require a lot of talent, just the ability to run long or the stupidity to not know when to quit.

But Villanova grad Jen Rhines seems to have to evolution of the classic distance runner backwards. A three-time National Champion in the 5,000-meters for the Wildcats, Rhines qualified for the 2000 Olympics in Sydney in the 10,000 meters. For the Athens games in 2004, she made the U.S. Olympic team as a marathoner, which jibed perfectly with the proper ascension. Rhines’ fourth-ever marathon was in the 2004Olympics as a 30-year old. Seemingly her future as a distance runner was as a marathoner. By the time the 2008 Olympic Trials came around, Rhines likely would have had a handful of solid marathon times under her belt.

Only it didn’t happen that way. In 2005 she was 18th in the New York City Marathon with a 2:37:07. That’s hardly a world-class time for a runner of Rhines’ pedigree. In 2006 she was fourth in the Rome Marathon in 2:29:32 and seventh in the Tokyo Marathon in 2:35:37, which is an improvement from 2005, but not a huge breakthrough.

Yet instead of piling up the miles at altitude in her new hometown of Mammouth Lakes, Calif. with the likes of Deena Kastor, Ryan Hall, Meb Keflezighi and a team filled with the best distance runners in America all coached by her husband (and former Villanova running star) Terrence Mahon, Rhines stopped the standard running evolution and went backwards. Actually, make that she went back to the distances that made her a star all those years ago out on the Main Line.

Beginning in 2007, Rhines forgot about the marathon and focused on the shorter distances and ran her best times in the 1,500m, 3,000m and 10,000m and went on to take seventh in the 5,000m at the 2007 World Championships. Instead of the marathon or the 10,000, Rhines focused on making her third U.S. Olympic team as 5,000-meter runner.

Actually, Rhines put all her eggs in one basket. If she did not make the team in the 5k, she didn’t have the 10,000 or marathon to fall back on despite the fact that she had the second-best qualifying time for the marathon trials.

But after finishing in second place in the 5,000-meter finals last night at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore., Rhines’ gamble paid off.

“I am really excited to get to run in Beijing,” she said after running 15:02 in the 5,000-meter finals to finish a second behind Kara Goucher. “I've always like the shorter distances, but I've been getting better and better since I've come back down.”

Call it quite a feat: Three Olympic teams in three different running events. That’s a lot of range.

And who knows, by the time the London Olympics in 2012 roll around, maybe Rhines will be ready to give the marathon another try.

*** Speaking of giving it another try, how about that Dara Torres?

Since 1984 a lot has changed in sports. That’s especially the case in Olympic sports where the games have gone from a showcase for the top amateur athletes to another hyped up professional event.

Hell, entire countries have come and gone since 1984. There’s only one Germany now and no U.S.S.R.

But since 1984 the Olympics have always had one name involved…

Dara Torres.

Torres was 17 when she made her first U.S. Olympic swim team in 1984 for the games in Los Angeles and she was 41 with a 2-year-old kid when she made the team in 2008 on Friday in Omaha.

Now check this out: In winning the 100-meter freestyle at the Olympic Trials, Torres time was faster than her gold-medal winning effort in the 2000 Sydney Olympics and 4.58 seconds faster than her fourth-place finish in the 1984 Olympics.

*** Look for Phillies stuff tomorrow, including the part where I traded Geoff Jenkins in the no-hitter pool for John Maine pitching a no-hitter against the Phillies.

Yes, I know the Mets have never had a no-hitter in their franchise history, but I figure the odds on Jenkins getting a hit to break up the no-hitter are about the same as Maine actually getting the no-no.

National League independence

It seems like a long time since we were at ol’ Citizens Bank Park, but here we are on an easygoing Independence Day Friday. Depending on how quickly we get out of here tonight, I might roll by the Graff House as a little tribute to Thomas Jefferson (as well as John Adams and Benji Franklin) for the fantastic document they wrote here in Philadelphia back in the summer of 1776.

But more on the task at hand here at the Bank where the Phillies can seek their independence from the rest of the NL East with a good weekend against the Mets. In fact, there’s some talk in these parts that the Phillies can properly bury the Mets with a four-game sweep…

Perhaps, but there remains a ton of baseball left to be played. However, a sweep by the Phillies puts the Mets 8½ games back and increases the intensity of the bickering and fighting amongst members of the league’s most dysfunctional club.

Regardless, the Mets will trot out their top pitchers this weekend with Johan Santana working tonight, John Maine slated to go Saturday night, the delicate Oliver Perez set for Sunday, and Pedro Martinez in Monday night’s finale.

The Phillies counter with J.A. Happ in his second big-league start, followed by Jamie Moyer, Kyle Kendrick and Adam Eaton.

Yes, with that lineup a sweep will be difficult.

But this ain’t APBA or Strat-O-Matic… let’s see what happens.

***
Between the top and bottom of the first inning, the Phanavision showed Chris Wilson in the crowd. Chris Wilson, of course, is the excellent drummer for Ted Leo & the Pharmacists.

I’m sure I was the only person who picked up on the deserved celebrity of Chris Wilson...

That's a damn shame.

***
Finally, it’s a big night in Eugene for the Olympic Track Trials. In addition to the semifinals of the men’s 1,500-meters, Hayward Field will be blazed up for the finals of the women’s 5,000 meters and the men’s 10,000 meters.

Villanova’s Jen Rhines is a favorite to make her third straight Olympic team in the 5,000, while Millersville University’s James Carney is a legit darkhorse in the 10,000.

Maureen McCandless from Nazareth Academy had one of the fastest qualifying times in the 5,000 and should be a threat, too.

Apropos of that, the 2008 track Trials have been some of most entertaining ever. If you aren’t watching you are missing out.

Searching for a way back home

Apparently, Brett Myers' outing in Allentown last night was a big deal. In fact, there were more people at Coca-Cola Park to cover the exiled Phillie than were in the Coca-Cola city to chronicle the Major League Phillies. According to published reports, there were six writers and zero television people in Atlanta with the Phillies, but there were eight writers that regularly cover the Phillies in Allentown along with at least three local TV outlets. Anyway, I wrote all about it from the cozy press box in the brand-new ballpark before finding my car and proceeding to get lost at least three different times in search of Route 222 back to The Lanc.

I guess I should have checked the directions before I left, but I figured it could be fun just to wing it.

Guess what? It wasn't much fun, though had I remained on Route 22 it would have taken me to 100, which would have easily linked me up with 222 through Reading and points south.

Yeah, sure... I know all that now.

Nevertheless, last night's drive home was a lot like Brett Myers' fastball against the Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees. Sure, we might have been heading in the right direction in the most general sense, but we sure were taking our time getting there.

In Brett's regard that amounted to splitters in the dirt, two-seamers well off the plate and some rather pedestrian velocity. The last part is probably the biggest concern to the Phillies because it could signify that something is wrong, be it physical or mechanical. According to all concerned parties, they all believe it to be mechanical.

How quickly those issues get ironed out are another matter all together. The Phillies seem to be banking on the mental rehab trip to Triple-A as well as some insight from Pigs' pitching coach Rod Nichols to be just what the doctor ordered.

Interestingly, Nichols just might be the one pitching coach Myers hasn't butted heads with. In the case with Joe Kerrigan, the head butting was almost literal. Then again, Myers isn't the only pitcher who threatened to take a poke at the ex-pitching coach.

Anyway, while Myers tried to find the plate with his fastball his lot seemed much better off than some guy trying to find his way home but instead ended up on the side of the road halfway toward Tamaqua.

*** If you have missed the U.S. Olympic Track Trials, you ought to be kicking yourself now. In fact, Monday night's event card was worth the price of a full-event pass by itself. Actually, just the men's 800-meters final was worth it.

Photo Finish

In what was widely being hailed as the greatest 800-meter race on U.S. soil, viewers got to see just about every element of middle-distance running and sports drama rolled into one.

Here, take a look.

Nick Symmonds of the Oregon Track Club won the race with a blistering kick over the final 300 meters. University of Oregon sophomore Andrew Wheating finished second to earn a spot on the team bound for Beijing next month. The interesting thing about the lean and lanky Wheating is that he has been a runner for just two years. He's only 20 and he's already going to the Olympics.

Meanwhile, four-time world champion Khadevis Robinson finished fourth and missed a spot on the Olympic team by centimeters when he was edged on a dive for the finish line by Christian Smith.

Yeah, that's right... the two runners dived for the line for the last spot on the Olympic team.

Lopez Lomong came in fifth place but missed the last spot for Beijing by .11. Yeah, point-11.

After the race, Smith was sprawled out on the track with blood dripping off his arm from the huge brush burn on his shoulder from the dive. All the while, Symmonds said afterwards that the noise from the crowd at Hayward Field in Eugene was so loud that he couldn't hear himself breathe.

It was just an awesome, awesome race. Sports Illustrated's Tim Layden was trying to think of a more thrilling track race and (rightly) came up with the epic duel between Haile Gebreselasie and Paul Tergat in the 10,000-meters in the Sydney Olympics of 2000.

My most memorable (not in order):

• Geb edging Tergat in 10,000 meters in 2000
• Zola Budd vs. Mary Decker in 1984 Olympics
• Michael Johnson setting the 200m World Record in 1996 Olympics
• Ben Johnson's dirty 100 meters in Seoul in 1988
• Prefontaine finishing fourth in the 1972 Olympics 5,000 meters (I only saw the tape)
• Prefontaine winning an indoor mile in the 1974 LA Times meet
• Ryan Hall obliterating the field in the 2007 Olympic Trials Marathon
• Bob Kempainen winning the 1996 Olympic Trials Marathon despite some pretty evident stomach distress

Meanwhile, Bernard Lagat ran away with the 5,000-meter title in the Trials to make his first ever U.S. Olympic team. He'll bounce back on Sunday night in the 1,500-meters, too.

Locally, Villanova's Bobby Curtis finished sixth in the 5,000 meters to cap off a brilliant senior season in which he won the NCAA Championship in the event.

Villanova undergrad  Frances Koons runs in the women's 1,500 preliminaries tonight along with ‘Nova alum Carrie Tollefson. On the men's side, Penn grad Sam Burley runs in the 1,500 meters after a disappointing finish in the 800.

The women's 5,000-meter finals on Friday night will feature ‘Nova grad Jen Rhines who went to the 2004 Olympics as a marathoner. Rhines is one of the favorites to make the team in the shorter event, but will face a deep field that features Maureen McCandless from Nazareth Academy.

Interestingly, Philadelphia Will Do's Dan McQuade boasted that he smoked McCandless in high school cross country meets and caught her on the final straightaway in a local road 5k.

I'm going to go out on a limb here and say DMac has no shot these days.

Also tonight, Jeremy Wariner takes on LaShawn Merritt in the 400. Friday night is the men's 10,000-meter finals where current U.S. half-marathon champ and Millersville University alum, James Carney, should be a contender.

So we're sitting here in Allentown...

... and Brett Myers is a Pig. Yeah, that's the name of the team here in Allentown. The Lehigh Valley IronPigs. Oddly enough, on the drive up here from The Lanc, I found myself driving behind a delivery truck carrying a gaggle of pigs.

So it's not just a clever nickname.

Anyway, the ballpark here in Allentown is a lot like the one in Clearwater, Fla. and the one in Lancaster. Bright House in Clearwater might be a little bigger though.

I don't know about the one in Lancaster - Allentown seems nicer.

I ran into Brett Myers upon entering the home clubhouse this afternoon, but, observing Major League protocol I didn't say anything to him. The rule is that media types shouldn't speak to the starting pitcher unless the pitcher speaks first. Cory Lidle, Greg Maddux and Kevin Millwood always violated the policy by talking to anyone and everyone that came near them on the days they pitched.

Nevertheless, Myers didn't seem to mind that I didn't greet him with a hearty, "Hello!" this afternoon. I'm sure he'll have more to say after his outing. Check back late night or tomorrow for more on that topic.

Meanwhile, Brett kind of looks odd wearing a blue and white Pigs uniform with the number 44 on the back. Reggie Jackson was No. 44 for the Yankees. Danny Ainge was No. 44 for the Celtics... are there any other 44s I'm missing?

Anyway, off to work. I'm going to watch ol' No. 44 throw fastballs at the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees in his mental/mechanical rehab assignment. That's what it is, right?

Myers... out

The Phillies figured out how to solve the Brett Myers problem on Tuesday afternoon. Would you believe a trip back to the minors? It's true.

A final word from Farmersville

It was quiet in Farmersville on Monday afternoon, but that was no different than any other day. Perhaps the slow moving tractor barreling down the tight, single-lane road toward the concrete bridge and Turtle Hill Road would have caused a traffic backup or at least a minor commotion had anyone else been around. Instead, it was just another typical day in the Garden Spot. A lonely picnic table along the side of the road offered homegrown raspberries and tomatoes for sale, but there was no suggested price or even a container to stash the money.

Three horses grazed in a meadow while the Conestoga Creek bubbled behind them.

A rain storm loomed over the horizon, the dark clouds easy to see over the hills flush with still-growing corn. In a month those stalks will be too tall to see anything beyond the narrow road that snakes through the countryside.

The distant muffled rumble of thunder briefly breaks up the din of chirping birds, the bustling creek and the wind quaking against the corn.

It was very quiet in Farmersville.

And yet...

There was a neat white house just off the road with a homemade sign baring a passage from Proverbs explaining that all who follow the Lord will have peace provided for them. The message is so simple and perfect that it's hard to believe that anyone could find anything other than peace from such a lovely spot on the earth. There is no intrusion. No forces pushing against nature. No breaking against the peace.

And yet...

"They will never get to the end of how much I can take," the kid who grew up in that tidy white house told the biggest sports conglomerate in the world on Monday. "I'm not happy that I'm the person who has to take this, but I would never allow myself to be treated this way and ever give up."

Could it be that a kid from Farmersville will continue to take the punishment from the government-funded bureaucracies so that they can prove its worthiness? Did the kid from Farmersville lose years from his prime and all of his money so the laboratories, corporations and government-funded bureaucracies can continue to put on shows like the Olympics without anyone questioning their integrity?

Never mind that no court in this country would ever dream of hearing a second of the case against the kid from Farmersville. But in that other world, when there is money to be made off the backs of athletes, little things like justice don't matter much.

How dare anyone question the integrity of our flawed drug tests, the Swiss-based Court for the Arbitration of Sport scolded in its ruling late Monday morning.

"I refuse to accept that the world works this way. I don't buy it," the kid from Farmersville told The Los Angeles Times.

But he's paying for it...

And then some.

Back in Farmersville on Monday afternoon, a bike rider struggles against a hill. He adjusts his gears, stands in the saddle and pushes as hard as he can on the pedals. He nods as he passes the man driving the tractor rolling down the other side of the tiny road. He looks over the corn and sees the white house with the passage from Proverbs on a homemade sign in the front yard at the crest of the hill.

Beyond the house the rain storm draws closer.

*** More: Doping case against Tour de France winner Landis is upheld (Michael A. Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times)

Landis may not race again, but he's not done fighting (Bonnie D. Ford, ESPN.com)

Wow...

Sheesh... Based on a first (quick) read of the CAS harshly-worded decision against Floyd Landis, it appeared as if he never had a chance. Bob was right. I'll have more later tonight (or tomorrow morning), but in the meantime I am going to re-post what I wrote last September when the USADA ruling came down against Floyd because it still applies.

Here it is:

Cooked Case September 20, 2007 WASHINGTON – Let’s just get it out of the way at the top…

I believe Floyd Landis got screwed. I believe that if his case were held to the same standards of the rule of law, Landis’s case would have never gone to trial. Hell, he would have never been indicted.

If Floyd Landis were a baseball player instead of a bike rider, he would still be out on the field without even the slightest threat of suspension.

But whatever. Righteous indignation is typically the rallying cry for losers. Everybody gets screwed at one time or another. However, the part in the case against Floyd that seems so… wrong is that it doesn’t seem as if he was given due process. That’s really the crux of my righteous indignation, aside from the notion that Floyd seems A LOT more believable than Dick Pound, Travis Tygart and the rest of those bureaucrats.

Look, I don’t care if Floyd was cocktailing HgH with winstrol and deer urine all while freezing his rest-day blood in a hyperbaric chamber. Due process is ESSENTIAL.

Wizened old sage Bob Ford, who has been around the loop at the Tour de France numerous times and could be the best cycling writer in the world, dropped me an e-mail minutes after I received one from Floyd’s PR representative, Pearl Piatt, to announce the arbitrator’s ruling. The subject line said it all:

“Cooked case.”

The rest of the email would have made a hell of a column, but it’s football and baseball season in Philadelphia so such things as a doping case involving a Mennonite bike rider from Lancaster County tend to get buried.

Except for here.

As Bob wrote last May:

Landis was caught by the Laboratoire National de Dépistage du Dopage in Châtenay-Malabry, a facility in a suburb just southwest of Paris. The methods and procedures at the lab are sloppy, and the results it issues are increasingly suspect. Recently, the International Tennis Federation announced that drug tests from the French Open - held in Paris, by the way - would be shipped to a lab in Montreal rather than shuttled to Châtenay-Malabry. The ITF said it was an economic decision, but what was it going to say?

The French lab has spit out approximately three times as many positive results as other labs sanctioned by the World Anti-Doping Agency. Those results, particularly the ones involving notable American cyclists, are also quickly leaked to L'Equipe, the French sports newspaper, which happens to be owned by the company that owns the Tour de France. So it's quite a racket.

Does any of this mean Floyd Landis is innocent, set up by nefarious Frenchmen who twirl their moustaches and laugh heartily at his plight? No, it does not. He may well be guilty. It means only that you can't trust the evidence.

This would be fine for Landis if his case was being heard in a court of law that adhered to innocent-until and the overriding escape hatch of reasonable doubt. Instead, his arbitration, which is being prosecuted by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, will be judged by a three-man panel, and was probably decided before it began.

Each side in the case picks one arbitrator, and the third is supposed to be mutually agreed upon. That didn't happen, and the compromise member of the panel is someone who almost always rules against athletes. The decision is cooked, in other words, and Landis is done.

Floyd won the 2006 Tour de France, fairly, I think. But even for as much as I’d like to say his incredible ride in Stage 17 is still one of the most exciting days in sports I have ever seen, I’d be lying if I said it’s not a little tainted now. Yes, Floyd will probably continue to race and could one even go back to ride in the Tour de France, but it will never be the same.

And that just sucks.