Sheffield's agent: 'Truly productive conversations'

Rufus Williams, the agent for Gary Sheffield, spoke with CSN on Wednesday and explained that the the Phillies and the ballplayer had, "truly productive conversations" with Ruben Amaro Jr. Williams also said "several" teams have contacted him and that Sheffield has no preference for an American League or National League team -- the most important thing is to go to situation where he plays, the agent said.

Williams also said Sheffield is an "active player" meaning he is much better when he's able to participate and sees himself more than just a designated hitter, or maybe in the case of the Phillies, a pinch-hitter.

Sheffield is expected to clear waivers on Thursday so a signing with any team is not imminent, but with the season approaching quickly, Williams and Sheffield would like to get something done soon.

Continue reading this story ...

Way out on a limb...

So here’s what we need to know… the Mets and Yankees have new stadiums. Those stadiums cost a lot of money to build. That’s especially the case with the new Yankee Stadium, which apparently was embossed with gold: [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lWktQi9fwW4&hl=en&fs=1]

Anyway, since the Mets and Yankees have those new stadiums to pay for (actually, aren’t WE paying for the Mets stadium? CitiBank? Nice deal) they need to have good teams. Actually, make that really, really good teams.

In order to get those good teams the Yankees went out and bought a whole mess of free agents like CC Sabathia, A.J. Burnett, Nick Swisher, Mark Teixeira… you know the deal. If it’s a name, the Yankees buy it.

The Mets countered by getting J.J. Putz and Francisco Rodriguez for their beleaguered bullpen though the rest of the club looks pretty much the same. Nevertheless, some baseball pundits believe that’s good enough. After all, the reasoning appears, it was the Mets that blew it the past two years. They just up and gave it away.

Regardless, the good folks at Sports Illustrated believe both the Mets and Yankees will be in the playoffs this year. The Mets, they write, will win the NL East and the Yanks the AL East. The Phillies? Hey, at least the WFC get the wild card and a quick exit in the playoffs.

Here’s how SI sees it:

ALDS: Yankees over Twins; Angels over Red Sox NLDS: Cubs over Phillies; Mets over Dodgers ALCS: Angels over Yankees NLCS: Mets over Cubs WORLD SERIES: Mets over Angels

The Mets winning the World Series?

Really?

Such a prediction says a lot of things, but mostly it shows how strong (top heavy?) the NL East is.

But really… the Mets?

Andre the giant

If the Sixers get their way, Andre Iguodala will become the marque player who not only is the go-to guy on the floor, but also the man in the locker room. It shouldn't be too difficult, though. Only 25, Iguodala isn't close to reaching his prime as a player. However, away from the court Iguodala might be coming into his own as a leader. On last night's Late Night with Jimmy Fallon program, Iguodala stood up for the American taxpayers by depicting President Barack Obama, the leader of the free world, in a docudrama of sorts in which Iguodala/Obama sent a message to the American car makers in Detroit.

Take a look.

Iguodala might have more lifting to do with the Sixers if Thaddeus Young's sprained ankle turns out to be a bad one.

Meanwhile, Andre and ?uestlove of The Roots (Fallon's house band) have already worked together on a Nike ad:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eTGhj5LeDZc&hl=en&fs=1]

Reynolds always looks ahead

Make no mistake about it, Scottie Reynolds is very fast. Scary fast. They say speed kills, but in the case of Reynolds it’s the opposition that has its head in the noose.

But more impressive than Reynolds’ streak up the court and game-winning bucket in fewer than five seconds in Villanova’s ridiculously thrilling victory over Pittsburgh to advance to the Final Four on Saturday was the quickness in which Reynolds responded from a really bad game against Louisville in the Big East semifinals two weeks ago.

Talk about coast-to-coast.

“One of his great characteristics is he never fears failure,” Wright said. “He doesn't worry about what he looks like. He never worries about looking bad. He's all out, and he knows he's going to be all out.”

He sort of had to have no fear of failure after seeing his line from the Louisville game. It read, 1-for-6 from the field, including 0-for-3 from beyond the three-point arc. He also contributed six turnovers and just two measly points in 38 minutes.

Yes, that’s right – two points in 38 minutes. No foul trouble, no gimmicky defenses and no excuses.

Continue reading this story ...

He's getting away on foot!

The funny thing about Billy Gillispie is that despite the fact that he was the basketball coach at Kentucky, most folks would not be able to tell you who he is. That just might have been the problem considering most college basketball people say the head coaching job at Kentucky is bigger than the game. That the way it looked when these folks staked out Gillispie with the hope of getting him to hang up his phone.

No such luck.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bTg9Duj87ic&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xcfcfcf&hl=en&feature=player_embedded&fs=1]

Lexington, Kentucky is media market No. 66, which makes it smaller than Des Moines, Iowa; Harrisburg, Pa.; and Mobile, Ala. Still, there are better ways in which to get a guy to talk... even on TV. Though, admittedly, the footage makes for some entertaining viewing.

Nevertheless, to paraphrase a quote from Joe Piscopo's character in Johnny Dangerously (via The Deitch Pit): "I'm embarrassed to be a media member these days. The other day someone asked me what I do for a living, and I told them I was a male nurse."

The long and short of it

We don't do much gambling here -- especially in this economy -- but figured this was worth a look. It comes via Jimmy Shapiro, the sports publicist of the Morris Mohawk Gaming Group, based on BoDog.com odds. Take a look:

Total Home Runs – Ryan Howard Over / Under 43.5

Total RBI’s – Ryan Howard Over / Under 142.5

Total Home Runs – Chase Utley Over / Under 27.5

Total Home Runs – Raul Ibanez Over / Under 22.5

Total Stolen Bases – Jimmy Rollins Over / Under 39.5

Total Stolen Bases – Shane Victorino Over / Under 34.5

Total Wins – Cole Hamels Over / Under 14.5

Total Wins – Brett Myers Over / Under 11.5

Total Saves – Brad Lidge Over / Under 37.5

Odds to win the 2009 World Series New York Yankees 9/2 Boston Red Sox 11/2 Chicago Cubs 8/1 New York Mets 8/1 Los Angeles Angels 14/1 Philadelphia Phillies 15/1 Arizona Diamondbacks 16/1 Tampa Bay Rays 18/1 Atlanta Braves 20/1 Los Angeles Dodgers 20/1 Cleveland Indians 20/1 Minnesota Twins 24/1 Detroit Tigers 25/1 St Louis Cardinals 25/1 Oakland Athletics 25/1 San Francisco Giants 30/1 Chicago White Sox 40/1 Milwaukee Brewers 45/1 Florida Marlins 50/1 Texas Rangers 60/1 Cincinnati Reds 60/1 Toronto Blue Jays 75/1 Colorado Rockies 75/1 Kansas City Royals 75/1 Seattle Mariners 80/1 Pittsburgh Pirates 100/1 Houston Astros 100/1 San Diego Padres 100/1 Washington Nationals 125/1 Baltimore Orioles 150/1

Odds to win the 2009 NL Championship New York Mets 3/1 Chicago Cubs 3/1 Philadelphia Phillies 11/2 Arizona Diamondbacks 13/2 Los Angeles Dodgers 17/2 Atlanta Braves 10/1 St. Louis Cardinals 12/1 San Francisco Giants 12/1 Milwaukee Brewers 17/1 Cincinnati Reds 20/1 Florida Marlins 25/1 Colorado Rockies 25/1 Houston Astros 40/1 San Diego Padres 40/1 Pittsburgh Pirates 50/1 Washington Nationals 50/1

Odds to win the 2009 NL East Division New York Mets 7/5 Philadelphia Phillies 7/4 Atlanta Braves 3/1 Florida Marlins 10/1 Washington Nationals 18/1

Regular-season wins New York Mets Over / Under 89½

Philadelphia Phillies Over / Under 88½

Odds to win the 2009 NL Regular Season MVP Albert Pujols (STL) 3/1 Ryan Howard (PHI) 5/1 Hanley Ramirez (FLA) 5/1 Manny Ramirez (LAD) 7/1 Jose Reyes (NYM) 10/1 Johan Santana (NYM) 15/1 Tim Lincecum (SF) 15/1 Alfonso Soriano (CHC) 15/1 Prince Fielder (MIL) 15/1 Ryan Braun (MIL) 15/1 David Wright (NYM) 20/1 Brandon Webb (ARI) 25/1 Dan Haren (ARI) 25/1 Lance Berkman (HOU) 25/1 Francisco Rodriguez (NYM) 25/1 Jimmy Rollins (PHI) 30/1 Adam Dunn (WAS) 30/1 Aramis Ramirez (CHC) 35/1 Joey Votto (CIN) 45/1 Jake Peavy (SD) 50/1 Chase Utley (PHI) 50/1 Carlos Beltran (NYM) 50/1 Carlos Delgado (NYM) 50/1 Carlos Lee (HOU) 50/1 Corey Hart (MIL) 50/1 J.J. Hardy (MIL) 50/1 Matt Kemp (LAD) 50/1 Russell Martin (LAD) 50/1 Jay Bruce (CIN) 50/1 Cole Hamels (PHI) 60/1 Roy Oswalt (HOU) 60/1 Adrian Gonzalez (SD) 60/1 Rich Harden (CHC) 75/1 Ted Lilly (CHC) 75/1 Ryan Dempster (CHC) 75/1 Carlos Zambrano (CHC) 75/1 Derrek Lee (CHC) 75/1 Geovany Soto (CHC) 75/1 Ryan Ludwick (STL) 75/1 Brad Lidge (PHI) 75/1 Jose Valverde (HOU) 75/1 Brandon Phillips (CIN) 75/1 Dan Uggla (FLA) 75/1 Hunter Pence (HOU) 75/1 Shane Victorino (PHI) 75/1 Brian McCann (ATL) 80/1 Chipper Jones (ATL) 80/1 Adam Wainwright (STL) 80/1 Chad Billingsley (LAD) 80/1 Nate McLouth (PIT) 100/1 Carlos Marmol (CHC) 100/1 Brett Myers (PHI) 100/1

Odds to win the 2009 NL Cy Young Tim Lincecum (SF) 2/1 Johan Santana (NYM) 5/2 Brandon Webb (ARI) 4/1 Dan Haren (ARI) 6/1 Jake Peavy (SD) 10/1 Francisco Rodriguez (NYM) 10/1 Cole Hamels (PHI) 12/1 Roy Oswalt (HOU) 12/1 Carlos Zambrano (CHC) 15/1 Ryan Dempster (CHC) 15/1 Rich Harden (CHC) 15/1 Ted Lilly (CHC) 15/1 Chris Carpenter (STL) 20/1 Adam Wainwright (STL) 20/1 Chad Billingsley (LAD) 20/1 Brett Myers (PHI) 25/1 Edinson Volquez (CIN) 25/1 Bronson Arroyo (CIN) 25/1 Todd Wellemeyer (STL) 25/1 Kyle Lohse (STL) 25/1 Ricky Nolasco (FLA) 25/1 Derek Lowe (ATL) 25/1 Javier Vazquez (ATL) 25/1 Hiroki Kuroda (LAD) 30/1 Brad Lidge (PHI) 30/1

Player to hit the most Home runs in the 2009 Season Ryan Howard 3/1 Ryan Braun 10/1 Alex Rodriguez 12/1 Albert Pujols 13/1 Evan Longoria 15/1 Prince Fielder 15/1 Alfonso Soriano 15/1 Adam Dunn 18/1 Miguel Cabrera 20/1 Mark Teixeira 25/1 Carlos Pena 30/1 Josh Hamilton 30/1 Carlos Quentin 30/1 David Ortiz 35/1 Manny Ramirez 35/1 Carlos Lee 40/1 Jermaine Dye 45/1 David Wright 50/1 Chase Utley 50/1

Hellooooo? Anyone there?

Remember what it was like when the Phillies were awful? Remember when you walked into The Vet and there were so few people there that it felt as if there was a legitimate chance that you could get in the game? Now imagine if Harry Kalas and Chris Wheeler got up and left after the first inning. Just vanished and took off for an early dinner and some TV before bed.

If there is no one there to broadcast a game, did it happen?

Get this... it happened. Kind of.

During a 90-minute rain delay in Ft. Lauderdale yesterday, Orioles' radio announcers Joe Angel and Fred Manfra called back to Baltimore, told it the game was washed out and took off. No problem, right?

Except for the game wasn't a wash out. When the rain stopped, the Orioles played the remaining eight innings though the good people in Bal'mer didn't get the broadcast. Crazy stuff, huh?

OK, yes it was spring training, but is there any more apt analysis of the Orioles' chances in 2009 than the radio guys walking out? Or, is there a more telling how a once mighty franchise has fallen? The Orioles used to be a powerhouse that did it with gritty, team-oriented players, executives and scouts. They had the Ripkens, Brooks Robinson, Ken Singleton, Jim Palmer, Hank Peters, Pat Gillick... the list goes on.

In the booth, Brooks and the great Chuck Thompson were fantastic. They were almost as good as those teams the Orioles put out there that went to the World Series in 1979 and 1983. Plus, O's games at Memorial Stadium (and then Camden Yards) were a happening - it was a true community event. Galvanizing even...

Now, show up at the park early enough and they just might ask you to play.

The crazy thing is that the Orioles used to be the team in D.C., too, before the Nationals arrived. Now, the folks in The District, Northern Virginia and Maryland have two dysfunctional teams to ignore.

In his defense, Joe Angel issued a statement:

To ALL Orioles Fans.....Fred And I had nothing to do with the decision to discontinue the broadcast on Sunday March 29th. It was completely out of our hands ... On Sunday,....we filled for about 40 minutes and then we were told to discontinue the broadcast and simply sign off. The engineer left, the equipment went with him. Fred And I did NOT make that decision......we are not in a position to make that decision.

Fred Manfra and I would much rather have preferred to stay and finish the broadcast after the rain delay. That's why we were there...to keep you informed and entertained. We consider ourselves to be professionals and would never abandon a broadcast as some would seem to perceive.

The decision to end the broadcast was made by the decision making level at our flagship station. It didn't come from us.....and certainly not from the Orioles. Thanks for listening........There's a lot to look forward to with Orioles baseball. Fred and I are grateful and privileged to be your Orioles baseball companions. See you on the radio!

OK, so Angel and Manfra didn't just take off... the folks with the radio equipment figured there was a better way to spend an afternoon than give Baltimore their baseball team.

All rock all the time...

It's definitely going to be a crazy week around these parts. Not only do we have Villanova heading to the Final Four and all the pomp that goes with that, but also the Phillies return to Philadelphia this week for a pair of exhibition games against Tampa on Friday and Saturday before kicking off the season for real on Sunday night against Atlanta. Who knows, the most anticipated Phillies season ever could be sandwiched between 'Nova's national semifinal game and a National Championship on Monday night.

Hey, crazier things have happened.

Anyway, we'll have a bunch of 'Nova and Phillies stories all week leading to the big weekend. Until then, here's a short list of the things I won't write about this baseball season.

Before I start, I know how lame the list is. After all, don't you hate those radio ads in which a station defines itself by what it doesn't play? Then they cue them up and play programmed and contrived crap. I heard one the other day where the station's big calling card was, "We aren't iTunes, we are your tunes."

What? This is what they announce before they launch into Don Henley.

No, take them... they're definitely your tunes.

So from here on out I'm drawing a line and painting myself into a tidy little corner. These are the stories I'm going to work as hard as possible not to write this baseball season:

1.) Jamie Moyer's age

Yes, we all know that Jamie Moyer is old. In fact, he's 46 and there have been just a select few ballplayers that had careers to that age. It's remarkable, sure, but not necessarily such an anomaly anymore.

The fact of the matter is that 46 isn't as old as it used to be. Better yet, a ballplayer only gets old if he allows himself to be that way or injuries add up. Ask Don Wildman about how limiting his age is. Or Dara Torres. Or Chris Chelios. Or Jamie Moyer.

Better yet, don't.

"Some players get injured and others just lose the desire," Moyer told me last August. "Then some, for one reason or other, are told to quit because they reach a certain age or time spent in the game. Some just accept it without asking why."

Along the same vein, Moyer's age won't be used as a crutch, either. He's 46. So what? He's as fit as any player in the league and he hasn't lost a thing off his fastball (tee-hee), so if he's walking out there he's no different than anyone else.

He's 46? Big deal.

2.) J.C. Romero's suspension

Oh yes, this is an important issue. It's especially important since the Phillies won't have their workhorse reliever for nearly a third of the season. But stories knocking it down as no big deal or some type of insignificant or unfortunate occurrence don't get it. The truth is MLB did not want Romero to pitch in the playoffs, but they allowed him to do so anyway.

Why? And why not?

3.) Lefty lineup

Chase Utley to Ryan Howard to Raul Ibanez... deal with it. Certainly the opposing managers will have to figure out a way to deal with it. Last year Utley his .277 with 13 homers against lefties, while Howard hit 14 homers (just .224 though) and Ibanez batted .305 with seven homers vs. lefties.

Oh sure, in the late innings the Phillies will face a ton of situational lefties, but any time a manager goes away from his regular habits to rely on a pitcher generally used to facing just one hitter just might level the odds a bit.

For that middle of the order trio, even odds are pretty good.

4.) Charlie Manuel's managerial acumen

These are the facts: Charlie knows more about baseball than you. Actually he's forgotten more about baseball than you have ever known. To top it off, he's funnier than you and tells far better stories.

Plus, the way he handled that great comeback against the Mets last August in which he used to pitchers to pinch hit, had Carlos Ruiz play third base and put Chris Coste into the game in the eighth inning and watched him get four hits. The guy is always looking at the big picture and sometimes, just for fun, he'll play a hunch.

What he doesn't do is try to over think or out-fox the game like Tony La Russa or some other new age type. He'd rather beat you Earl Weaver style - sit back and wait for a big home run - but if he has to get some base runners moving with some steals or hit-and-runs, that works, too.

Meanwhile, he likes to put his pitchers into firm roles. Yeah, sometimes that can get him in trouble, but the good part is that everyone on the roster understands their role. Big league ballplayers love that.

And if that doesn't work, Charlie will pull out the old, "Just hold 'em, guys... I'll think of something."

It's worked so far.

5.) Raul Ibanez vs. Pat Burrell

Stat heads aren't going to like this one, but Ibanez's superior batting average and lower strikeout rate will matter. It mattered in Seattle and it will matter at cozy Citizens Bank Park, too.

The reason is as simple as the triple-digit RBI totals over the last three years - Ibanez hits the ball a little more. With Jimmy Rollins, Shane Victorino, Utley and Howard hitting in front of him, the 20 fewer times Ibanez strikes out as opposed to Burrell could be significant. Figure there are 26 weeks to a season with the potential for one more run a week produced from one spot of the lineup could add up.

Right?

There you go. Now I'm going to go put the iPod on shuffle... yep, my tunes.

Whatever the hell that means.

'Nova's win a 'classic' not an all-timer

We love hyperbole in sports. If something occurs, not matter how mundane, we need to slap it with some sort of a tag in order to properly categorize it or pigeonhole it. If something isn’t the greatest of all-time, it has to be “right up there” or some such non-sense. Everybody wants to be part of something great. That’s just human nature. But sometimes things just happen. It has nothing to do with history or legacies or whatever. It’s just a game or an event or a party.

Things like that happen all the time.

Be that as it is, the wild victory over Pittsburgh that sent Villanova into the Final Four was an all-timer. It was a great, great game that was ridiculously entertaining. About halfway through the middle of the second half I IM’d CSNPhilly.com’s Andy Schwartz, who was sitting at courtside, and informed him that, “you know this game is coming down to one final shot, right?”

Yeah, I’m clairvoyant like that. I also called Matt Stairs’ homer in Game 4 of NLCS as he walked off the on-deck circle. Saw that one coming from a mile away, too.

Still, before we jump the gun in the wake of the euphoria of a fantastic basketball game, let’s take a deep breath. Yes, let’s say this again, it was an awesome game. It was easily the most entertaining game seen all year and clearly the best of the tournament.

But one of the greatest tournament games ever? Please… it’s not even the best tournament game in Villanova’s history.

Not even close.

Clearly the 1985 championship game victory over Georgetown on April 1 of that year was the best game in the school’s history. For a while some wrote that it might have been the biggest upset in tourney history, too. Not sure about that. It might be pushing it considering ‘Nova and Georgetown were in the same conference and played three times that season. It was a big game, to be sure, but the Wildcats definitely had a frame of reference on how to beat the Hoyas.

Y’know, they had to be perfect.

Besides, the wins over Dayton, Michigan, Maryland, North Carolina and Memphis heading into the Georgetown epic were no joke either. All of those games were classics, too.

So before we go all ‘Nova all the time this week, I’m going to rate the best tournament games I’ve seen. Granted, my frame of reference goes back to the early ‘80s though I clearly recall the hype leading up to the Indiana State-Michigan State clash in which Larry Bird and Magic Johnson squared off for the first time. I remember the Super Bowl-like lead up, but not the game because it started well past my bedtime.

Anyway, here they are:

1.) Duke 104, Kentucky 103 March 28, 1992 at The Spectrum Hard to argue with this one. It pretty much had it all and appeared to derail Duke’s little dynasty when Sean Woods banked in a runner with 2.1 seconds left. That set up the famous Grant Hill to Christian Laettner play:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AY-iq58_oz4&hl=en&fs=1]

2.) N.C. State 54, Houston 52 April 3, 1983 at The Pit, Albuquerque, N.M. The image of this game is of Jim Valvano dashing around the court in a wide-eyed frenzy not really understanding what had just happened. Frankly, it was quite stunning – just the fact that NC State hung in there with No. 1-rated Hakeem Olajuwon and Clyde Drexler and Houston. Just when we were about to settle in for overtime because it appeared as if Derrek Wittenberg’s last-second heave was going to fall short, Lorenzo Charles became college basketball’s Bobby Thomson.

Here it is:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KH1Jt2XATgE&hl=en&fs=1]

3.) North Carolina 63, Georgetown 62 March 29, 1983 at the SuperDome, New Orleans This is the one where freshman Michael Jordan hit the game-winner with 16 seconds remaining in the game. However, Jordan was hardly the best player on the court that night, or even the best freshman. Patrick Ewing was the best freshman, James Worthy was the best player and Sleepy Floyd almost shot Georgetown to the title.

But Jordan, Worthy, Ewing or Floyd are hardly what anyone remembers here. Instead, it was Freddie Brown’s errant pass to Worthy in the waning moments clinched it for the Tar Heels.

Jordan’s shot and Freddie’s pass:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-suuy_tgOjo&hl=en&fs=1]

4.) Villanova 66, Georgetown 64 April 1, 1985 at Rupp Arena, Lexington, Kentucky Villanova played the perfect game and still nearly lost. That’s how good Georgetown was. It was a stunner to be sure.

Yeah, you’ve already heard everything about this one… get ready to hear more this week.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bxKNd94h1zY&hl=en&fs=1] 5.) Indiana 74, Syracuse 73 March 30, 1987 at the SuperDome, New Orleans This is the Keith Smart game, but what gets lost in the glory of the final shot is that Steve Alford drilled seven 3-pointersand a skinny freshman for Syracuse named Derrick Coleman grabbed 19 rebounds, but missed a key foul shot to set up Smart’s game-winner.

The shot:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2dgkmikdVM8&hl=en&fs=1]

The 1987 championship game was also the first time CBS trotted out that terrifically cheesy “One Shining Moment” thing. I can’t stand it…

And yet I can’t turn away.

Here’s the first-ever “One Shining Moment:”

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0LjU0VTNTb0&hl=en&fs=1]

6.) Duke 79, UNLV 77 March 30, 1991 at The Hoosier Dome in Indianapolis Perhaps the Duke dynasty began this day? Either way, this was an upset of 'Nova-G'town proportions. The funny part about this one was the story I heard about UNLV coach Jerry Tarkanian cussing out his players on the walk back to the locker room after the loss.

OK, there’s six of them. We can do this all night, but this week will be filled to the brim with college hoops talk so just use this to whet the appetite.

Coste to Coast

Just sitting here waiting for the Villanova game to start (or is it the Flyers?[1]) and trying to make sense of a lazy Saturday. As far as the game goes, take Pittsburgh giving away the points though I have to admit that I haven't seen the line. My guess is 'Nova is a plus-2 or 3. Is that the correct gambling jargon?

So after a morning laugh of perusal through the LancasterOnline message boards[2] and a glance through the news, here are a handful of stories that piqued our interest this morning.

Somewhere faraway from here, the Phillies appear to have pretty much ironed out their 25-man roster a little more than a week before Opening Day. The biggest development, of course, was the trade of Ronny Paulino... on a Friday night... when people may (or may not) have had plans... because it couldn't have been taken care of on a casual Saturday afternoon.

Nevertheless, Paulino's ouster to San Francisco pretty much means Chris Coste will be the backup catcher for a third straight season. It also means that Lou Marson likely will be on the 25-man roster next season after his apprenticeship at Triple-A Lehigh Valley this season.

Then again, Coste has been really good at digging in his heels. A guy doesn't have a pro career like Coste without knowing the angles or how to compete. Chances are his next stop will be as starting catcher for the Yankees or something like that.

Now don't get me wrong, Coste is no shyster or some dude taking up a spot on the roster because he has dirty pictures of someone or can play the political game better than others. Far from it, because if that were the case why did it take until he was 33 to get into his first big-league game?

The fact is that despite his limitations as a catcher and a hitter, Coste has some intangible that can't be measured on a spreadsheet and quantified by a statistic. Besides, the best parts of baseball are the things that are not on the back of a baseball card.

So enjoy Coste while you can, Phillies fans. Nothing lasts forever, especially the careers of long-suffering backup catchers from Fargo, North Dakota.

*

Elsewhere, I kind of dug this story by Joe Posnanski about John Calipari. It made me think fondly about this moment:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=51-4sJTf7iQ&hl=en&fs=1]

Now I don't condone violence. Ever. But sometimes I can understand.

*

Today is the 30^th Anniversary of the accident at Three Mile Island in Middletown, Pa., which remains as the worst nuclear accident in U.S. history.

These days those cooling towers have become part of our cultural wallpaper. They are pop, in a sense. Warhol could have colored them like he did those soup cans. Besides, it's very, very close to where I'm sitting right now - approximately 25 miles - and I even had the chance to play golf at the course adjacent to the TMI complex.

The grass was so green.

Anyway, at the time of the accident my family was living in Washington, D.C., but we were thousands of miles away on a trip out west. However, ask anyone from Central Pennsylvania or Washington what they were doing 30 years ago today and they'll have some stories for you.

Crazy stuff.

Bags were packed, evacuation routes planned, contingencies were weighed, troops were on alert... just wild. Meanwhile, a guy named Ed Wickenheiser, an old-school newsman from Lancaster, rolled in to Middletown with a microphone and notebook as the first guy on the scene. When a story needs to be told, Ed runs toward it, not away.

Hard-nosed dude, that Ed Wickenheiser.

---

[1] No, it's definitely not the Flyers, though I'd listen to Jim Jackson and Keith Jones do play-by-play on a rash. Love those guys.

[2] I don't know if the posters are serious or goofing off, but it's some hilarious stuff. I hope it's just a bunch of people joking around because otherwise we should all be scared to death. But, if you're looking for a good laugh, check it out. The unintentional comedy is beyond Curt Schilling proportions.

It's Not as Easy as it Looks

Back when Keith Jackson was first drafted by the Eagles, the TV types took off on the fact that the All-Pro tight end out of Oklahoma claimed that he loved classical music and played the cello.

Hey, what’s not to love about that? A big burly blocking end from a college program where they ran the wishbone was also a cellist with an affinity for chamber music.

The story writes itself, write?

Well…

No one wants to say that the TV network folks were duped because Jackson owned a cello. He had a bow and everything. He also had a collection of all the right records to back up the professed love of Bach, Beethoven, Mozart and Wagner.

The problem was that damn cello. When Jackson sat down to play it with the cameras rolling, he could barely screech out the scales. Cats within earshot of a TV ran off into the woods. A few glass mirrors cracked.

It wasn’t good.

Continue reading this story ...

Merry ol' Cole

Sports Illustrated seems to have a thing for Phillies' pitcher Cole Hamels lately. Shortly after was named the MVP of both the NLCS and World Series, Hamels appeared on the cover of the prestigious magazine. The thing about that was there were no pop-out headlines or boxed photos to sully the austerity of Hamels in mid leg kick of a pitch while staring down the camera.

It's so nice you might want to hang it on your wall.

But big pictures and cover stories are superficial. They don't mean anything because if they did, Angelina Jolie, Paris Hilton and a The Octomom would be the most meaningful people on the planet.

Alas, they are not. In fact, what do they do exactly?

Anyway, Cole is sort of a big deal in these parts. When he returned to Philadelphia last week for an MRI and an ultra sound of that precious, precious left arm, camera crews dogged him around town while he guided his wife's minivan through traffic. The Phillies even put out an advance warning to the media back in Philly that Cole wasn't going to talk to reporters when he arrived at Philadelphia International.

Apparently the ride on USAir was going to be stressful enough - you know with the lost luggage and everything.

But in Lee Jenkins' story about potential top pick in the June baseball draft named Stephen Strasburg, Hamels' name came up.

In a sidebar entitled, "Young Guns," Jenkins talked to long-time scout Al Goldis about the best pitchers he bird dogged. Guess what? Hamels was second on Goldis' list.

In his career with the Orioles, White Sox, Reds, Brewers, Cubs, Angels and Mets, Goldis put Hamels in his all-time top five of pitchers he scouted along with Dwight Gooden, Brien Taylor, Mark Prior and Mike Mussina. Not a bad list, though the pro careers weren't exactly the best for all of the guys on that list.

On Hamels, the scout told the scribe:

Of all the high school pitchers I've seen, he had the most poise. He knew how to pitch. He had a great changeup. He had everything.

Indeed he did. However, because of injuries and questions about his long-term health, Hamels fell to the 17^th pick in the 2002 draft where Mike Arbuckle, Marti Wolever and Ed Wade were smart enough to make the pick.

Later, they were smart enough to hold onto him when all the other teams came around sniffing for prospects in potential trades.

Stay classy, Curt

Generally speaking, baseball players are not funny. Actually, that's totally subjective. The sense of humor of most ballplayers is there. It's rock solid. Sometimes it's simply a matter of the material.

There are only so many hotfoots and trades to Japan that can be trotted out there before folks get wise.

Of course senses of humor are just like style or taste in that everyone thinks theirs is good. Guilty as charged on all the above...

Nevertheless, baseball players are never edgy. Don't expect depth in the comedic stylings. Rare exceptions notwithstanding, they have that edgy trait stomped out of them on the way to the Majors. Conformity isn't exactly expected, but the other side of that isn't condoned either.

Or something like that.

Anyway, the point is there is a lot of unintentional comedy on the Major League Baseball scene. Tons of it, actually. It comes from everywhere and it never gets old. So in other words, hanging around baseball is the funniest place on earth.

Still, even those with a fine-tuned comedy radar may have missed this one:

Curt Schilling was the baseball version of Ron Burgundy.

Yeah, there it is.

According to Jason Gay's piece in The New Republic Online (via Can't Stand the Bleeding), "Schilling was a locally beloved institution--a hero in Boston, Philly, and Arizona--with a comically inflated sense of self-importance."

He keeps going:

But Schilling mostly resembled Burgundy in that he was a first-rate blowhard, thrilled to hold forth with presumed authority on nearly any subject, as if earth was desperate for his wisdom. He'd shamelessly careen from sports to religion to politics; from his conservative heroes (John McCain, George W. Bush) to The New York Times ("A 'left wing' mouthpiece that has never had issues reporting 'facts' that aren't, as facts.") to Obama's campaign trail economic plan ("There is nothing he's proposed that is going to help me hire new employees or maintain the best health care coverage"). In baseball, he had zero compunction about criticizing others in the game. He called Alex Rodriguez "bush league." He chastised Barry Bonds for "cheating on his wife, cheating on his taxes, and cheating on the game." He even called out his own ex-teammates, like the flopsy outfielder Manny Ramirez. When Roger Clemens--Schilling's version of Burgundy nemesis Wes Mantooth--was implicated for steroid use, Schilling howled that if Clemens was proven guilty, he should return his Cy Young Awards.

As gifted a player as Schilling was, his bloviating didn't always endear him to his teammates. You can imagine, just like on the Channel 4 news team, some laughing behind his back. Schilling picked up the nickname "Red Light Curt" for his tendency to seek out media attention, and his former GM in Philadelphia, Ed Wade, once quipped that Schilling was a "horse" every fifth day, and a "horse's ass" the other four. (That could have been a line in Anchorman, too.) GQ reported that after Schilling wrote an open letter to America after 9/11, his teammates serenaded him with a chorus of "Yankee Doodle Dandy."

It's hard to argue with these fine points (and many more in the story), though the disturbing part is that baseball writers weren't able to see it first. It's kind of like the steroids era in that sense... another whiff for Schilling.

Battle tested 'Nova aims to repeat history

Close your eyes for the briefest of seconds when he speaks and you would swear it was 1985 all over again. Oh sure, there are a few more pounds these days and the New Yorker accent has softened a bit, but time and travel has a way of doing that sort of thing.

We should all be so lucky.

But to hear Ed Pinckney talk about his alma mater on Wednesday when he returned to Philadelphia with the Minnesota Timberwolves, it may as well had been that crazy run through the first-ever field of 64 nearly 25 years ago.

A last-second win over Dayton on the Flyers’ home court followed by an upset over the top-seeded Michigan, set up Pinckney’s Wildcats up against Len Bias’ Maryland team.

Yeah, that’s right – an ACC team.

“I actually got a chance to go to practice yesterday before they took off for Boston and they looked good,” said Pinckney, who spent the last four years working as Jay Wright’s assistant before jumping to the NBA. “They looked confident, they played consistent all year and all of the senior and rising juniors have matured to great players. Jay has put himself in a great position and I’m feeling very confident about this one. They have a great chance to win Thursday night.”

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Nothing different except for the 12 screws

According to the latest Twitter post from @lancearmstrong, seven-time Tour de France champion, Lance Armstrong, had successful surgery to repair a broken clavicle. Everything is all tied together for Lance... with a titanium plate and 12 screws, of course. Nevertheless, Armstrong is still looking at a return in time for Tour of Italy in early May, as well as the Tour de France, which starts July 4 in Monaco.

About that initial 4-to-6 week recovery diagnosis, well, Lance told Bonnie Ford it might be a little too long.

"We'll know more in the next week," he said. "The sooner I can get on the bike, the quicker we'll know. ... Even if I went into the Giro underprepared and was riding it as preparation for other events, I'd still do it. I'd still be excited to go and do that."

In his first few months back in the saddle after a three-year retirement, Armstrong is catching up for lost time as far as injuries go. Through the first part of his career, Armstrong avoided major injuries, excluding, of course, cancer.

But Armstrong took a spill in the Tour of California last month and battled some pretty rough conditions in the early stages of that race. Then during Monday's opening stage of the five-stage Vuelta a Castilla y Leon in Northern Spain, he busted up his clavicle so that the bone was displaced and splintered.

"Lying in the ditch in that situation [Monday] ... You sort of ask yourself, 'What the hell am I doing here?'" he told Ford. "I don't feel that way today, necessarily, although I'm still in a lot of pain and ready to get this behind me. It was a shock.

"To go as long as I have without having anything like this happen is basically a miracle. ... It was bound to happen. It's not good timing, but it certainly could be worse. And I look at it from a different perspective, too, just from the curveballs my health has thrown me in the past. Laying in that ditch with a shattered collarbone is a lot better than other health scares I've had."

Putting it that way, a displaced and splintered collarbone really isn't much an injury at all.

It all pays off in the end

LANCASTER, Pa. - Last week while in Florida, I had the pleasure of bumping into both David Montgomery and Bill Giles.[1] Mr. Giles moved in and out of the area like a flash - he dashed in and rolled out after he had done and seen what he needed to do. Mr. Montgomery, along with PR director emeritus Larry Shenk joined Todd Zolecki and I to watch Chase Utley's spring debut during a minor-league game on one of the back fields of the Carpenter Complex. Actually, I joined them. They were standing there at the one spot along the sidelines that separated us from the actual field/benches.

Still, despite a pleasant conversation with the guys, I couldn't help to think that, once upon a time, the Phillies were (internally) considered a small-market team. In fact, until recently the team collected cash from the so-called luxury tax put in place during the 2002 collective bargaining agreement.

The interesting part about the notion of the Phillies being a "small-market team" is the semantics. Technically, the Phillies play in the fifth-largest media market in the U.S. Only New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago and San Francisco are larger. Though back when the Phillies were playing in the Vet and the "small-market" statement was floated out there, Philadelphia was the fourth-largest market.

But largesse and largeness are clearly two different things.

Or at least they were until, (ahem) the Phillies got good. It's really an elementary phenomenon - when the Red Sox got good, re-worked their business plan and ballpark and really formed a Nation, they were essentially the same free-spending team as the Yankees.

Red Sox, Yankees... same difference. If either team wanted a player, they went out and bought a player.

Poaching from a David Murphy tweet (@HighCheese), the Red Sox are set to open the 2009 season with a player payroll of $120 million. It will be the lowest rate for Boston since the 2003 season.

According to Murph, the Phillies' Opening Day payroll will be $10 million higher than the Red Sox, while, according to research by Paul Hagen, the Phillies raised their payroll by approximately $26.7 million to $130,844,098.

For the Phillies it seems as if this winter was a perfect storm of arbitration-eligible players come home to roost. Better yet, Hagen dropped this from a story last month:

Closer Brad Lidge, who could have been a free agent at the end of the season, signed a 3-year extension in the middle of last season, got the biggest raise. His base salary went up $5.2 million to $11.5 million. He was followed closely by first baseman Ryan Howard, who is now the team's highest-paid player at $15 million after getting a $5 million bump.

Righthander Brett Myers ($3.5 million increase) and second baseman Chase Utley ($2.75 million) got bumps that were scheduled as part of multiyear contracts.

The biggest winner percentagewise was lefthander Cole Hamels. He got an 870 percent increase from $500,000 to $4.35 million as part of his new 3-year contract. Centerfielder Shane Victorino got a 651 percent increase from $480,000 to $3.125 million.

At the same time, general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. told us during the winter meetings in Las Vegas that the Phillies were largely unaffected by the current world economic crisis largely because they won the World Series. Had they fallen short, perhaps the payroll might not have gotten close to $130 million?

Still, as Nate Silver pointed out last week, baseball is a really, really good investment. Looking to make some money? Buy a baseball team. Just look at what happened to Messers Montgomery and Giles...

Sure, you might be small market now, but it will pay off very quickly.

---

[1] Yes, this is shameless name-dropping. Make that unapologetic name-dropping.

Just a slight delay for Lance

Lance Armstrong flew back to the United States on Tuesday morning. After a stopover in New York, the seven-time Tour de France champion made home to Austin, Tx. in time for an appointment with his doctor. It was during that visit with his doctor that Armstrong learned his “clean” clavicle break wasn’t so clean after all. As of 8:20 p.m. eastern time on Tuesday, the great bike rider was getting a CT scan after learning about the not-so clean break.

“Bummer,” he tweeted on his Twitter feed.

Meanwhile, while the health and pending comeback of Lance Armstrong was all being documented in real time via “new media” (and the death of the “old media” had a bit more dirt shoveled on it with each tweet), somewhere near Paris tired old men waited anxiously for the next update.

Yes, when Armstrong “tweets” folks take notice. And no, it’s not just the fans, either. Take those tired old men in France for instance. When they read that the collarbone might be a little more damaged than expected, those “nefarious Frenchmen” might just have been moved to “twirl their moustaches and laugh heartily at his plight,” as the great Bob Ford once wrote about Lance’s ex-teammate, Floyd Landis, a few years back.

Yes, the cycling bureaucrats are feeling pretty good about themselves lately. When Lance hopped on that plane to go home, it meant there was an entire ocean between him and the nexus of the cycling universe. CT scans and doctor’s visits that elicit tweets that read, “bummer” gets that twirling in full flight. The next one might even be enough to cause a World Series-style victory celebration full of champagne spray and maybe even some high-fives. Why not? They already made him cut his hair for DNA-style drug tests.

Only in this case it might be real champagne instead of the sparkling wine those gauche Americans like.

Sacrebleu!

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He was a jerk, but he wasn't boring

There was no in-between with Curt Schilling. He didn't take shortcuts and nothing ever came easy.  That went for pretty much anything. Whether it was on the mound, his charity work for ALS, doing interviews or playing video games, Schilling went all out. So needless to say, sometimes Schilling had a way of rubbing folks the wrong way. For instance, there was a time in June of 2004 where I found myself sitting in the home team dugout at Fenway Park a few feet away from Schilling and Kevin Cooney of the Bucks County Courier Times.

Normally, I do my best not to eavesdrop on other people's conversations, but Schilling knew who we were and how us media types act when we get a good piece of gossip and decided that his conversation with Kevin was for everyone within earshot. That meant the security protecting the dugout, the early-arriving fans, fellow teammates and, of course, me.

Knowing his audience, Schilling dived in mouth first and just ripped away at the Daily News' Marcus Hayes for his 2003 Rookie of the Year ballot. Apparently Marcus didn't have Diamondbacks' pitcher Brandon Webb placed to Schilling's liking on his ballot or something like that.

Whatever it was, it gave Schilling an excuse to complain. Needless to say, Schilling was really good at that, too.

But here's the good part about Schilling's loud rant that day in Boston - he knew Marcus wasn't at the park because it was a Saturday. The Daily News doesn't print on Sunday (yet they still have a Web site) so Schilling knew that us scribes being as catty as a sewing circle would scamper back to the press box and replay the rant.

He was right. Continue reading this story ...

Back to earth

LANCASTER, Pa. – Going to Spring Training to write about baseball is a lot like walking into a hermetically-sealed cocoon. Nothing pierces this bubble, which is more roach motel than a simple picket fence. Ideas from the outside check in, and then they die.

So the first order of business since checking out of Camp Big Britches in Clearwater was to reconnect with reality. Or at least some facsimile thereof. And a quick look back at my version of reality shows that I missed some pretty cool stuff back here in Philly.

Lancaster? Not so much.

Anyway, here’s what happened:

• Apparently there is a basketball tournament going on. Villanova is in it, though it must be pointed out that the current version of the team is only slightly less evil than the older versions. Yeah, those fans/alums are still as arrogant as can be, but Jay Wright makes it all a bit more tolerable.

More interesting, Villanova plays Duke in the regional semifinal in Boston this Thursday. In the old days rational folks would have rooted for both teams to get lost on the way to the arena. Baring that, some discomfort or at least a few flat tires were in order. These days, anytime the li’l general at Duke gets beat is pretty sweet.

Hey, I’m not one of those hater guys (at least I hope not), so I guess it’s not fair to pick on Coach K because he has a really, really important job coaching basketball. He’s very important. Just ask him.

• The biggest whiff was skipping out before the Sixers played one last game at the Spectrum. No, not for the sentiment of playing a game in an old building because overwrought pining for things seems kind of silly. Besides, as Joe Strummer said, if you think too much about the past it will drag you down.

Joe… Joe was the greatest.

Sentiment and nostalgia are hard things to ignore. It’s the emotion of it, probably. Life can be difficult if you’re one to wade in past the shallow end, so comfortable memories of old times can be soothing on occasion. So for a lot of us – especially pre-teens who hawked the team during training camp at F&M – that ’83 Sixers club would have conjured up some fun memories.

If, of course, I had been at the Spectrum instead of sunny Florida.

Regardless, does it really count if Andrew Toney wasn’t there?

Sure, the Sixers undoubtedly did a wonderful job putting together a memorable event for the fans and the players, but Andrew Toney was such an important player of that era that it actually belied mere statistics and wins and losses. The truth is Andrew Toney changed everything in the Atlantic Division and the Eastern Conference.

It’s possible Toney was the most important player in the game for a few years.

Here’s why:

If the Celtics had anyone remotely capable of guarding Toney, they would not have traded to get Dennis Johnson. And without Johnson, the Celtics are just a very good team, but not that much different from the rest of the very good teams.

So without Toney, the Celtics dynasty might have just been a blip in time and the Sixers might have snuck out of the East another time or two.

• Elsewhere, before Lance Armstrong broke his collarbone and possibly lost his shot at returning to the Tour de France, he had to submit some of his hair for DNA drug testing. Yep, athletes in sports outside of the big three, are submitting to DNA drug testing.

Meanwhile, baseball's drug problem gets sillier and sillier by the day.

• Finally, speaking of drug-testing, maybe A-Rod should have been forced to offer a hair/urine sample after posing for this picture:

Seriously, I'm all for defying the conventional wisdom, but what is he doing? That's something some dudes do when there is no one else at home and they don't have to worry about being caught acting like a goof. But not A-Rod. He invites a photog and goes all out.

So when he puts on his Sunday best, grabs his parasol and sashays through the town square, don't be surprised.

Go ahead... they dare ya

CLEARWATER, Fla. – Spend some time with the Phillies during spring training and one tends to pick up on a few things. Call is osmosis or luck. Either way, proximity tends to shine a little light.

For instance, Chan Ho Park might not have the fifth starter spot nailed down despite the fact that he hasn’t walked a hitter in Grapefruit League action and has an ERA nearly two runs better than any of his competitors. Has Chan Ho been underestimated?

We’ll see.

Meanwhile, it appears as if there are a few more roster battles than anticipated and even “sure things” (my word) like Matt Stairs will have to fight to make the 25-man roster for the opener on April 5. Plus, Miguel Cairo’s right-handedness just might serve him well.

There is still plenty of time to iron out those details so we can place them on the backburner for the next couple weeks. For now we’ll just deal with the really important issues, like, are the Phillies good enough to win the whole thing again this year.

Um, sure. Why not?

Based on observances and conversations, it’s fair to say that the WFC Phillies and staff have more of a strut this spring than in past years. In fact, a few might even be a bit too big for their britches.

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