Phillies and the Hall: Not This Year, Not Even for a While...

Perhaps you remember the exciting years of 1994 and 1995 when both Steve Carlton and Mike Schmidt were voted into the Hall of Fame (along with Richie Ashburn who was selected by the Veterans Committee in 1995). It's certainly a rare feat to have two players chosen to enter the Hall of Fame in such a short period of time (not counting Ashburn, for this sake of this discussion), and quite an honor at that.

But looking at the results since then, the Phillies have hardly even had anybody make the ballot, which says a lot about just how lame the Phils were in the late 80s and 90s, when the players of those years began retiring.

For instance, this year there is only one player eligible out of 25 possible nominees who ever even played for the Phightin's, and that's the one and only Dale Murphy, who pretty much ended his storied career here as a fizzled veteran from 1990-92 (and played 26 games with the Rockies the following year). Ever since Schmidt was elected, there has rarely been an appearance by an ex-Phillie on the ballot. Take a look for your self at the Hall of Fame's website, and do a search by year (even though it's annoyingly tedious and painful the way it's designed.)

So in my estimation, we'll have to wait quite a while to have another one-time Phillie even make the Hall of Fame ballot. I'd suppose Curt Schilling, Jim Thome, and Benito Santiago (another fizzled veteran) are our best shots for the near future. Other than that, I'm guessing it'll be a long dry spell until we get a Phillie HOFer in there.

Unless, perhaps, Midre Cummings or Calvin Maduro get a surprise call.

On the bright side, however, well down the road we should hopefully be well-represented by Jimmy Rollins, Ryan Howard, and Chase Utley. Scott Rolen, the begrudging Phil, will certainly make the ballot, as will Bobby Abreu and Mike Lieberthal and perhaps a few others whom I can't think of at this point in time. But that's still a while yet until any of them make it.

But hey, we're Phils fans. We're as patient as they come.

*sigh*

A Brief History of Canadian 76ers

Curiousity got the best of me today. Fortunately, the ever-helpful Mr. Google was there to satisfy my itch to find out about Canadians that have played for the Philadelphia 76ers. Why did I need to find this bit of useless information out? I don't know, same reason that your shoes stick to stadium walkways... it's simply a mysterious facet of life that you have to deal with.

Anyway, I searched "Canadian basketball players" and got this page from Wikipedia, which lists anybody who was/is relatively famous in the basketball circles in Canada. I zipped through list of 86 Canadain basketball players, clicking on each link to skim through each bio, and found that I'd never heard of most of the guys on there. The first name that jumped out at me, however, was the one and only Sixers' starting center for 2007, Mr. Samuel Dalembert. The trick with him is that he was born in Haiti, but apparently played basketball at high school in Montreal, Canada. So, does that count? I'll let you be the judge.

Of course I came across Todd MacCullough, a Sixers center from 1999-2003. His playing career was unfortunately cut short, but one of his claims to fame was having been born and raised in Winnipeg, Canada. He had a nice touch on his shot, but otherwise kind of slid under the radar during his brief career.

A few other Canadian gents played for the Sixers at one time or another. Here's the list of players I found:

-Rowan Barrett: Rowan was on the Sixers' squad in 1999. (Sorry, I couldn't even find any other information on what he did on the Sixers... must not have made much of an impact)

-Olu Famutimi: Well the information on Olu is pretty much as thin as it gets. Apparently Famutini, from Toronto, played in Sixers' training camp in 2005. So, umm, yeah, that's about all I got on him.

-Leo Rautins: Rautins (pictured) was drafted by the Sixers in 1983 out of Syracuse University with the 17th pick. In 28 appearances during his only season with the Sixers, Leo popped in 48 points, roped 29 assists, and pulled in 33 rebounds as a 6'8" forward. In 1985 he played for the Atlanta Hawks in four games. He then skipped off to Europe. He is now the coach of the Canadian national basketball team and can be heard as an analyst for the Toronto Raptors. Of note, Rautins has undergone 14 knee operations at the time of his retirement. That's one knee surgery for every two NBA games he played. Ouch. Also of note: his son Andy now also plays at Syracuse. Hopefully his knees fare better than his pop's set.

Well, that's a brief history of Canadian 76ers. Six Sixers (that I could find, at least) hailed from Canada. Don't you feel a bit more wordly?

Flyers, Penguins and 107,000 Puckheads

Yesterday, local (Philly-area) media reported that the Philadelphia Flyers and Pittsburgh Penguins are dabbling with the notion of playing a regular season game at Penn State University in Happy Valley in January of 2009. Outdoors. In Beaver Stadium.

Let me just say that this would be the wildest game I could possibly imagine.

Not only is the Flyers/Pens rivalry building steam especially after last week's scrappy 8-2 battle that the Flyers won, but having it at a neutral location that State College provides, and having it at the country's second largest stadium in the dead of winter just sounds like the a recipe for mayhem. Up to 107,000 fans cheering on a bitter rivalry would be crazy. But in a good way.

Having gone to Penn State I realize that roughly 1/3 of the students are Philly sports fans, 1/3 are Pittsburgh sports fans, and the rest are "miscellaneous"... mostly New York sports fans and a mix of others. So the built-in battleground between the two Pennsylvania cities is already there, and the party scene would be well-represented on both sides.

My only real question is... if you're sitting at the top row of Beaver Stadium in a full house... how in the H-E-double-hockey-sticks would you be able to see the puck???

Other than that, I say... play on!

A Look Back at Murray Craven

I don't know why, but Murray Craven's name popped into my head this morning. Just one of those catchy names I guess. So I did some research on him online. Here's the scoop about this former Flyer:

-Craven was born on 7/20/1964 in Medicine Hat, Alberta, Canada.

-Drafted by Detroit Red Wings in 1982, Craven was traded to the Flyers in 1984 in exchange for the aging Darryl Sittler. It turned out to be a steal, according to Legends of Hockey.

-According to Database Hockey, Craven played seven years for the Flyers from 1984-1991 and then again for a brief stint in the 1991-2 season, playing in 523 regular season games-- out of a total of about 572-- making him a very dependable player. A consistent left winger, Craven scored 152 goals plus 245 assists for 397 points during his Flyers career.

-His career totals amounted to 1071 games played from 1982-2000, 266 goals, 493 assists, 759 points, and 524 penalty minutes during the regular season. In 118 playoff games, he racked up 27 goals, 43 assists, and 66 penalty minutes.

-He made it to the Stanley Cup on three occasions-- twice with the Flyers and once with the Canucks-- but was never able to bring home the trophy.

-Lastly, here's a view of an excerpt about Murray Craven in "The Greatest Players and Moments of the Philadelphia Flyers", by Stan Fischler.

Thanks for the hard work you gave the Flyers, Murray. Hope you're doing well these days!

I'm Naming Names!

So today former Senator George Mitchell let loose with a stack of papers containing names of players who were accused of taking steroids. Some former Phillies that made the list include Lenny Dykstra, Jason Grimsley, Paul Byrd, Jeremy Giambi, Benito Santiago, and David Bell. Interesting list there, huh?

But here's a more interesting list for you... Former Phillies players who were NOT on today's 'Roid Roster:

-Kim Batiste
-Bake McBride
-Rod Booker
-Del Unser
-Granny Hamner
-Randy Lerch
-Pep Deininger
-John Titus
-Nick Punto

Now this is not to say that none of these players ever took liquid muscles, particularly that John Titus who led the 1909 Philadelphia Phillies in home runs with 3. Yep, he was the hammer on that group of Phightins'. But the fact is that nobody has indicted any of these players as of yet, so hopefully they will stay on the clean list, so give 'em a round of applause for staying of "the clear" and other questionable substances. However, if anything should change, I'll be the first to break it to you.

Keep clean, Philly.

Tim Tookey Selected for the Hall...

Yesterday, former Flyer Tim Tookey got the call to the Hall of Fame... the AHL Hall of Fame, that is.

Tookey, a 5' 10" forward, was the fourth leading scorer all-time in AHL history. He squeezed out two regular season games with the Philadelphia Flyers in 1986-87, and played in 10 games during the playoffs that year. You can see his career stats here.

So, hat's off (or should I say helmet's off?) to Mr. Tookey. See ya in the Hall...

Rollins Rolls, Hayes Hired

While most of you were rightfully celebrating the selection of Jimmy Rollins for the 2007 MVP Award, you may have missed another bit of news about a former Phillie. The Lancaster Barnstormers of the Atlantic League announced they have hired none other than (drum roll please...)Mr. Von Hayes to manage the team next year. Thus continues the trend of former Phillies landing coaching jobs, albeit a minor league job in this case. Things that make you go hmmmmmm.

An interesting subplot emerged in the hiring of Hayes, as the Philly Daily News reports:

Hayes, a 1989 All-Star with the Phillies, was chosen from a group that included Hall of Fame catcher Gary Carter, former Baltimore catcher Andy Etchebarren, former Boston manager Butch Hobson, former Mets infielder and successful minor league manager Wally Backman and Tom Herr, who led the Barnstormers to the Atlantic League title in 2006.

Atta guy! Way to beat out a Hall of Famer in Gary Carter! You'll notice that he beat out two other former Phils-- Tommy Herr (who helped them win the title in 2006)and Wally Backman. Also notable is that Rick Wise will stay on as pitching coach for his fourth year in that position, according to said article.

Hayes, who may hold the record for having the widest batting stance in the history of the game, has a career minor league coaching record of 318-327, having coached in the Oakland A's and Arizona Diamondbacks organizations. He also was able to lead two different teams to championships.

According to Baseball-Reference.com, Hayes had a close-to-an-MVP year in 1986 when he hit .305 with 19 homers 98 RBIs, and 107 runs scored. He lead the league in runs, doubles, and extra base hits that year and made the All-Star team.

He may best unfortunately be remembered for being traded by the Indians in 1982 for Manny Trillo, George Vukovich, Jay Baller, Julio Franco, and Jerry Willard. That's a tough act to live up to, and Vonnie baby tried his hardest, but I don't think that most fans would consider that an even trade in retrospect. Such is life.

Good luck Von, and show them whippersnappin Barnstormers how to play ball... the Philly way.

Add One More to the "Ex-Phils Now Coaching" List

It was announced yesterday that Los Angeles Dodgers' manager Joe Torre has elevated Ken Howell to bullpen coach for his 2008 squad, thus continuing the trend of former Phillies jumping to the coaching ranks in recent times, as I covered in a recent post. Howell had previously served as a pitching coach for the Las Vegas 51s and two other Dodger farm teams.

Mr. Howell pitched for the Phillies in 1989-1990, after being traded from the Baltimore Orioles in the 1988 offseason (where he was officially on the team for just four days), in exchange for Phil Bradley. Interesting to note is that he came off of a shoulder injury and then pitched to a record of 30-29 for the beleagured squad Phils' squad over two years. During his seven year career, he went 38-48 with a 3.95 ERA, with 549 K's in 613.3 innings. It may be worth noting that the only major statistical category that he ever lead the league in for a season was for hurling 21 wild pitches in 1989.

So what's the conclusion here?

Clearly there's something in the Philly wudder (water) for all of these former players and coaches to be hired around the league as coaches. Further testing will need to be implemented.

Why the Popularity in Former Phillies as Coaches?

Whenever I catch a news clip that a former Phillie has joined the ranks of coach, I do my best to whip up a post right here to let you, my die-hard fan(s) know about it. It's a blog, it's free, and it's moderately enjoyable for me to do so, so I do it. Thanks for following along.

At any rate, I have a real hankering to understand what the fascination is with former Phillies blossoming into coaches around the league. I did a rough scan over every MLB team's coaching roster and came across the following coaches who at one time or another played for the Phillies:

John Russell, Pirates
Lee Elia, Mariners
Nick Leyva, Brewers (formerly)
Dale Sveum, Brewers
Mike Maddux, Brewers
Rick Schu, Diamondbacks
Larry Bowa, Dodgers (as of today actually)
Terry Francona, Red Sox
Juan Samuel, Orioles
Ron Roenicke, Angels
Roger McDowell, Braves
Ivan DeJesus, Cubs
Mariano Duncan, Dodgers
Norm Charlton, Mariners
Tom Nieto, Mets
Pat Corrales, Nationals
Darrel Akerfelds, Padres
Milt Thompson, Phillies
Billy Hatcher, Reds
Andy Van Slyke, Tigers

That's quite a list. 20 coaches. That seems like a very high proportion, considering the average team had roughly 6 coaches listed. That's about 120 coaches in the league, meaning that 1 in every 6 coaches was a former Phillie player or coach. Quite enthralling data there.

So here's the question... why are so many former Phillies now coaches, despite the team's minimal success over the past 3 decades or so?

Some theories:

1. Flipping through some of their playing records on Baseball-Reference.com, I noticed that most of these guys played for a good 5 teams or more. AKA- journeymen. So, not only were they former Philles, but they were former "everythings".

2. Perhaps playing on the infamous Veterans Stadium turf taught these gents the nitty gritty of how to play baseball better. Note that this theory is quickly rebuked after considering the Phils' dismal collective record over the past 30-odd years.

3. Maybe these teams want coaches with plenty of experience in dealing with adversity. As mentioned, most of these guys played on the Vet's turf. They also dealt with futile teams. And hostile fans. And weather that went from ice cold in April to 100 degrees with 99% humidity in the summer. Talk about survivors, these guys have seen it all.

4. Or perhaps there's a mysterious missing link. Was/is there a great mentor that these guys learned from while in Philly? Was there a secret network that these guys had to help them get hooked up with coaching jobs? Or something else altogether?

5. Lastly, the most likely cause: the Phanatic. I don't know what his effect could possibly be, but he's the only constant in the past 30+ years. Can we get a scientific link to his powers of getting former Phils to become coaches all over the league?

You be the judge.

John Russell Joins the Buccos

So another former Phillie has landed himself a coaching job.

John Russell, a Phightin' from '84 to '88, has been hired as the next whipping boy, errr, manager of the beleagured (and perhaps "de-league-ered" in the future) Pittsburgh Pirates. Tough task at hand trying to rebuild a team that hasn't had a winning season since 1992. Obviously the other side of Pennsylvania also hasn't fared all that well in baseball in the past decade, though at least the Phils have shown some promise as of late. Russell had been managing the Red Barons, errr, Iron Pigs in the Phils' farm system and will be making his first stop as a Big League manager.

During his playing years, Russell put together a Sal Fasano-like career (according to BaseballReference.com) with a .225 career batting average, 34 homers, 129 RBIs and one-third of an inning pitched for the Braves in '89 (he has a career 0.00 ERA, in fact, as he gave up no runs). A multi-position fielder, Russell camped out in the outfield most often but also played catcher fairly often.

We wish you well Coach Russell. Good luck in the Steel City. You might need it.

Lee Elia's Back on the Scene

Lee Elia, the native Philadelphian who managed the Phillies from 1987 to 1988 and compiled a 111-142 record during that time, has been hired as, and I quote: "an on-field consultant" for the Seattle Mariners.

If this doesn't sound like a cushy job, then I don't know what does. The job description, according to SI.com:

"He (will)work with the team for approximately half of spring training. Periodically throughout the season, he will assist manager John McLaren and the coaching staff while in uniform."

I guess when you're 70 years old and have 50 years of baseball experience, you can pull off jobs like that. Congrats Lee and good luck with the Mariners.

For those of you wondering, here's a summary of Elia's stats as an infielder for his Major League years of 1966 and 1968:

.203 batting average
3 home runs
25 RBIs
17 runs scored

And now for the best entertainment of the day!... Lee Elia's expletive-filled rampage in 1983 when he was managing the lowly Cubs... click here and be sure to scroll to the bottom and listen to the WAV file. AMAZING. That's true Philly 'tood right there folks.

History is a Thing of the Past

Imagine if you could predict the future.

Well, actually you can.

In today's world of sports, history is becoming a thing of the past. How so, you ask? Think about all of the quirky, intriguing, and valuable sports artifacts that have been collected from decades past, such as the ones you can see here.

A home run ball hit by Mike Schmidt.

Tommy MacDonald's game-worn helmet.

A broken stick signed by Bobby Clarke.

Etc.

They were all real, genuine items that were used and had a sentimental value to the player because that's what they had to use, and that was it.

Fast forward to today's world.

The 756th home run ball hit by Barry Bonds was tagged with a special marking to prove authenticity.

Eight seconds after a team wins the World Series, Super Bowl, etc., the players are wearing the hats that are available in stores the following day.

Baseball card printing can be planned so that there will be a limited number of certain ones printed so as to make them more valuable.

I could go on. http://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gif

But my point here is that sports memorabilia is a lot different in today's highly monetized, merchandized, milestone-marking business world. All of these new items of memorabilia that I mentioned were essentially prefabricated, and had a predetermined collector's value and predicated how the collector's market should react. Obviously not all collector's items are prefabricated like these, but enough are to make it feel like history is a thing of the past, and as a result predicting what's going to happen is as easy as shooting a free throw.

Perhaps soon you'll be able to buy a shirt honoring the player who surpasses Wilt Chamberlain's record of most free throws made in an NBA game (28) before the game is even over. On-demand memorabilia, I'll call it. It's the wave of the future...

Booing is Universal, Not Just a Philly Thing

To the next yokel who automatically declares Philadelphia boorish for booing, as announcers always love to point out, I suggest we all keep in mind that Philly isn't the only boo haven.

As reported by The Sporting News in a recent soccer match between the U.S. and Switzerland, in which the U.S. won 1-0, the fans booed the Swiss team off of the field.

And this was in Switzerland.

SWITZERLAND!

The "neutral" capital of the world!

If they can boo in Switzerland, then, like it or not, I think the rest of the world should get a free pass for booing at sporting events. How can the notoriously neutral natives of Switzerland get to reign down their disgust and not the rest of us sporting hooligans (booligans, perhaps?)? It's only fair.

If you'd like to see for yourself, simply fast forward to the end of this clip...

Nick Leyva Will Be Sending Himself Home

Former Phillies' coach Nick Leyva got waved home on October 8th as the Milwaukee Brewers opted not to bring him back as a third base coach for next year.

As the Phils' manager from 1989-1991, Leyva went a not-so-lusty 148-189 and was fired in the beginning of the '91 derby. Those were indeed some lean times so it's not easy to tell how much of the blame for that brutal won-loss record is, but it still doesn't look favorable in the record books.

Anyway, let's see if he resurfaces somewhere else as the coaching shuffle in the MLB continues.

Bring It On

Philadelphia Flyers hockey is here and I hope you're ready. Because after watching the Phillies get manhandled to end their season and the Eagles get outplayed to begin their season, I for one am hoping the Flyers have a fighting chance.

Speaking of fighting, I thought these two clips might inspire you to get fired up for the start of hockey season.

A dash of Dave Schultz...


And a splash of Flyers vs. Senators...


Bring it on baby...

Sports Tradtions that Need to Be Dumped

Let's get rid of these sports traditions, shall we?

1. Spraying champagne after winning a playoff series. I just saw the Arizona
Diamondbacks celebrating their victory by blasting champagne all over their locker room after winning their NLDS series. If you win the World Series, I guess you're entitled to partake in this venture, but I don't get the practice of going nuts with the bubbly after winning one series. What a waste.

2. Giving towels to fans at games. I attended the Phillies first game against the Rockies in the NLDS. All fans got a rag to swing around in the air. Ok, I guess it looks cool when everybody's waving them, but at the same time, it prevents people from clapping and making noise, which to me is more overwhelming than a bunch of towels spinning around.

3. Giving long skinny balloons to fans behind the basket. See #2.

4. Yelling "sucks" after an opposing player's name is announced during opening introductions. Once again this was observed at the Phillies/Rockies game on Wednesday. The first time I heard it was at a Duke University basketball game on TV which I thought was pretty cool at the time, but now it's just trite and immature.

5. Announcers giving "keys to the game" or other such fodder. Look, we're fans, we all know what has to happen for a team to win. Just re-wording the same old standards, such as: "get out to an early lead" or "take the crowd out of the game" or "adapt to the weather." Thanks guys but we get the point.

6. Playing loud music at any possible moment. This is particularly prominent and annoying at NBA games, whereby home teams want to make it seem like there's a lot of excitement and the fans are incompetent when it comes to make their own noise. Thanks guys, but it's unnecessary.

7. Football players, coaches, and announcers talking about how playing football is like "going to war." No it's not. It's a past time where people tackle each other. I don't recall any war in the history of the world where a gang of people out-tackled another gang of people and declared themselves conquerors of a plot of land.

Thanks for listening to my rant. And thank you for allowing me to continue the tradition of critiquing all things sports.

Now I'm goint to celebrate this post by spraying champagne all over my keyboard.

Countdown to 10,000 Revisited

So a few distant months ago, we Philly fans were excited about the Phillies' "Countdown to 10,000." It was a landmark event that "honored" the Phils and their 125 years and 10,000 games of futility. It was an ironic, self-deprecating (from a fan's point of view), almost funny event that came and went. The players didn't want to talk about it, and the team seemed to bitterly prevent it from being publicized.

Fast forward to today. Finishing the year as one of the hottest teams in the National League, in conjunction with the Mets' generous contribution to crash and burn, we now have a Phillies' team that is officially playoff bound. And the coverage is all over their web site and commercials.

But here's the thing... if the Phillies are going to embrace their exciting playoff berth, why not recognize the 10,000th loss as well? It's part of the game, it's part of the team's history, it's an undeniable fact. Celebrate it, laugh about it, and move on.

Now I'm going to move on and say, let's go Phils! I want a championship! 10,000 championships!

Just Imagine...

So tonight the Phils pulled to within one game of the slumping Mets, and they can be tied up with the Padres by the end of the night if San Diego loses. If the Phils take the lead in the NL Wild Card race in the next couple of days, Philly fans will be able to hear a certain phrase that we haven't heard in ages, probably since 1993:

Magic Number!

Yes, just imagine the words "magic number" and "Phillies" in the same sentence.

But truthfully, MAGIC NUMBER could soon be part of our vocabulary if all goes well. Usually the Phils land on the wrong side of the Magic Number countdown and fall short of the playoffs, so we'll see if we magically pull into the lead over the next few days. Question is... who's the ace up the Phils' sleeves?

Seen at Today's Philadelphia Eagles Game

A guy wearing one of those hats with the fake pony tail hanging out of it.

That's blogworthy, right?

Sorry for the Heat, Mr. Bell

I ask you first to read this article about Charlie Bell. (Note for Philly fans, this is not Philly related. Sorry.)

Now I ask you, is this a sob story?

The guy just signed a contract for $18.5 million dollars. And yet we get comments like:

-Bell is "getting his thoughts together." And...

-The 6-foot-3 Bell had said he did not want to play for Milwaukee and instead wanted to go to Miami. And...

-"Restricted free agency is a very tough process," Bartelstein said. "As a player, you don't know where you're going to be, you have through getting an offer sheet. It's hard, very hard."

Times is tough, times is tough.

Hidden Cams, Steroids, and Sandpaper... OH MY!

So with all this talk about the Patriots allegedly cheating (and I use the word allegedly very loosely!) by videotaping the signal calls of other teams, not to mention all of the chatter about the widespread steroids use in baseball, football, and elsewhere, I couldn't help but think back to a rather humorous cheating incident in Philly history.

According BaseballLibrary.com, less than 2 weeks after Atlanta's Phil Niekro was busted for filing a baseball down to get more movement on his pitches, the Phils' Kevin Gross was nabbed for having sandpaper in his glove and scuffing the ball in a similar manner.

The sad part is that Gross was 9-16 for the 80-82 Phils that year, according to BaseballReference.com. Just makes you wonder what his numbers would have been like without cheating. And by the way, he was also in the top 10 for pitchers for the following categories:

Most hit batsmen (#1)
Most losses (#2)
Most walks (#6)
Most home runs allowed (#10)

So let that be a lesson to all you youngins out there... sandpaper's for master craftsmen, not struggling pitchers.

Phillies Stat of the Day

So in case you haven't been emotionally traumatized enough after the Phils tremendous sweep of the Mets, followed by a disastrous collapse against the Marlins and Braves, Bob Ford of the Philadelphia Inquirer reports this little nugget:

According to the Elias Sports Bureau... teams that held a six-run lead in the eighth inning had a winning streak of 517-0 before (the Phils crumbled against Atlanta with a six-run lead this past weekend)

If nothing else, this team will go down in history for something, alright. You can fill in your own blank as to what that history will be...

Bill Henry: Alive and Well

This week, Bill Henry died.

But it wasn't former major league pitcher Bill Henry from the 1950s and 60s, it was his imposter, non-major league pitcher, Bill Henry.

Apparently this guy from Florida had pretended to be the real Bill Henry, who is alive and well in Texas. When the imposter died, obituaries hit the presses stating that a former major leaguer passed away. Meanwhile, the real Bill Henry, the ex-pitcher, lives on. Here's how the story played out, according to the Houston Chronicle:

As the obituary was circulated on the wires, genealogist and baseball historian David A. Lambert of Massachusetts began to document Henry's death. As he looked closer at the birth date and city of birth given for the Florida man and the Henry listed on various baseball documents, he realized something was amiss.

Major league records listed a Deer Park address for Henry, who started with the Red Sox in 1952 and ended with the Astros in 1969. The obituary, which was picked up from The Ledger newspaper in Florida, listed Lakeland as his home address.

"So I called Henry in Deer Park and told his wife, 'I'm offering you condolences on the passing of your husband,' " said Lambert, a genealogist with the New England Historic Genealogical Society and member of the Society of American Baseball Research.

"She said, 'Bill didn't pass away in Florida. He's sitting here next to me,' " he said.

I'd say that's the quote of the day right there.

Live long and prosper, the REAL Mr. Henry.

Eagles Fun Fact of the Day

In light of the recent excitement over the selection of the Eagles' starting punter this season, here's a fun bit of Eagles trivia to show off at your next Birds party:

The Eagles' leading punter by yardage, Adrian Burk (1951-1956), punted the ball over 9 miles (16,122 yards) during his Eagles career. On top of that, Burk also QB'd the Eagles at the time and threw for 6,203 yards, which is equivalent to more than 3 miles.

You can thank me later for dropping some knowledge up in here.

Nick Punto Shows His Shortstopian Skills

Ex-Philadelphia Phillie and local phan phavorite Nick Punto made the highlight reel this week with a sweet play on a chopper off the Metrodome Astroturf. Check it:



Can't teach that, folks. That's just Pure Punto right there.

Phillies' Alumni Checklist

So the Phils tanked another game tonight and pretty much initiated the process of letting the wheels fall off in their annual playoff collapse. So I thought I'd reminisce a moment and think about some of the great alumni of Phils' years past.

It just so happens that at the last Phils game I attended, I, along with every other fan, received a free pack of cards to celebrate the Phils' alumni that would be honored before the game. The first card is the "Phillies Alumni Checklist" and has a list of these players, in this order:

• Robin Roberts: Hall of Famer; great start to the list
  
• Tony Taylor: played 19 years in the Majors, had a respectable career
• Dick Allen: had a great career for the Phils and with several other teams; borderline Hall of Fame potential
• Dallas Green: coached the Phils to the 1980 World Series championship; classic "baseball guy"
• Mike Schmidt: Hall of Famer, say no more
• Steve Carlton: Hall of Famer, a little wacky, but unbelievable career
• Garry Maddox: enjoyed a successful 11 years in a Phils uniform, good all around guy
• Greg Luzinski: "The Bull" was a memorable character who could hit the ball to China
• Dave Hollins: umm, okay, he had his moments, but isn't there any other alumni they could drag out to this event?
• Rico Brogna: Rico Brogna? Rico Brogna! The Phils have been around for 125+ years and he was the best they could do for an alumni ceremony? He seems like a nice guy and put together a few decent at-bats and has a great name and all, but... wow.

OK, so much for reminiscing. How much longer till Eagles' season starts??

Arkansas Fred Goes Wireless

Wireless Philadelphia, an initiative organized by controversial Philadelphia Mayor John Street, announced that it has named a new member to its board... none other than "Arkansas" Fred Barnett of Philadelphia Eagles fame.

Barnett, who racked up over 5,000 yards and scored 32 TDs while playing for the Eagles (1990-1995) and Miami (1996-1997), apparently is quietly active in the Philadelphia community as he also handles public relations and fund-raising for the Institute for the Development of African-American Youth in Philly, according to The Philadelphia Inquirer. Sounds like a hard-working and dedicated man who is definitely doing good things for the city.

Now for some more good things about Mr. Barnett...

• In two playoff games in which he had more than 100 receiving yards per game, the Eagles won both games by a combined score of 94-57. In the two games he caught for less than 100 yards each, the Iggles lost by a combined score of 64-21.
  
• One of the most memorable plays in Birds' history was his 95 yard catch against the Buffalo Bills in 1990, thrown by the seemingly unsackable Randall Cunningham. (Editor's note: that play has to go down as one of the league's top plays of all time, right?) Simply amazing.
  
• Here's a good article from 2005 about Fred's life.

I'll end this by saying, wired or wireless, Fred Barnett will always have a place in Eagles' fans hearts... and now, apparently, computers.

WE ARE... ONE G?

According to Penn State's student newspaper, The Collegian, season football tickets for students sold out in a mere 59 minutes earlier this year; and subsequently to buy a ticket online to see Penn State battle with Notre Dame could run you about $1,100.

Don't get me wrong, I'd LOVE to be at any Penn State game this year (or any year for that matter), particularly to see the Fighting Irish, but I'll happily enjoy the game from the comfort and low-cost couch at home.

Go Lions!

Looking for Eagles' Season Tickets? Just Hang in There...

For those of my fellow diehard Eagles fans who have a yearning to own a season ticket, you may have to wait a little while to obtain them.

As a matter of fact, if you recently put your name on the waiting list to be eligible to purchase a ticket, then according to various sources such as this AOL Sports article you will have to wait approximately 4,000 years to obatin one.

So good luck in getting one and give me a call in 6007 when you get your Iggles tixx in the mail. (Hopefully the Birds will have won a a Super Bowl by then...)

You Otta-watch the Phils Triple-A Squad

In case you were busy doing other things, like watching the Sixers sit idle at the free agent table or catching the latest injury update at Eagles' training camp, the Phils Triple-A Ottawa Lynx team is suffering through this season with a record of 46-72, a mere 21 1/2 games out of first place. Youch.

On the bright side, there is much to be hopeful for in the way of future entries into the Phillies' Classic Names of Fame, as found on the Lynx' roster, such as:

• Our old buddies Eude Brito, Yoel Hernandez, and Fabio Castro
  
• Dusty Wathan, son of former Royal John Wathan
• Bubba Nelson, who may be drunk in this photo
• Gookie Dawkins (real name Travis, no apparent relation to Mookie Wilson)

So while there's not much hope in the way of winning as far as the Lynx go this year, at least we have some great names in the waiting.

Age Old Saga: Phillies and Playoffs, Can the Twain Meet?

Well the age old saga that is weighing heavily on Philadelphians' minds these days is, once again, "Can the Philadelphia Phillies make it to the playoffs?"

While any Phils' fan wants the team to win a World Series, it's been a frustratingly long time since the Phightins last made the playoffs. 1993 seems to ring a bell. Indeed, it seems the twain never meet.

One statistically-minded sports fan has built an entire web site called SportsClubStats.com to determine the chances of any given team's likelihood to make the playoffs at any given time. As we speak, the site has the Phillies' chances of making the playoffs at 23.2%, which will obviously fluctuate depending on when you read it. The site is updated regularly.

Well, 23% is a decent chance, but for better or worse, statistics don't play baseball. Real people do. With 52 games left to play, let's see what these Phils can accomplish. If history is on our side, it'll be another long offseason.

(Then again, history doesn't play baseball...)

Ricky Watters Rumor Mill

I just got back from a lovely honeymoon in Aruba. While there I received word from a reliable couple that stayed in the same resort as I did that the famous (or perhaps infamous?) Ricky Watters, the former Philadelphia Eagle, got married at our resort, the Divi Aruba Phoenix Beach Resort this past week. If this rumor is true, congrats Mr. Watters! Many happy years to you and your new bride.

On a side note, no word on whether or not he replied to the officiant's question of "Do you take this woman to be your lawfully wedded wife?" with "For who, for what?"

Sorry, just had to take that easy one there.

Former 2-Month Phillie Dies

Sad news from baseballville: Mike Coolbaugh, a minor-league first base coach for the Rockies, was killed after being struck in the head by a line drive while standing in the first-base coach's box on Sunday.

FYI: Coolbaugh was signed by the Phils as a free agent on December 5, 2002, but was released 2 months later.

Scary stuff. Condolences to his family, and be careful out there, coaches.

He's a Schu-in

Some former-Phillie fodder for my fellow Phightins' fans:

Congrats are in order for the 2-time Phillie and perennial "best last name in footwear" Rick Spencer Schu who recently landed a job as the Arizona Diamondbacks hitting coach, replacing another former player, Kevin Seitzer. The D-backs are near the bottom of the National League in hitting in most categories, except for triples where they rank 2nd, probably due in large part to the massive field they play on at home. Otherwise, maybe a shake up will help light a fire on their collective rear-ends. And if anyone can do it, it's Rick Schu. (Huh?)

Perhaps you remember the journeyman Schu who landed with the Phils twice in his career. He filled in as Mike Schmidt's backup from 1984 through 1987, and was then shipped off to Baltimore, in one of the more famous no-name trades in Phillies' history: Rick Schu, Keith Hughes, and Jeff Stone cruised on down to the Baltimore Orioles in exchange for Mike Young and a player to be named later (that player's name turned out to be Frank Bellino, FYI). Not quite a blockbuster deal there. Schu then came back in 1992 as a free agent and was released after the season. Apparently he disappeared from baseball for a while until 1995 when he signed with the Texas Rangers and things basically fizzled out from there, as he ended his career in 1996 with the Montreal Expos.

In nine seasons as a player, the D-backs' newly-minted batting coach hit a tepid .246, with his best season coming in 1986 where he hit .274 with a career high 8 homers in 92 games. Interestingly (well, to me, anyway) is that he hit 13 triples from 1984 to 1988, and then never hit another one again after that.

As a comparison, Kevin Seitzer, the man whom Schu kicked out as batting coach, hit a very respectable .295 over 12 seasons. His first three seasons were quite stellar with the Kansas City Royals, where he hit over .300 every year, and even managed to swat over 200 hits in 1987. The middle of his career was rather mild, but he heated up as a role player with the Milwaukee Brewers, as he hit over .300 for his last two seasons before hanging it up in 1996.

So once again, congrats to Coach Schu and we wish you many kicks in your new job. Show that Seitzer dude how it's done!

Major League Bravery, Major League Blunder

As you have likely heard by now, the Phillies players performed a very good deed over the past weekend during a game against the Rockies in Denver. As a nasty rain storm blew in, the grounds crew tried to lay the tarp but it quickly got out of control and actually trapped some crewmen. The Phils came to the rescue by running from the bench and holding the tarp down. Kudos to the Phightins' selflessness and bravery by jumping into action. Only one Rockies player came out to help, and that was their home field.

So I originally intended to discuss the topic in a totally different light (which I may yet do in a future post), but something really burned me between the time I started writing and, well, now.

I intended to click on over to YouTube and pop a link on this post to the video that I watched of the event on Monday. Well today I find the MLB has removed the video due to a copyright claim.

For the love of fungoes. Give me a break.

This unusual, memorable, unscripted moment did not even involve a moment of baseball. What's the harm in letting the public enjoy it? Let the viral nature of the internet take over and allow people to enjoy it freely.

The Phils didn't let go of the tarp. MLB should let go of this video... and let people enjoy it for the great moment it was.

To read more, here's a Google search about the tarp that didn't get away.

Pat Combs: Former Phils Phenom Faded Fast

Pat Combs pitched for the Phillies from 1989 to 1992. Unfortunately he is a now a case study in careers quickly careening out of control, as witnessed by his stats on baseball-reference.com. Check it:

1989: 4-0, 38 IP, 30 K's, 6 BB's, 2.09 ERA. Good stuff! Future star!
1990: 10-10, 183 IP, 108 K's, 86 BB's, 4.07 ERA. Ok, decent year.
1991: 2-6, 64 IP, 41 K's, 43 BB's, 4.90 ERA. Umm, what's going on here?
1992: 1-1, 18 IP, 11 K's, 12 BB's, 7.71 ERA. Bottom hath fallen out. Sorry Pat.

According to his Wikipedia entry, Mr. Combs actually zoomed from Single-A Clearwater to Double-A Reading to Triple-A Scranton to the big show all in one year-- 1989. Dang! Too fast, I wonder?

I have a theory about pitchers. Well it's probably not just my theory, but for the sake of this blog post just roll with it. Anyway, a pitcher will often come flying like bats out of hell from the minors to the majors and then pitch about 3-5 games of stellar baseball. And then, the pitcher hits a critical point. Either other teams catch up to him and start shellacking him (perhaps a result of better scouting reports, perhaps from the pitcher getting worn out by throwing his best stuff in a short amount of time, perhaps something else altogether), or he hits his stride and becomes a genuinely high-quality pitcher for the long haul.

At least this is what seems to happen with Phillies pitchers, and Combs was a prime example. He came storming into the majors in his first year. And then hitters caught up to him. And the rest is fodder for blogs like this one...

Welcome to Philadelphia, Jason Smith

Within the last week the Sixers drafted Jason Smith. And the Flyers traded for Jason Smith.

Yup, you heard right. Should be a fun year for sports news broadcasters in Philly.

I'm almost certain that players with the same full name playing on two different teams in Philadelphia has happened before, but I can't recall who that may have been.

Anybody with some help on this mind-bending issue?

Please?

Updates to follow if any are found!

Phillies Quote of the Day

The quote of the day comes from an excellent article in the Philly Inquirer about the extraordinary feat of the Phillies' upcoming 10,000th loss. Summarizing the Phils' futility, here's the sad status of the team over the past 124 years:

In fact, the franchise's win-loss mark (8,805-9,995) has slipped so far below the break-even point that in order to get back to .500, the Phils would need to win 1,190 games in a row, a winning streak of seven-plus seasons.

If that doesn't sum up this team, I don't know what does. I highly encourage you to read the entire article for an enlightening history of our beloved, beleaguered Phightins'.

On a side note, Steve Jeltz and Sil Campusano were chosen as the team's Runner Up Worst Shortsop and Centerfielder, respectively. Ouch.

Steve Jeltz Gets a Shout-out

Just a heads up for the Steve Jeltz fans out there (is there a name for Jeltz groupies? Jeltzies, perhaps?)... according to the Philadlephia Daily News' Bill Conlin, the Phils' Steve Jeltz is in a 9-way dead heat for the competition to be considered the 3rd best shortstop in Philadelphia history. Number 1-- Jimmy Rollins, Number 2-- Larry Bowa, Number 3-- pretty much anybody else!

Go Phils...

How Much Does a Run Cost?

A recent study out of England showed how expensive Premiership football (soccer) games are becoming to watch in person in Ole Limey. The study compared what it costs to see a goal, based on the average price of season tickets for each team. The range was rather broad, from about $25 per goal at Blackburn home games to a whopping $95 per goal at both Arsenal and my tortuously beloved Manchester City.

This got me to thinking what it would cost to see a run in baseball, a touchdown in football, and so forth. While I don't have the time or resources to investigate this, I'd be intrigued to see what Americans are willing to pay to see points on the board in person.

My personal range would probably fall into these groups: $3-8 for a Phillies run at home, $10-20 for an Eagles touchdown at home, $10-20 for a Flyers goal, and 15-30 cents for a point by the Sixers at home.

What would you pay?

Steve Jeltz: International Man of Mystery

My recent post (sorry for the delay since I last wrote, my loyal fan[s]), discussed the unassuming Philadelphia Phillies shortstop Steve Jeltz. Never did I realize he had a pretty strong little following out there in cyber-world (and out in the real world, by extension). In fact, since writing, I received two very kind and interesting comments, both by people who have previously met Steve and were impressed by his friendliness and, in one case, his looks! ("Hot, hot, hot" were the words of one adoring fan.) They even put out the smoke signals for Steve to contact them if he's so inclined. Well, no guarantees on that one, but I'd be happy to be the conduit if it works out as such! Steve-- if you're out there, drop us all a line, we'd love to hear from ya!

I suppose that's one of the great things about the internet... People from all walks of life and from all countries (including Canada, where one fan checked in with a comment) can unite on a common topic and discuss it at their leisure and with passion. Turns out that my fondness for all things Philly Sports coincides with the fondness that others have of one of the lesser-known Philly athletes from two decades ago. Pretty cool!

So to all of you Steve Jeltz fans, I'm excited to hear from you and perhaps we can keep the discussion going. And perhaps we can celebrate some Phillies' victories along the way. No guarantees on that one either.

Steve Jeltz Shoutout in Today's Phillies' Game!

For those of you watching today's wacky Phils/Giants game on the boob tube in the Philly market, you probably caught the Aflac trivia question of the day. It went something like this:

Name the only two French-born players to record a stolen base in either the AL or NL.

Answer:

Bruce Bochy (current San Francisco Giants coach)
Steve Jeltz (ex-Phillie extraordinaire)

Upon further inspection on Baseball-reference.com (search Jeltz, click on France), it turns out that Mr. Jeltz is actually the all-time stolen bases leader for players born in France. As a matter of fact he leads all French players in several other categories, including doubles, triples, and RBIs, to name a few. Who knew?

Jeltzy sure could swing a mean baguette!

JoePa Terno Doesthe RightThing

Penn State football coach Joe Paterno did the right thing last week by insisting that his entire team clean the 107,000+ seat Beaver Stadium after every home game after being disgusted by a disgraceful off-campus fight involving a half-dozen of his players. In sum, he was disappointed not only that the players got into a scuffle to begin with, but also because nobody stepped up to try to stop it or to claim responsibility. It's a throw-back, old school move that could affect his recruiting in the near future (if I'm a talented but trouble-making young football player, would I want to go to PSU to play football?), but sometimes the right decision is not always the most popular one. His argument is that by cleaning the stadium the players will learn from their mistakes and step up as a team. I agree 132%.

But what's more, I'd really like to see some ex-PSU players who attend a home game voluntarily help out and clean as well. Can you imagine what solidarity and character this would build? If I was playing for the Nittany Lions this year and I saw an ex-player help clean trash with the rest of the current team, I would have tremendous respect and pride for this alum, as well as for Coach Paterno who arranged this program. There are hundreds of ex-players out there... let's see if anybody steps up to the plate.

On a separate but related note, I firmly believe that NFL football teams should be held to this policy is well. You get busted at a strip joint for firing gunshots? Pick up a broom.

The Countdown to 10,000

Many props to my man Kramer who found this site on the Phillies' quest to reach 10,000 losses. Yes, we our Phightin Phils are the losingest team in the history of professional sports, and we will undoubtedly hit the magic 10,000-loss mark by the end of this season, possibly by the end of June if all goes poorly!

Of course no Phils phan roots against the boys, but at the same time, it absolutely takes a great amount of appreciation and dedication to support a team that has let us down so frequently and so torturously over the years.

So if we're doomed to not celebrate a World Series championship, we might as well relish our record of futlity in the meantime.

21 games and counting...

How to Celebrate a Soccer Goal

I apologize that this does not meet my Philly Sports Quest criteria (I know, I've been slacking lately), but I thought this was a classic sports moment:

The Scene: Toronto FC v. Chicago Fire, in Toronto
The Background: Toronto lost its first 4 games, without even scoring a goal, but their home crowd has been very supportive and encouraging. Here's the teams's first goal, followed by a festive celebration...



Good times!

Mayweather-De La Hoya: Yawn.

Editor's note: a digression from Philly sports chatter to follow.

So my cousin twisted my arm to watch tonight's much-hyped boxing match from Las Vegas. Here's what I learned from the Floyd Mayweather v. Oscar De La Hoya bout:

1. Boxing sucks. Unless you have two guys just pounding away at each other round after round, it's tough to enjoy this sport anymore. Paychecks are huge, leaving no real reason why the two contenders should slug it out, save for a few flurries of punches here and there.

2. Go to court (or fill in any number of other non-entertainment social situations): wear jeans and a t-shirt. Go to a boxing match: wear $5,000 tuxedos.

3. Boxing announcers are stiffs. These guys could put you to sleep. Not to mention the fact that even the announcers repeatedly talk about how lame the sport has become.

4. Never buy a pay-per-view event for a sporting event unless there will be a definitive winner. Who wants to see a few unknown judges decide on who the "winner" is? Slug it out. Box till ya' drop. That's what people pay for! Same with soccer... I love the sport but I wouldn't pay to watch it knowing there could be a draw, and quite possibly not even a goal scored.

5. Want to watch a boxing match? Go watch, as the saying goes, a game of hockey.

That's my lesson for the day. Thanks for checking in. Feel free to go toe-to-toe with me in the comment box.

Time to Ditch Moments of Silence?

A great athlete dies. Fans, coaches, and teammates want to honor the deceased, and rightfully so. So what do we traditionally do when we go to a large arena, soon after the person's death? We have a moment of silence.

Time to ditch the moment of silence.

Read what the British will be doing in honor of a recently deceased football (soccer) star:

English clubs to applaud in memory of Alan Ball

LONDON (AP) -- All 92 clubs in England will applaud for a minute this weekend in memory of Alan Ball, a member of England's 1966 World Cup-winning squad who died Tuesday.

Ball made a total of 743 English league appearances for Blackpool, Everton, Arsenal and Southampton. He later managed seven English clubs in a 19-year career.

The Premier League said all players would also wear black armbands.

"Alan made an enormous contribution to league football as a player and a manager and his part in English football's proudest day will live long in the memory," said Andy Williamson, the chief operating officer of the Football League, which comprises 72 clubs. "Having a minute's applause at every match this weekend will give supporters the opportunity to pay their own tribute."

This procedure, to me, is dead on, pardon the pun. A player plays in front of thousands of screaming fans, game in and game out. Why should fans stand silently to honor this player when s/he would have revelled in a round of cheers?

Thanks for the Memories, Mellanby!

Well Flyers fans, our old buddy Scott Mellanby is hanging up the skates. He called it quits after 21 years of mucking and grinding, six of those years in the vaunted Spectrum of yesteryear. At age 40, Mr. Mellanby put in a solid career and had some memorable highlights, namely:

-364 goals, 476 assists, for 840 total points, and 2,479 minutes in the penalty box (that's almost 2 day's worth of penalties!) as a tough "never quit" right winger
-Made two trips to the Stanley Cup (one for the Flyers, one for the Panthers), though he never won it, honored as team captain, and earned an All-Star Game appearance; unfortunately he ended his career with the third most games played without winning the Cup, according to his Wikipedia entry
-A run in with a rat: He splattered a rat with his stick when it ran across the locker room, thus prompting his hometown Panthers fans to pelt the ice with rubber rats whenever he put the biscuit in the basket
-Founded Athletes Against Autism Foundation, to help fund research to cure Autism

Mellanby had a good run and played for one of the more exciting eras of Flyers hockey, from 1986-91.

A Question for the Powers that Be in the MLB

Pardon me as I take a sidestep from the world of dissecting the peculiarities that define Philly sports. Instead, I'd like to raise an issue that I have with Major League Baseball's officials.

So far this year, weather has wreaked havoc on trying to get some baseball games in. Snow-outs in Cleveland. Thirty degree temps in Flushing Meadows. Generally cold, nasty stuff to contend with in many cities east of the Mississippi. This type of weather is not conducive to baseball.

So why, then, are any games even scheduled to be played in cold weather cities in the first couple of weeks in April? There are quite a few warm weather cities (Miami, Tampa, Phoenix, LA, etc.) and domed stadiums (Toronto, Minneapolis, etc) where games could easily and sensibly be scheduled to start the season until weather hopefully clears up in the middle of the month.

On a related note, the Phils are playing the Astros this weekend in Philly. It's the middle of April and ordinarily the weather is warming up by now, but by freak of nature (no pun intended), we're going to get hit by a nasty Nor'easter storm with buckets of rain, howling wind, and possibly even snow tomorrow. So it looks like there's a 99% chance Sunday's game will be cancelled-- and if not, it will be a soggy mess with minimial attendance and probably multiple delays. Yet today was a gorgeous day-- 55 degrees or so, mostly sunny. Why not hedge your bets and play a double header today, instead of cancelling tomorrow's game and trying to squeeze it in at the end of the season? It may be short notice for fans, but offer rainchecks to those who can't make it, cut prices to encourage people to come out to the park, and voila!-- you've got yourself a game completed, some happy fans, and potential scheduling nightmares to avoid.

I'd say that argument holds water, wouldn't you?

Signed, Sealed, Delivered: Inky Signs with Hall of Fame

Pete Incaviglia, a one-time Philly cult hero, was selected yesterday for the second-ever induction into the College Baseball Hall of Fame. Yes, that Pete Incaviglia who platooned in left field for the Phightin Phils in the tremendous 1993 campaign.

In the news release, it is noted:

Incaviglia was perhaps the most imposing power hitter in college baseball history, setting the NCAA career records for home runs (100) and slugging percentage (.915) from 1983-85. In 1985, he set NCAA single-season records for home runs (48), RBIs (143), total bases (285) and slugging percentage (1.140) -- all marks that still stand.

How bout dem apples? Inky, the OK State alum, clearly overpowered pitchers in his college years, but his pro years were merely decent. In 12 years he hit 206 homers, reaching his career high for a season (30 dingers) in his rookie year, while also striking out a league leading 186 times. (Jobu no hit curveball.) He played two years for the Phillies, with 1993 being one of his best years of his career. In 368 ABs, he hit 24 homers, drove in 89 runs, hit .274 and pumped out a .530 slugging percentage. Unfortunately, he disappeared in the Phils' run for the trophy, hitting just 3 for 19 in six games played. Oh well, it was a fun run while it lasted, and surely not his fault they lost...

Anyway, for a few more fun facts, check out this interesting and humorous baseball page.

Well that's all from here. Congrats Inky on your honorary award!

Sign of the Times: Feeling Nostalgic for Veterans Stadium

So it's April and baseball season is underway. It's around this time every year that I think back to memories of our beloved Veterans Stadium, former home of the Philadelphia Phillies, Philadelphia Eagles, many brawls, and countless vermin.

But there's one thing in particular that I miss from the Vet days... the fans' creativity. I always looked forward to watching Eagles games and seeing the signs and banners that the fans held up. The signs ranged the whole gamut of feelings and emotions from passion to disgust to sarcasm to insults.

Who can forget the raggedy "Gang Green" signs that hung over the end zone during the Eagles' reign as defensive monsters? Or how about the gigantic stretch of a sign that was posted during the Eagles' dismal offensive years reading: "End Zone This Way -->"?

Sadly, the Eagles have banned this practice and have taken away a lot of the character of the fans, in my humble opinion. Even the atmosphere to me is a lot more sterile. Hopefully fans will find away to get this edginess back some day; but in the meantime, signs or no signs, I'll be happy with just having a winning team out there...

Bruce Ruffin Gets a Shout Out in the Inquirer

In a recent Philly Inquirer article recapping the Phils' opening day loss on 4/2/07, writer Bob Ford cited this Phillies' Phun Phact:

At 26, he (Phils' ace Brett Myers) is the youngest opening-day starter for the Phillies since Bruce Ruffin, the pitcher who replaced Steve Carlton on the roster but nowhere else.

That caught my attention because, well, that kind of stuff catches my attention.

I remember southpaw Bruce Ruffin being heralded as the next Phillies' ace in 1986 at the tender young age of 23. Indeed, in his rookie year he posted some tantalizing numbers: 9-4 record, 2.46 ERA, and 70 K's in 146 innings (and zero wild pitches, in case you were wondering... mind you, in 1988 he was second in the NL in wild pitches with 12). After his rookie season, he kind of slid into mediocrity... for his career with the Phils (6 years), Milwaukee (1 year) and Colorado (5 years), Ruffin was 60-82, with a 4.16 ERA, and 63 saves (he jumped to the bullpen when he landed in the Mile High City). Decent career, but he certainly didn't fill Steve Carlton's shoes, as the quote mentions. But then again, not many could.

And another tid-bit for you, Bruce "2 Minutes for" Ruffin (as Chris Berman called him) was traded from Philly to Milwaukee for that wiley Dale "Don't Call Me S-vee-um" Svuem (as I refer to him) in 1991.

And thus concludes this entry on the blonde hurler from Lubbock, Texas. Hope you learned something and keep the Quest alive!

Phun with Numbers: Looking at the Phillies' Attendance Figures

A few curious fun baseball stats to point out to my fellow dedicated and tortured Phillies fans out there...

-In 1980, when the Phillies last sipped from the Stanley Cup (err, raised the Lombardi Trophy, err, sorry, it's been so long I forget what happens when a team wins the World Series), the team averaged 32,736 fans per game in the cavernous Vet Stadium which held over 60k. The team that year also had some of the most talented players this city's ever seen: Rose, Schmidt, Carlton, among others.
-In 1994, AFTER the Phils lost the World Series, the team averaged 38,183 fans per game to watch a comparatively wearier squad whose season got cut short by the infamous strike before the end of the year.

-Apparently Philadelphia is not very nostalgic about its ballparks. In 2003, the Phils attracted only 27,901 per game during the last ever season at the Vet, less than half the capacity. Ditto for the last season at Connie Mack Stadium when the attendance averaged 8,853 compared to a capacity of about 20,000. However in each of the following years, the attendance jumped about 50% and 120% respectively. Out with the old, in with the new!

-The Phils' first year of averaging over 10,000 people per game came in 1946, after WWII, when about 13,401 people came per game. Prior to that, the team's highest average attendance came in 1916 with 6,524 folks per game.

-Lastly, the Phils have had two years of 3,000,000 fans: 1993 and 2004. The Yankees, for comparison, have had 8 years in a row up through last season of 3,000,000+ fans. But I guess it helps being located in a city that has 6 times as many people in it than Philly has. But sheesh, every Yankees game should be sold out with 8 million people hanging around the city every day!

The Amazing Google Presents: Don Carman

For some reason, Don Carman's name popped into my head today. One of those bursts of disconnected thoughts while driving (yes, in my car, man) today. Yes, the unheralded Philadelphia Phillies pitcher of the mid-80s or so some how crept into my mind.

So I decided to put fingers to keyboard (the new version of putting pen to paper) and see what his name brought up in a Google search. Boy was I shocked when I saw so many occurences of his name (1,120,000 results to be exact)! Being the good guy that I am, here's a quick summary of what I found...

Take for instance, this news story from ABC in Philly. Apparently, Mr. Carman was going through his garage and found a box of 200 letters. He replied to all of them, and one happened to be to a kid who had requested an autograph on a baseball card. He courteously signed the card and sent it back to the guy... 16 years after receiving it. That's pretty cool!

I also like this list of cliches and wisecracks that Carman used when responding to questions from reporters. My personal favorite is: "We need two more players to take us over the top: Babe Ruth & Lou Gehrig." If you played for the Phils during the time that he did... I think even Ruth and Gehrig might have needed more help to get that team over the top.

And surprise, surprise... even Don Carman has his own Wikipedia page. He really must have made it big time! If the following statistic from that page is true, then I owe Carman some big props:

Carman held All-Stars Craig Biggio, Ken Griffey, Jr., Jeffrey Leonard, Pete Rose, Larry Walker, and Matt Williams to a .025 collective batting average (1-for-40)

And lastly, if this little anecdotee is true, then I'm about to go out and find where Carman lives and meet him at the bar...

Till next time, keep the Philly Sports Quest alive!

Charles Barkley: A Flaky Legacy?

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cursor:hand;width: 200px;" src="http://cache.eb.com/eb/image?id=69128 "
border="0" alt="" /> Most people remember Charles Barkley
as one of the bestrebounders to ever play the game. Indeed, having
12,546 rebounds in his career (not including the 1,582 he had during
his playoff career) will solidify that reputation. I certainly remember
his prowess under the boards during his years with theSixers.

But one of his lesser-considered or lesser-remembered legacies was his stance against "flaky white stuff" under the armpits. Ok, so maybe it wasn't his idea to campaign against this cosmetic faux-pas
as much as it was a marketing ploy, but he wound up being the ideal
model to fight against it since his arms were always up in the air
grabbing for rebounds.

And just think about how effective his
campaign was for Right Guard: watch a game of basketball today and I
guarantee that you will not see any unseemlyflaky white stuff under the
arms of basketball players. He undoubtedly revolutionized this scourge
over 10 years ago when most basketball players couldn't raise their
arms without exposing chunks of white deodorant in their pits.
Fortunately, we no longer have this problem.

Well done Sir Charles, well done!

Baseball Stirrups... What's the Deal?

Since the early days of tossing the ole' rawhide, baseball teams around the country had uniforms that involved players wearing stirrups. Indeed, some teams are even named after these laundry items. Red Sox, White Sox. (Intimidating names they aren't, but try changing their names and see what their fans think.)

Yet nowadays, players wear their baseball pants like chef pants-- big and baggy and hanging all the way down to the heel of their cleats, thus covering up any sign of socks at all. What happened there?

In fact I can't even find real stirrups in sporting goods stores-- just those bogus tube socks with a painted stripe down the side. Unreal!

I truly miss the days of bright, bold stirrups. They look like you stand for something. They look like they're part of a well-cut uniform. They accent the uniqueness of baseball.

Silly-looking, perhaps. But dammit, I want stirrups back in baseball.

The NBA: Ball + Basket = Billions

This past Wednesday, I went to see the Sixers play (and defeat) the Phoenix Suns at the Wachovia Center, the first game I've gone to in well over a year. The game was pretty good, save for the fact that Steve Nash was visibly not 100% and Shawn Marion was out for the game, thus rendering the Suns less potent than usual, but all in all it was a fun time.

While at the game I did some thinking. I saw Ed Snider-- the Sixers' President who represents Comcast, the team's owner-- walking around his establishment that holds around 20,000 fans on a full night. He watched his investments, errr, players who are collectively paid about $40-50 million run up and down the court. He undoubtedly smiled as he watched ticket-purchasing customers spend more hard-earned money by devouring overpriced food and beverages. And perhaps he thought about the income he would get from people who paid for parking, team gear, and other in-stadium purchases. And I'm sure he didn't forget the hundreds of ads that are plastered on the walls and other marketing messages announced throughout the game. He's got a lot to smile about... There's a lot of money floating around this building in just this one evening.

And all for putting a ball through a rim.

Think about it for a moment. A handful of guys in shorts, sleeveless jerseys, and sneakers run back and forth on a wood court trying to get a ball through a metal hoop. And people will pay tremendous amounts of money to witness it.

In fact, I did a quick estimate based on last year's Forbes Franchise Values and found that the NBA's teams are collectively worth well over $7 billion. All for getting that bouncy leather ball into a circular basket.

Is that unballievable or what?

Another Veterans Stadium Memory...

In 1991 or '92, I went to a game with my parents and two of my cousins at the Vet. It was Phils v. Cards. We sat in the right field seats, 10 or 20 rows up from the wall. There was a fairly good crowd on hand, and the vintage Phillies fans were in attendance, of course yelling smack at the Cards' rightfielder whenever he came out on defense.

For a couple of innings, one guy in particular, probably hopped up on liquid courage, kept a steady stream of trashtalking going.

"Hey, Jose-- you're a bum!"

"Hey, Jose-- nice strikeout!"

"Hey, Jose-- go back to Saint Louie!"

This went on for a couple of innings. Nothing out of the ordinary.

Then, in the middle of the game, I guess the guy got flustered that Jose wasn't acknowledging his taunts, and-- I'm actually chuckling out loud already as I think back-- this fan busts out with:

"Hey, Jose-- what's your last name?"

(Note: I was an avid baseball fan at my young age and I knew very well that the player's first name was Felix and his last name was emblazoned on the back of his jersey, facing our section's direction most of the time.)

But without missing a beat, another guy from a few rows back hears the trashtalker's question and replies out loud with (again, I'm laughing)...

"Hey! Isn't that Jose Snyder?!"

I heard this and I was practically crying! Right along with everybody else! The timing was perfect and the name was right out of a movie. It reminded me of the movie Naked Gun, when the fan yells out, "Hey, it's Enrico Pallazzo!"

So anyway, the rest of the game, what do we hear from the taunting fan?

"Hey Snyder-- you suck!"

That's vintage Vet Stadium verbiage folks.

Philly Sports Quest Profile: Ron Anderson

Ok, you just read the name "Ron Anderson" and I can GUARANTEE I already know what you're thinking.

Answer: Baseline jumper!

Ronald Gene Anderson was a Sixer from 1989 to 1993 and I think somewhere around 92.6% of his points came from hitting that baseline jumper from 10-15 feet out. Am I right?

In thinking about all of the players that I've ever seen play, I can't think of another player who made his living from that baseline jumper shot like Anderson did. Some players make their living in 3-point territory, some from planting themselves in the post, others from a jumper from the elbow, or something of that ilk. But Ron found that hole on the baseline and exploited it. And I'll tell you what, for a guy that put up 18 points per game over his career, he did pretty well for himself there. Shoot, the Sixers today I'm sure would love to have a guy like Anderson... a guy who can shoot reliably well (47% from the field during his career), hit his free throws (81%), get about 3-4 boards a game, not turn the ball over, and generally just fill in where needed. Nice kind of role player to have around.

But anyway, here are some little known facts that I just learned about our buddy (and that's what he seemed like... a buddy, average Joe kind of guy who just did his job with little fanfare)...
(Note, for some reason my prized bullet feature disappeared so I'm winging it with the bullets and also the hyperlinks)

-Ron went to Fresno State and joined the NBA in 1984 after just 2 years of college ball
-He played from '84 to '94 on 4 teams: Pacers, 76ers, Nets, Bullets, and scored over 7,000 points
-After the NBA he ventured off to play in France and later to Israel... nice gigs there for him I reckon
-He played on the '89/90 team with "Thump and Bump" (Charles Barkley and Rick Mahorn... Man, that must have been a fun locker room!), and yes, Chris Welp
-If you go here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xyZilWOTi8U and here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SFsrb-M3CJg

You can see a glimpse of Ron in action (#20)... Okay, so they were the best I could find. Sorry! (At least you got to see Manute Bol dunk-- twice!)

Well that about wraps it up for Ron Annnnnnndersonnnnnn, as he was affectionately called from the Sixers's PA announcer whenever he scored. Ahh, memories.

Till next time, keep the Philly Sports Quest alive!

A Harken Back to the NES Days

I just wanted to take a break for comedy in this post. If you have any recollection of playing any Nintendo sports game, you'll get a good laugh from this video...



That clip just takes off when it hits "Bittersweet Symphony"... and never looks back. C'mon, the high jump? Wow. That was SWEET.

Ok, we'll be back with Philly sports chatter next time!

That Mr. Smith is an Ice Guy

According to this recent news item, the Sixers' Joe Smith had over $100,000 in jewelry nabbed from his hotel in Philadelphia.

Um, simply, wow.

First, I don't think I'll ever see $100,000 worth of jewelry belonging to one person in my lifetime.

Second, on the off chance that I do see $100k+ of jewelry belonging to one person, I would hope that this person would not leave said jewelry in a hotel room, unsecured.

Last, I will never feel bad for an NBA player who is traded because he's a throw-in as part of a salary-maneuvering trade.

Passing of a "King"

While this is not a local story, I just couldn't help but take notice when I saw this AP-published obituary for Eddie Feigner, the "King of Softball" who toured with "The King and His Court" group for 50+ years, performing Harlem Globetrotters-style exhibitions..

Perhaps I'm showing my age, or just general lack of awareness, but I never heard of this spunky gentleman. But reading about his achievements in the world of softball really opened my eyes. Mind you, I realize that the following statistics for Mr. Feigner were compiled during his days of barnstorming, which involves notoriously unofficial records, but take a look at these numbers:

• 930 no-hitters thrown
• 238 perfect games
• 141,517 strikeouts
• 10,000+ games played
• Struck out Willie Mays, Willie McCovey, Maury Wills, Harmon Killebrew, Roberto Clemente, and Brooks Robinson all in a row on a nationally televised exhibition game

Wowzers. And to think that the Phils never went after this guy to figure out a way for him to play some pro ball and bring home a World Series. For God's sakes he had to have been better than Mitch Williams in the bottom of the 9th inning against Toronto, even if "the King" would have been in his late 60s at the time.

(See, I tied it all back into the Philly sports scene nice and neatly. Dang, it's tough being this good.)

(Note to Mitch Williams: sorry to single you out here, but unfortunately you provided the best example as to why this town is so jinxed with winning. Thanks in advance for being a sport about it. Carry on.)

De Ja Vu All Over Again?

Ok, take a gander at the following couple of paragraphs (and/or the entire article if you so desire) that I just saw on Philly.com's homepage:

A woeful season might be of comfort

By Frank Fitzpatrick

INQUIRER STAFF WRITER

If this woeful season winds up as the Flyers' worst, it may be comforting for their fans, players and officials to look back at the team it will have supplanted in franchise infamy.

Though 1969-70 produced just 17 Philadelphia victories - in addition to 35 losses and an NHL-record 24 ties - it laid most of the groundwork for the remarkable hockey success that was just around the corner.

Now I'm no conspiracy theorist, nor am I one to toot my own proverbial horn, but now take a look at the opening of this post I wrote on January 12, 2007:

Even in Philly, Patience is a Virtue

Any Flyers fan will recognize these names:

Bobby Clark
Gary Dornhoefer
Bernie Parent

Indeed, they are three of the more recognizable names in Flyers' history, since they were great players.

That, and they helped bring the first Stanley Cup to Philadelphia in the 1973-74 season.

But what many people may not know (and I didn't know this until just now), is that these three players were on the second-to-worst team in the league just a few seasons before winning the Cup. In 1969-70, these players suffered through an ugly year as the team won just 17 out of 76 games, and tied with the now defunct, short-lived Oakland Seals in the NHL's Western Conference.

In 1973 they improved to the first place team, winning 50 out of 76 games.

Notice any similarities? What's up with that?

A Star Sneaks In

So this post isn't really about Philly sports, as per usual, though I thought it was worth chatting about. Take a look at this bit of news...

http://abclocal.go.com/wpvi/story?section=local&id=4994132

If you don't feel like reading the whole thing, here's the gist:

Stephon Marbury has a new line of sneaks called Starbury 1's. He's having them priced at $14.95 per pair. That's almost a 10th of the price of other brand name bball sneakers, a la Jordans. That's pretty cool in my book. To make matters even sharper, he is giving free sneakers to 1,600+ high school boys and girls who play on their high school basketball teams in Philly.

Hopefully this trend will continue and other prima donna athletes will follow his lead. I think back to when I tried out for basketball in middle school and kids asking me how much I paid for my shoes. Maybe now kids will high five each other for buying kicks from the bargain bin. And start focusing on playing "real" basketball instead...

Ron Hextall: Stickin' It to the Man

Digging through a rarely-opened drawer in my home office, I happened upon an 8 1/2 x 11 photo of Ron Hextall, standing at his net with the old-school brown pads, white helmet, and blank boards in the background. It instantly brought back memories and, admittedly, a few goose bumps. Simply put, Ron Hextall was my boy.

Realizing, as a boy, that I shared a birthday (May 3) with Mr. Hextall, I developed an instant connection to the Flyers' goalie of the late 80s to early 90s, skip a couple years, and late 90s. I even grew up in the same town where he lived and practiced (Voorhees, NJ). But most importantly, he and I shared an innate love for swinging a stick and clanging the goalposts. I always got a mini-thrill of his mini-warmup routine where he would swing his stick back and forth against the posts, creating a distinct ring that echoed throughout the raucous Spectrum and would even be heard on TV. Ah, memories.

Of course the fact that he was an exciting and aggressive showman didn't hurt either.

I don't think anybody will forget Hextall's attack on Chris Chelios after Chelios took a cheap shot at Brian Propp in an earlier game, giving the unsuspecting Flyer a concussion to knock him out of the playoffs. This was the ultimate case of standing up for your teammates.

Nor will they forget Hextall's goal, as he launched the puck into an open net, the first time a goalie did so in NHL history.

Nor will anybody forget his slash on Ken Nilson in the Stanley Cup.

And let's not forget the 100+ penalty minutes that were assessed on him in two different seasons. No other goalie in history has come close to 100 in one season, mind you.

I could go on... but you get the drill.

Nowadays, the Flyers' goalkeepers are just downright dull and, well, forgettable, a far cry from Hextall, the Broad Street Bully/Goalie of recent years. I just can't help but wonder: Where did the goaltending passion go?

Perhaps somebody needs to take out a goalie stick and just start swingin...

Philly Sports Phun Phacts

For the 06-07 season, the Eagles have won 11 games (including a playoff
game), the Flyers have won 11 games, and the Sixers have won 11 games.
Combined together, that's
33 wins.  (I'm good at math.)

By the end of the year, the total number of games played between the
three teams (assuming the Sixers & Flyers miss the playoffs) will be 182
games played.  Combined, these teams could easily win fewer games than
the Phillies could win for the regular season.  I would have to think
this is pretty much unprecedented in Philly history.

Estimates:

11 wins for Birds.
22 wins for Sixers
22 wins for Flyers
=55 wins total in 184 games.... Yikes!

Maybe the Phils can even double that number.  Time will tell...

Doug Moe: Coach of the "Run & Gun" 76ers

Coach Doug Moe led the 1992-3 76ers to a 19-37 record, after trading superstar Charles Barkley for Jeff Hornacek, Andrew Lang, and Tim Perry. Moe was replaced by Fred Carter after Moe's heralded "Run & Gun" offense lost a game by 56 points.

This quote pretty much sums up his tenure:

"Somebody said to me, 'It's Friday the 13th, are you going to be jinxed?' I said, 'Bleep, you can't jinx us.'"
--Doug Moe, on his 1992-93 Philadelphia 76ers, who were 1-7 in the preseason and 0-3 at the start of the regular season

It's actually kind of comical to look back and read these article snippets about the hype surrounding this team...

Philly Inquirer

Philly Daily News

Boston Globe

Associated Press

And one last Inqy article

Whoops... guess that wholed "Run & Gun" plan didn't quite pan out.