A tribute to Andy Martino

Yes, Jon Lester and the Red Sox are battling the Yankees on MLB Network, but tonight Christine and I are obsessed with a huge piece of news that we missed: Andy Martino has left the Inquirer.

We noticed yesterday that The Phillies Zone was no longer Martino and Matt Gelb, but Gelb and Bob Brookover. We did some searching and found out that Martino is covering the Mets for the New York Daily News, replacing Adam Rubin, who went to work for ESPN, not the Mets.

So another Phillies beat writer has left the job. But unlike Todd Zolecki, Scott Lauber and even Mike Radano, we don't care. It's no secret we never liked him. He never seemed into his job. He would let his blog lapse. He seemed to always be on vacation. And he just gave off a smarmy vibe.

I think the most telling point about his stint as Phillies beat writer is this: When Lauber recently left the Wilmington News Journal to join the Boston Herald, all his colleagues mentioned it on their blogs or Twitters. We didn't see anyone mention Martino's return to New York.

See ya later, Martino. At least in New York, no one will notice if you don't write in the middle of the season because that's about the point when the Mets have officially become irrelevant.

(We may seem a little hard on Martino, but coming from journalism backgrounds, we do understand that some people just don't like some reporters.)

A good writer: I've really been enjoying the blogging of one of the Boston Globe's newer beat writers, Peter Abraham. He's been on the job since September, but I think he's really been hitting his stride lately. His style reminds us of Zolecki. Today's post had a fascinating tidbit:

I covered Pedro when he was with the Mets. After his first season was over, he handed out business cards to the beat writers with his cell phone number in case we needed to contact him. They said "Pedro J. Martinez, Right-handed pitcher." What a character.

Red Sox: Lester is a little wild, and the Yankees lead the Red Sox 4-3 in the 5th. Victor Martinez hit a two-run homer in the 3rd. Speaking of V-Mart, he snapped Jason Varitek's decade-long streak of Opening Day starts, according to a Providence Journal database. (Just ignore the text, which obviously has not been updated.)