More cheese and questions answered

Yesterday, I busted on Clay Buchholz and his Crocs. Today, it's the Phillies' turn.

Phans have Phun with the Ph stuff, but it seems really cheesy for a coach to use it:

Impressed by the boldness and skill of his infielders, Sam Perlozzo is experimenting with a nickname for the group.

"I have a whole thing where I call them the Phearless Phour, with a ph," said Perlozzo, the Phillies' third-base coach who also oversees infield defense. "They don't back down off of any play, so I call them the Phearless Phour."

When I read that Jimmy Rollins wasn't aware of the name, I thought he would agree that it's stupid and put the kibosh on it. Nope:

"Phearless Phour?" the shortstop said. "Oh, no. That's good. I hadn't heard that."

So now, we can look forward to a bunch of capes and boundless marketing opportunities for the crusaders against all things hit on the ground.

Meanwhile, a story today finally explained why Jacoboy Ellsbury changed his uniform number from 46 to 2. Dan Shaughnessy provides the answer in an unusually good effort by him about the uniform changes for young 'uns Ellsbury, Buchholz and Daniel Bard.

"I'd always wanted No. 2," said Ellsbury: "I'd asked for it when I got called up, but I didn't realize it was Millsie's [bench coach Brad Mills's] number."
[...]
Ellsbury wore No. 2 in high school and again when he played for the Portland Sea Dogs. He wore 23 in college because a fifth-year senior had No. 2 at Oregon State.

The Sox issued Ellsbury No. 46 (made famous by Bob Stanley) when he came to the bigs late in the 2007 season. It looked a little goofy for a center fielder, but Ellsbury figured 46 was OK because it was double 23.

Buchholz - going from 61 to 11 - was actually more interesting in that he still feels that No. 21 would put additional pressure on him:

There was another option for Buchholz this year. His dad wore 21 when he pitched. Clay is a Texan. And No. 21 has not been issued by the Red Sox since Roger Clemens rode out of town."That would have caused me to answer a lot of questions," Buchholz said. "I didn't want a lot of the added stress that came with that number."

Man, I was thisclose to being able to unretire my Clemens jersey.

Phinally: We can all rest easy. Pat Burrell isn't blaming Elvis for last year's struggles:

When Pat Burrell finally had an opportunity to sit down and reflect on one the least productive years of his career, the Tampa Bay Rays slugger concluded he had no one to blame but himself.

Sure, a "slight herniation" of two discs in his neck contributed to a slow start in 2009, but the 33-year-old designated hitter also said he let the problem linger too long before getting the injury checked out.

Crikey

Last week, when we were in Disney World, we noticed these Mickey Mouse Crocs at all the souvenir stands but didn't see anyone wearing them.

Actually, we saw very few people wearing any variety of these ugly rubber shoes.

I couldn't decide whether that was because of the cool (for Florida) weather or because these stupid shoes are finally going out of style.

I'm still trying to figure out why they ever became trendy in the first place.

If they are out of style, no one has told Clay Buchholz.

Not a good look for young Clay. His new wife should do a better job of making sure he doesn't look so geeky.

But if he continues to develop this year into the front-line starter we have all been waiting for, then he can wear Crocs 24 hours a day - just not when he's pitching.

[Photo credits: surfanddirt.com (Mickey Mouse) and Gordon Edes' Twitter (Clay Buchholz)]

Shagadelic

There has been buzz this week about the first impressions made in camp by top SoxandPhils prospects Domonic Brown and Casey Kelly, but thanks to the unintentional comedic stylings of Charlie Manuel, they were overshadowed by a minor leaguer ranked the 205th best prospect in baseball.

Mr. 205, Tyson Gillies, made a big impression on Cholly: "He's something, man. He takes shagging to another level."

I don't know much about Gillies or his prospects, but I think he should retire tomorrow. No matter how well he does in his career, he will never have a highlight as good as this one.

A SoxandPhil who doesn't wear cleats

Other than griping about snow, I didn't have a strong feeling this morning for what I would write about until I read this little nugget on Todd Zolecki's blog:

Congratulations to Wilmington News Journal's Scott Lauber, who just got a job covering the Red Sox for the Boston Herald.

Congrats, indeed. It's always good to see a quality reporter leave Gannett on his own terms. I wish Lauber well in Boston. I don't look at it as losing a Phillies scribe, but gaining a Red Sox reporter.

This won't be the first time that Lauber, who attended Boston University, has covered the Red Sox. As I mentioned about a year ago, he previously did some work for an underground program sold outside Fenway.

Prospectin'

I still have Disney World on my brain. One of the nicest rides we had this weekend was on Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. We really had fun on that one - plus, there was no line so we pretty much walked right on.

The train is in Frontierland, which sets the mood for Baseball America releasing its list of top 100 prospects. I'm pleased with the SoxandPhils representation. I get just as proud with the organizational success of our teams as their on-field accomplishments.

The Phillies Domonic Brown (15) tops the SoxandPhils contingency, followed by the Red Sox quartet of Ryan Westmoreland (21), Casey Kelly (24), Josh Reddick (75) and Lars Anderson (87).

The Phillies also have Phillippe Aumont (93) on the list.

What's more impressive is that they had a decent showing on the list when each team has dealt away prospects in recent years. Former SoxandPhils farmhands include former future Phils Kyle Drabek (25), Michael Taylor (29), Jason Knapp (64) and Travis d’Arnaud (81), and former future Sox Nick Hagadone (44).

Not on the list is Brad Wilkerson, although he was ranked in 2001 (35) and 2002 (63) when he was an up-and-coming Expo. He was in Red Sox camp last year, but retired after two games in the minors. Now, he's with the Phillies. Christine thinks this line explains the move: Wilkerson is "a close friend of Phillies backup catcher Brian Schneider."

In my Baseball Mogul game, team happiness matters, and sometimes you have to acquire a player's friend to make him happy and improve team chemistry. We hope Brian Schneider is happy now.

[Photo credit: CoasterGallery.com]

How long were we gone?

If you couldn't tell by the stale reports and not-so-subtle hints, Christine and I took off for a couple days to visit Mickey Mouse.

We needed a break from this cold and snowy winter, and although it wasn't as warm as we had hoped (and the Warm Valrhona Chocolate Cake wasn't on Narcoossee's menu for Christine's birthday), it was still a nice getaway.

It looks like we missed a lot of SoxandPhils stuff, but it also looks like it's mostly generic opening-of-camp fare. Except for all the buzz surrounding the new look on Jayson Werth that he's not talking about, according to Scott Lauber:

And while the right fielder declined to speak about his runaway beard -- "I'm not going to ask you to explain that thing on your neck," he said to a reporter with a pimple -- he discussed his contract situation, expressing a desire to remain with the Phillies but stopping short of saying he would forego a larger payday to play elsewhere.

Todd Zolecki, who may have a thing for beards, got a little more out of Grizzly Adams:

Q: You want to steal more bases. Speed is a big part of your game. Do you worry the hair piece is going to slow you down?
A: I'm not wearing a hair piece.

Q: No, the beard.
A: No, I'm not worried about it.

Q: Will you taper down for the season?
A: I'm not sure.

Q: It's attractive.
A: Thank you.

Werth's new look inspired me ... to shave off my winter beard this morning. Bring on spring.

[Photo credit: MLB.com]

'Legends' falls short

We're not clearing out just our DVR lately, but also our "to-watch" pile of DVDs.

We recently caught Legends of the Fall, the 2009 Phillies video yearbook.

I guess it's perfunctory. There's only one little bit that got us excited (I'll get to that later), and the World Series loss was glossed over as if it were a spring training game. (Christine can't even remember whether they acknowledged that the Phillies didn't win.)

I also have a problem with the title. "Legends" implies greatness. Yes, it's remarkable that the 2008 World Champions returned to the World Series the next year, but they needed to win it in 2009 to be proclaimed legendary.

We were pleased when Raul Ibanez, the film's narrator, talked about the Phillies series in Tampa. Raul missed the series due to injury, and in the video he laments that he didn't get the opportunity to meet Elvis Burrell as he got his championship ring and woofed that now he's going to Disney World to celebrate.

Happy birthday

Born 33 years ago on this date was Chad Hutchinson, a former major league pitcher and NFL quarterback. He was neither a Sox nor a Phil, but he married Todd Walker's sister, so I guess he could be counted as a Sox-in-law.

Truthfully, I don't care about Chad Hutchinson. He only gets a mention because he is one of 38 major leaguers who share a birthday with my beautiful wife.

He is the only one who was born on the same exact day as Christine.

The best players with a birthday today (all still alive): Alan Trammell, Franklin "Death to Flying Things" Gutierrez and Jack Billingham (cousin to Christy Mathewson).

There wasn't much major league talent born on this date. There were no SoxandPhils and very few recognizable names who played for either franchise:

Phillies: Jim Olander (never played for the Phillies, but lingered in their minor league system for eight years), Ted Savage, Snipe Hansen and John Titus, better known as Silent John.

Red Sox: Joe Foy (third baseman of the 1967 Impossible Dream Red Sox), Turkey Gross and Dick McCabe.

While you couldn't field an All-Star team of players born on Feb. 21, they do have some interesting names. Besides Snipe and Turkey, there are Marsh Williams, Dummy (real name Luther) Taylor and Jouett Meekin, whose 1867 birthdate is the earliest on the list.

Perhaps the most interesting story we stumbled upon is that of Adam Greenberg, who has played in one major league game and was hit in the first pitch thrown to him in his lone at-bat in 2005. He suffered a concussion from the tragic pitch, according to Wikipedia, which also notes that the only other player to be hit by a pitch in his only at-bat was a Phillie: Fred Van Dusen.

Here's an Outside the Lines piece on Greenberg from last year:


I hope Mr. Greenberg - who ended up in the Independent Leagues instead of the Royals minor leagues in 2009 - makes it back to the majors. I wish him a happy birthday and good luck. I really didn't think this fluffy birthday post for Christine would wind up this heavy.

[Photo credit: ioffer.com]

Spaceman hits the big screen

I had the opportunity to clear out the DVR recently and finished off Spaceman: A Baseball Odyssey.

I liked it even though it didn't blaze any new ground on one of the game's greatest characters - especially for anyone who has read Bill Lee's autobiography, The Wrong Stuff.

I read that book several years ago. I've always admired Lee's honesty and willingness to be himself even though it meant less opportunity to play the game he loves. And watching the movie gave me the sense that it was a "documentary based on the book."

One major difference was Lee's aunt stealing the show in her commentary, especially punctuating how he probably pitched while high but that it didn't affect him.

There was also a part about a barnstorming tour Lee took in Cuba a few years ago. That was some fascinating stuff, especially the bit in which he's walking around cow fields in full uniform trying to find a stadium. You had the feeling he would bump into Fidel Castro and they would have a catch. That wouldn't surprise anyone with the Spaceman.

I did gain a greater appreciation for just how much Lee loves playing baseball and how that love gives him an instant connection to so many people no matter their background.

It was definitely an enjoyable movie, and I hope MLB Network continues to show things like this. I'd rather be riding Space Mountain, but if that's not possible, I'll take a good baseball movie like Spaceman.

A new antiquated Red Sox shirt

When the season ended, I owned garb of three current Red Sox: Jacoby Ellsbury, David Ortiz and Jason Varitek.

Even though he's been discussed in trade rumors before, I thought Ellsbury was the safest bet to remain off my list of antiquated Red Sox garb.

I was wrong. And I can't believe I'm just learning about this now.

Apparently, when Brad Mills left to manage the Astros, Jacoby quietly pilfered his No. 2:

Michael from Avondale, Ari. asks: I've noticed that Jacoby Ellsbury is listed as No. 2 and not No. 46 i have not seen anything explaining this change. Was wondering what Jerry Remy thinks about this?

Answer: Not sure what Jerry Remy thinks of the change, but Jacoby Ellsbury did change his number this offseason. So all those with No. 46 Ellsbury jerseys might
need to trade in for a more updated model this season. No. 2 was held by bench
coach Brad Mills previously -- until Mills departed this offseason for the Astros managerial job.

Great, I guess I'll have to buy a new T-shirt this weekend. I probably won't come across any Ellsbury No. 2s, but maybe I'll find something in a nice red, white and black.

Superstitious SoxandPhils closers

Both of our closers are using unusual methods to overcome their disappointing 2009 seasons.

It's been known for a while that Jonathan Papelbon used footage of his blown save that ended the ALDS to motivate him through his winter workouts:

"I've got it on tape and I watched it 100 times in my weight room," Papelbon said yesterday, in his first meeting with the media since allowing three runs to the Angels and taking the blown save and the loss in the game that concluded 2009 for the Red Sox. "I used it as motivation when I was feeling tired and weak. I'd pop it on, and kind of go over and say, 'There's still work to be done.'"

What's new, however, is that Brad Lidge is planning an even more drastic gesture to put his awful 2009 season behind him:

"I'm going to burn my '09 shirts and we'll get this over with and move forward from there."

Awesome.

They should have a bonfire at the park and make a day of it. They should even roast marshmallows and turkey legs.

Or, perhaps, we can forget about the whole arson thing and just have Lidge stop tipping his pitches.

A tale of two silent starting pitchers

A pair of highly paid SoxandPhils starting pitchers didn't talk to the press yet, but they took different tacts in doing so.

New Phillies ace Roy Halladay "politely" declined comment, saying the Phillies asked him to address all reporters at once after his workout on Friday. Greg Casterioto, the Phillies director of baseball communications (I never heard of him), did the splainin':

"The first week of spring training, we try to make the best use of everyone's time, and many times that means doing a media group session," Casterioto said.

Casterioto, who also scheduled the availability of pitchers Cole Hamels and Brad Lidge for later this week, noted that the team had used this strategy many times in the past. Former Phils Scott Rolen and Bobby Abreu were among the players who waited until a structured session to speak with reporters.

After the initial availability, Halladay, Hamels, and Lidge will be free to participate in as many one-on-one interviews as they choose, Casterioto said.

The Red Sox Daisuke Matsuzaka, meanwhile, wouldn't talk to American reporters, but told Japanese scribes that he has a sore back. That left Theo Epstein to explain that Dice-K's injury is not serious:

"I'm not a doctor and I don't want to get ahead of this thing, but if it's a real mild strain like we think it is, then he'll be able to have a normal spring training but be delayed a bit at the start of camp. I don't want to put a number of days behind that he will be, but he'll be a little bit behind because while all of our guys are long tossing and throwing pens now, he's not going to do that.

"At this point as we look at it, we think he'll be able to have a normal, if delayed, spring training."

The return of the Diceman isn't starting off too well.

SoxandPhils TV

There were a couple of SoxandPhils nuggets pertaining to mindless TV in today's papers.

Someone tipped off Paul Hagen that former Phillies third base coach Steve Smith is on The Amazing Race. We had heard about that a while ago.

I guess I knew that Clay Buchholz was engaged to a starlet, but I didn't know she was one of the briefcase holders on Deal or No Deal. Is that show even on anymore?

Young Clay married the game show model, Lindsay Clubine, in November. Congrats to the couple. Just learn a lesson from the Hamels: no births during the playoffs.

Speaking of Cole Hamels and Heidi Strobel (Survivor), what's the deal with SoxandPhils pitchers marrying TV chickies? There's also Kyle Kendrick, who is engaged to Survivor's Stephanie LaGrossa.

By the way, given my affinity for '80s cheese, I should point out that all Survivor references are to the TV show, not the band.

[Photo credit: sonsofsamhorn.net]

Live action and unpredictable predictions

We have our first glimpse of baseball circa 2010 today as Kevin Youkilis and some prospects took some hacks and the scribes noted who has bulked up (Clay Buchholz) and who has trimmed down (Daisuke Matsuzaka).

But even though the news is welcomed when our yard is still buried with snow, none of it matters because Baseball Prospecutus has updated its screwy projections for the season.

Although, they still have the Nationals finishing under .500, we like where BP is heading: a Red Sox division championship with the Phillies (always predicted to win the NL East) getting closer to the number of wins we expect from them.

But most interesting is what the statisticians see in store for the NL Central: a three-way tie for first place among the White Sox, Tigers and Twins at 80-82.

Christine and I would love to see that, although we'd settle for seeing our lawn again.

[Photo credit: Boston Globe]

J.D. gets some love

It's quite clear why Cupid's arrow never struck between the hearts of J.D. Drew and Philadelphia fans - something about Scott Boras, jilted love and some misuse of batteries.

Believe it or not, there are still some who don't know the history between J.D. and the Phillies. We were shocked that someone at Citizens Bank Park asked Christine last year why he was getting booed.

Philly fans will never forgive J.D. And that's OK. But I don't understand why he's not more appreciated by Red Sox fans. Yes, he struggled in his first season as a Red Sox after signing a huge contract, but he redeemed himself with a grand slam in the 1st inning of Game 6 of the 2007 ALCS and has played pretty well since then.

Yes, he's stoic, injury-prone and doesn't post gaudy power numbers. But he is quietly one of the better players in baseball. And as Amalie Benjamin points out, he has even out-performed the five-year $70 million contract the Red Sox were laughed at for giving him:

Just 10 players had an OPS (on-base plus slugging percentage) of .900 or greater in 2008 and '09: Pujols, Manny Ramirez, Alex Rodriguez, Lance Berkman, Mark Teixeira, Kevin Youkilis, Hanley Ramirez, Matt Holliday, Chase Utley - and Drew.
[...]
The offseason of 2006-07 was, in short, a period of abysmal deals around baseball, highlighted by those given out to pitchers Barry Zito, Jason Schmidt, and Kei Igawa. But the outfielder market - in terms of bad contracts - wasn't much better. Instead of signing Drew, Epstein could have chosen Alfonso Soriano ($136 million, eight years), Carlos Lee ($100 million, six years), Gary Matthews Jr. ($50 million, five years), or Juan Pierre ($44 million, five years).

According to the value estimations on fangraphs.com, in the three years since those deals were signed, Soriano has earned $33.4 million (8.0 wins above replacement player), while being paid $41 million. Lee has earned $40 million (9.2 WAR), while being paid $43 million. Matthews has earned -$5.2 million (-1.1 WAR), while being paid $26.2 million. Pierre has earned $15.4 million (3.6 WAR), while being paid $25.5 million.

And Drew? Even with a rough 2007 in which he "earned" just $5.6 million (1.4 WAR), Drew has earned $45.4 million (10.3 WAR) in Boston, while being paid $42 million. So, in the warped world of baseball finances, the argument could be made that Drew is underpaid. Or, perhaps, that he is compensated equally to his value.

Amen. I've been thinking along these lines for awhile. Maybe this is the year that J.D. gets some love from the fans - especially as he wins his second World Championship. {Please excuse Greg, he must be on a sugar high after eating too much chocolate. There is no way that J.D. Drew will be on the 2010 World Champion Phillies.}

For the record, yes, I am aware that Jayson Werth has produced nearly $60 million for little more than $5 million since 2007. I'm not saying the Red Sox have a better right fielder, just that they have a pretty special one who doesn't get the recognition he deserves.

Welcome: The world has a new Nationals fan who shares my name and Zoe's birthday. Congrats to Nick and Maria. Hope you and little Gregory are home soon.

Don't forget Valentine's Day

Tomorrow's the day for lovers, so we wanted to send a reminder to be with your special someone ... lean in ... nuzzle ... whisper a little something sweet ... and then ... we'll leave it at that.

Whatever goes on between Shane Victorino and Jayson Werth is none of our business, as long as it does not affect their play on the field.

Christine saw this picture Scott Lauber posted last month and was amused, thinking it looks like J-Dub is chatting up Shane-O as if he were a barfly.

We thought it would make a nice Valentine's Day weekend picture.

Setting the record straight

The scribes made a few mistakes this week that I've been meaning to mention.

Most noticeable is the curious report I woke up to Sunday morning that the Phillies, with no real warning, signed two pitchers from Japan. It was quickly retracted by Matt Gelb:

Contrary to reports from Japan, the Phillies have not come to agreements with Japanese relievers Shigetoshi Yamakita and Naoyo Okamoto, a Phils spokesman said yesterday.

Gelb was the only American reporter who bit on the story and reported it as fact. He hasn't been heard from much since, and Andy Martino is back on the beat. Coincidence?

More discreet, but much more offensive, was this little passage in Steve Buckley's Kevin Youkilis story that I talked about yesterday:

The late Dick Radatz landed a job with a local oil company. Carl Yaztrzemski, among many other ventures, owned a car dealership. Mike Andrews became so entrenched a Bostonian that he wound up running the Jimmy Fund.

How in the world can a Boston Red Sox beat writer and his editors allow Carl Yastrzemski's name to be misspelled? I know it's a difficult name, but c'mon, we're talking about a pillar of the franchise.

Marcia, Marcia, Marcia

A day after Roy Halladay was deemed the hardest-working man in show business, he got more accolades today - this time for his leadership and teammate skills.

As reported by Andy Martino (where the hell has he been?), Halladay has some interesting quotes in the current issue of the Sporting News.

When asked to name the best pitcher in the NL East, he refused to include himself, but put young Cole Hamels up there with Johan Santana and Josh Johnson:

"I'd never vote for myself," Halladay, 32, told the magazine when asked whether he was the best pitcher in the NL East.

He said New York Mets lefthander Johan Santana "has always been fun to watch. The way Cole pitched in the playoffs a couple of years ago and at times last year, I think he's up there. Some of the Marlins' younger guys are scary - Josh Johnson. There's a lot of talent."

He earned instant praise for taking time to boost Hamels' ego and show him that he's an important part of the Phillies fate.

But I wonder how long before this lovefest for Roy turns Cole a little green and gives him a Jan Brady complex. I know that Roy is saying the right things about Hamels, but it might eat at Hamels that the media and fans are swooning at the new guy who hasn't won a thing (best pitcher to never see the postseason) while the hero of the 2008 playoffs gets the bum rush because he didn't post gaudy numbers last year.

It should be interesting to watch, but in my gut I think Cole has a big year riding shotgun for Doc.

I don't know who the Jan Brady of the Red Sox would be (Dustin Pedroia, maybe?), but it's clear that Kevin Youkilis would be the Marcia after this piece in the Herald:

He is, in short, one of us.

And guess what: He has every intention of remaining one of us.

"I see myself, if everything goes well, retiring as a member of the Red Sox," said Youkilis earlier this week, following a morning round of batting practice at the team’s minor-league complex in Fort Myers. "That's my goal. I want to finish my career with the Red Sox, and that's not something that a lot of players do."

There also is this: More than simply wanting to stay with the Red Sox, he also wants to stay in Boston.

And he's also Hollywood like Marcia Brady and Cole Hamels. He was in Milk Money, which I never knew before.



[Photo credit: The Brady Bunch Blog]

Snow day

I'm glad that Roy Halladay isn't loafing now that he has made it onto a contending team, but do we really need to hear what a hard worker he is when most of his fan base will spend hours today digging out from yet another horrendous snowstorm?

The Boston Herald also profiled the local team's ace - not John Lackey, not Josh Beckett, but Jon Lester, who was proclaimed by the Globe's Peter Abraham as the second-most important guy in the Red Sox organization. Hard to quibble with that, although I might have put Kevin Youkilis (No. 3) a little lower and Theo Epstein (No. 5) a little higher.

This morning, Christine and I cleared out the snow and slush that fell over night and are now watching the snow quickly re-cover all the exposed pavement. It's falling so quickly, you might think that hell is freezing over. It might be freezing over because Bill Conlin had a column that could be construed as agreeing with the prospects point I made yesterday. I think it had a similar message - but I'm not entirely sure of his point even after attempting to read it five times.

Finally, the Herald's Michael Silverman reminds us that it's been two seasons since the Red Sox won the World Series - the same gap between the last two World Championships. That means they're due. Speaking of the great 2004, MLB Network's Baseball's Seasons 2004 debuts tonight. Hopefully, I'm done with the snow by then, but probably not.

Groundhog day

I felt some deja vu this morning, and not just because we're expecting another huge snowstorm (although we should stay under two feet this time).

No, my feeling of we've been through this before was when I logged on to Philly.com and saw a blaring headline about an All-Star pitcher who revealed he had surprise surgery.

I had flashbacks to Brad Lidge, but then I remembered that the pitcher in question, Cliff Lee, is no longer a Phillie. No sweat off our backs.

Procrastination: If you need an excuse to put off shoveling for awhile longer, check out Chad Finn's year-by-year look at prospect rankings in the 1990s. It's a long read, but a funny look at how you never can trust how prospects are valued.

The 1998 class provides fodder for those who say the Phillies should have kept Cliff Lee (never mind his injury) or those who were concerned about giving up Kyle Drabek:

TINSTAAPP defined: If ever you needed evidence that There Is No Such Thing As A Pitching Prospect, here's your motherlode.

These are all of the pitchers among the top 30 prospects on this list:

Kerry Wood (4, good career but got Dustied), Matt White (6, paid a ridiculous bonus by Rays), Kris Benson (7, his wife made more headlines), Ryan Anderson (23, "Space Needle" blew out his arm in the minors, is now a chef), Matt Anderson (24, No. 1 overall pick who hurt his arm flinging an Octopus at a Wings game), Eric Milton (25, slop-balling lefty who had some success), Bruce Chen (27, we apologize to Eric Milton -- this is a slop-balling lefty), Scott Elarton (28, meh), Grant Roberts (29, most notable accomplishment was being photographed with a bong).

You half-expect David Clyde, Kirk Dressendorfer, and Mark Prior to show up with this raggedy-armed crew.

Hope shoveling doesn't turn you into a raggedy-armed, washed-out pitching prospect.

[Photo credit: Philadelphia Inquirer]

Football is over

Football is over, meaning we're about two weeks away from spring training. But before we return our sole focus to the National Pastime, we have a couple more thoughts about Super Sunday.

Watching the Saints topple the heavily favored Colts was remarkable. Christine compared it to watching the Rays beat the Red Sox in the 2008 ALCS. Maybe, but I prefer thinking of it as the 2001 Diamondbacks beating the Yankees. Or the 2003 Marlins beating the Yankees. Or the 2006 Tigers beating the Yankees. Or anyone beating the Yankees.

When the game ended, Van Halen's Top of the World played in the stadium, prompting Christine to say, "Why is it playing? The Phillies didn't win anything today."

I didn't win anything either - screwing up my picks for the Super and Puppy bowls. Christine didn't choose between the Colts and Saints and neither of her pups won either. We can't believe Jake won it.

As I was writing this, The Jetsons Nite Out was on. That's one of my favorite episodes - George and Mr. Spacely sneak out to watch a football game, played by robots. Oh well, enough football talk. On to baseball, played by humans.

[Photo credit: technovelgy.com]

Pondering baseball on snowy Super Sunday

Before tackling the snow again, I had a minute to read Nick Cafardo, who suggests the Red Sox won't re-sign Josh Beckett because of health concerns. That's not entirely startling, except when reading about one of the paths the Red Sox could take instead:

Which is why the Sox should wait on a Beckett extension and even explore the possibility of a free-agent-to-be like Cliff Lee. He was a pitcher the Sox looked into at the trading deadline, and he has a history with pitching coach John Farrell from their Cleveland days.

Wouldn't that be an interesting twist of fate for SoxandPhils followers? Imagine Cliff Lee and Victor Martinez teammates again, this time in Boston.

Of course, as John Tomase points out, that could be just a fan's dream - like a rotation topped by Lee and Roy Halladay. It seems the big 2011 free agent class that everyone has been salivating over may not come to fruition thanks to the extension for Halladay and likely deal for Joe Mauer. It could be that the big names heading to market will be departing Boston: Beckett and V-Mart, meaning we should soon start hearing speculation about Martinez pairing up with Beckett and/or Lee in the Bronx.

If there weren't two feet of snow in my driveway, I'd say that would be the worst thought of the day.

Pigskin picks: Usually, I get turned off by the team everyone is rooting for, but the Saints really do have a fan base that deserves a winner - even before Katrina struck. I'd like to see a huge Mardi Gras celebration, but I don't think Peyton Manning will allow it to happen.

Puppy picks: I'm going with Bear to chew up the competition; Christine thinks Blaze is ready to pounce, but could see Kiva in an upset.

Maybe we should let them play the games

Last week, I suggested we could fast forward to October because Baseball Prospectus was predicting that the Phillies and Red Sox would make the playoffs and the Yankees would not.

But they have since updated their calculations and have the Yankees, not the Rays, winning the division. They have the Red Sox winning the Wild Card in either scenario, but with a less impressive 92-70 record.

The Phillies' projection did not move; they're still expected to win the division handily with a surprisingly low 88-74 record. There is a sad story toward the bottom of the NL East. The Mets are still slated to finish fourth, but they are not expected to suffer the embarrassment of finishing beneath the Nationals, who were originally and curiously predicted to go 82-80.

But thanks to updates and errors, the Nationals are no longer predicted to have their first winning season since Youppi cheered them on in Montreal. They are now expected to finish 76-86 in last place, not third place.

Poor Nationals. And to make matters worse for them, Washington's getting the same ridiculous amount of snow as we are getting. There are 58 more long days until Opening Day.

Baseball is back

Live baseball has returned to MLB Network - the Caribbean Series, anyway.

We've been watching here and there. The other night I heard that Vinny Castilla was hitting.

"The Vinny Catilla?" I asked, thinking there was no way the 42-year-old who hasn't played in the majors since 2006 and has worked in the Rockies front office since 2007 would still be playing.

"Yes, that Vinny Castilla," the announcer said, seemingly answering my question on cue.

While watching another game a few days later, Christine made fun of the exchange when she heard Freddy Guzman was hitting.

"The Freddy Guzman?" she said.

Later, I found out she was just picking a random player and had forgotten that not only did the Phillies sign this guy, but he was featured prominently on the nation's leading Red Sox and Phillies blog. Maybe she should re-read this post she edited.

Today, we learned from Phillyburbs.com that Freddy Guzman stole home in that game:

You know Freddy Guzman, the outfielder the Phils just signed to a minor league deal? Fleet Freddy stole home last night for the Dominican Republic as they beat Venezuela 3-2 in a Caribbean Series game.

Red Sox: The Globe's Peter Abraham learned that Bill James' new book is out. I guess he hasn't been reading the leading Red Sox and Phillies blog either. Granted, we don't have the sources of the Globe, so we have been a little more desperate for blog ideas lately.

Dinner update: It wasn't quite how we planned it, but we pulled off the dinner. The staff seemed pleased with our contribution, but we'd like the chance to do it for real next time.

L.A. goes to school

Time's tight - we are supposed to prepare a meal for 40 people on Saturday, but those plans are obviously in limbo with the looming storm. We're working on Plans B and C tonight. [I wrote that this morning, and I think we're up to plans L through Q, but we're going to get it done as long as I can manage to stay on my feet.]

Meanwhile, here's an interesting catch by phillyburbs.com about a college professor who had Larry Andersen speak to his journalism class.

Christine and I are jealous. Our journalism professor brought in some good guest lecturers -including me once - but L.A. would have been something else. Click the Andersen link to read it all, but here are my favorite tidbits:

- He is a fan but he tries to not get too excited on air. He says that he mutes his microphone sometimes so he can jump around and scream without being distracting to the audience.

- Because he works for the team, he can't divulge all the crazy stuff he knows about the players. Especially not on air.

- When Harry Kalas passed out in the broadcast booth in Washington last year, Larry gave HK CPR until the paramedics arrived.

That's it for now - please let the forecasters be wrong about this weekend.

A new SoxandPhil

Not since the Phillies signed Pedro Martinez last summer has there been such a buzz about the birth of a new SoxandPhil.

Freddy Guzman, an outfielder who played in the Red Sox minor league system last year, signed a minor league deal with the Phillies.

I have never heard of him. Well, I might have heard of him previously, but I have no recollection of him.

That this is the big news of the day speaks to the boredom and doldrums of February as we wait for another big snowfall. (We're not happy today.)

OK, the Red Sox also made news today - signing a couple minor leagues and making some front office promotions. That will keep me warm when I crank up the snow blower on Saturday.

Catching up with former Sox

Please excuse the staleness of what follows. I'll be at work late today, so I pre-wrote a bit.

Anyhoo, a couple former Red Sox have signed contracts recently: Orlando Cabrera signed with the Reds; Kevin Millar signed a minor league deal with the Cubs; and, in a surprise, Byung-Hyun Kim (who's still only 31 despite not pitching in the majors since 2007) signed a minor league deal with the Giants.

For those keeping track of former Red Sox, the Globe has a scorecard.

There's another former Red Sox in the news, but not in the transaction listings. Bill Buckner had some fun with fans at an old-timers dinner in Illinois when asked what his first thought was after the ball rolled through his legs:

"My first thought when it happened was, 'Wow, I get to play in a seventh game of a World Series. How cool is that?' And my other thought was how bad the people in Chicago must feel, Boston being here and their team not."

Finally, one guy who probably won't ever be a Red Sox is Joe Mauer, who seems to be close to signing a long-term deal with the Twins. I'd love to have him on the Red Sox, but it's better for the game to keep him in Minnesota. (I am not a gluttonous Yankees fan.) My only concern is whether this complicates matters with re-signing Victor Martinez, who would become the top catcher on the free-agent market next winter.

Let the games begin

The Phillies are still more than two weeks away from reporting to camp, but the competition has already begun for the final spot in the bullpen.

It's a hard-fought battle that has started in sports pages via features on long-shot candidates.

Matt Gelb chose a real dark horse who would be a better story - Scott Mathieson is trying to come back from two Tommy John surgeries. And he's been helped by someone else competing for a spot - one of our favorites, Mike Zagurski, affectionately known here as Fattie:

He has spent the off-season working out with Zagurski, who is also rehabbing after Tommy John surgery, and Shawn Fcasni, the Phillies' minor-league strength and conditioning coordinator.

Mathieson and Zagurski play catch five times a week. To prepare, they each ride a treadmill for 10 minutes. No hot tub. No extra stretches. Just playing catch like old times.

And then they go home.

"It's pretty rare - most guys who have a second Tommy John, that's usually the end of their career," Mathieson said. "For me, I'm hoping it's just the beginning."

Scott Lauber, meanwhile, is casting his lot with Antonio Bastardo and takes a more analytical bent from Phillies assistant GM Chuck LaMar:

After getting called up in June, Bastardo threw his fastball 73.8 percent of the time, according to the statistical Web site FanGraphs.com. Even as a reliever, it's tough to make it in the majors with one pitch, so the Phillies wanted Bastardo to work on his breaking ball in the Dominican. Mission accomplished, LaMar said. Bastardo, 24, had a 1.50 ERA and six strikeouts in seven innings for los Gigantes del Cibao during the regular season, then fanned 12 batters over 7-1/3 scoreless innings in five appearances in the championship series against Escogido.

"There's no question he has the stuff to be a very successful major-league pitcher," LaMar said by phone. "He was able to come up last year and show the arm strength, especially from the left side, that can propel him to win a job. Now he's got to do it on a consistent basis. ... It's going to come down to having more than that fastball."

Christine is just waiting for someone to wise up and start touting Fattie. {Oh no, what do we call him if he has lost weight?}