When one old lefty moves out, another moves up

When Randy Johnson announced his retirement this week, it did have some meaning for the Phillies - well, one of them anyway.

With Johnson out of the picture, Jamie Moyer has moved up in a couple of categories on the ol' active leader lists, according to The Bill James Handbook.

Before the Big Unit retired, J-Moy already led active pitchers in games started (609), losses (195) and home runs allowed (491).

Now, he will open the season also leading in wins (258), innings (3,908.2) and batters faced (16,642).

Moyer also moved up to fifth in complete games (31), third in strikeouts (2,342), second in walks (1,117) and third in hit batsmen (138).

Moyer - whose fastball averaged a league-low 81.4 mph last year - will be the active strikeout leader if Pedro Martinez and John Smoltz don't play in 2010.

Another old Phillie: Brett Myers, who has a been a Phillie for so long that his major league debut occurred during our honeymoon, is officially gone. He's now with Ed Wade and the rest of the Philadelphia Astrox. Christine laments the end of an era. We said our peace to young Brett in November.

Mutual (g)love society: Mike Lowell once told Nick Cafardo that Adrian Beltre was the best third baseman he's seen:

"Tools-wise, Adrian Beltre is the best one," he said. "He can be the best one. He's very, very quick. He comes in on the ball incredibly. I relate it to the way I can catch some ground balls. But I see some balls he gets down the line where I really have to concentrate on setting my feet to make a good, strong throw and he's off-balance throwing from the side and it's a rocket that comes out of his arm.

"So I enjoy watching his tools. I wish I could have that ability to flick the ball across the diamond and it goes like a bullet. In the minors, he was like a man playing against boys."

Beltre, supplanting Lowell at third for the Red Sox, returned the kind words today:

New Boston Red Sox third baseman Adrian Beltre has played against Mike Lowell since they were in the minor leagues, and said Lowell has the best hands of any third baseman in the game. "I know Mike Lowell," he said after his introductory press conference in Fenway Park on Friday. "I'm a huge fan of Mike Lowell. Mike is a great guy."

Thanks: Big kudos to Cafepress.com. Christine's Chooch T-shirt was a little too small. We asked to exchange it for a larger one. They just sent us a larger one without asking us to send the other one back. It arrived today. Great customer service.