Catching up with former SoxandPhils

There was no shortage of tidbits about former Phillies and Red Sox in the news today. Here are the highlights. Followed by some snark.

Helping the Astros enjoy a win at the expense of yet another Brad Lidge blown save wasn't good enough for Phillies discard Chris Coste. He couldn't resist taken a swipe at his former team:

It didn't surprise me they let me go. After four years, they never recognized that I was actually a way-above-average defensive catcher. When my role became righthanded pinch-hitter off the bench, and I wasn't doing well in that role, it made sense. But what I never did understand was that I lost my job as a backup catcher, because in my mind I didn't do anything to lose it.

He also said that because he was constantly removed from games in the 9th inning, it hurt his reputation, suggesting he couldn't catch a slider in the dirt. He acknowledges this could be the last month for the improbable Chris Coste story.

The assessment comes from honest feelings and may be true, but at some point, Coster has to accept that sometimes players fall through the cracks. He was destined, too, but he got at least four years in the big leagues. Many would love that without the constant griping about reputation.

Jim Salisbury reports that the Indians fans aren't happy with the Cliff Lee trade (though Phillies fans haven't been that pleased either during the last two weeks), especially because Jason Donald and Jason Knapp have been injured and Carlos Carrasco got shelled in his major league debut. Unmentioned is that Lou Marson is hitting .240/.313/.320 in AAA.

Egad. This one isn't exactly looking like a repeat of Lee, Brandon Phillies, Grady Sizemore and Lee Stevens for Bartolo Colon and Tim Drew for the Tribe.

Nick Cafardo notes that Carlos Pena could be the first New Englander since Tony Conigliaro to win a home run crown:

"Don't want to get too far ahead of myself, but that would be an honor to be mentioned in the same way as Tony C," said the Haverhill native. "He's a Boston hero and I heard a lot about him growing up in the Boston area."

Good for him. I have no snark.

Cafardo also reports that Brad Penny credited his new catcher, Eli Whiteside, with his dominant outing against the Phillies because he suggested throwing more breaking balls earlier in the count.

Cafardo's snark:

Question: As a veteran pitcher, did Penny ever think about this on his own while he was getting drilled over his last 10 starts with Boston?

My snark: Um, where's the catching genius of Jason Varitek here? Shouldn't the columnist be questioning the Captain, too? But I agree, Penny's a punk.

Finally, hard to believe for those of us who watched him as a Phillie, but Gavin Floyd has pretty much become an ace.

White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen loves Floyd, and while he's placed the ace label on Buehrle, he said Floyd has pitched "tough games" for him the last two years. "When we most need him, he shows up," said Guillen. "This kid is so consistent. When he's out there in those situations, you're going to see who's tough. He goes out and dominates."

Today's games: Coste didn't play today, but Michael Bourn went 2-4 with two runs in the Astros third straight win over the Phillies. Cole Hamels' recent dominance has vanished: four earned in six innings. Astros 4, Phillies 3.

Billy Wagner gave up a solo home run after Jon Lester pitched seven scoreless. But the Red Sox scored three more in the 9th for a much-need 6-1 win over the White Sox.

Today's talking points: SoxandPhils stud pitchers

It was nice to hear Mike & Mike's "What everyone's talking about" open this morning with a discussion of Tuesday night's outstanding pitching performances by Cole Hamels, Jonathan Papelbon and Jon Lester.

The trio combined yesterday for two wins and a save in 17 innings, two runs, nine hits, three walks and 21 strikeouts.

Yesterday, Christine thought I was a little down on Lester's line and maybe I was, but only in comparison with the gem Hamels put up there.

Anyhoo, here's some of the tidbits of their stellar performances:

Cole Hamels:

It was the lowest-hit shutout in Citizens Bank Park. Two others had three-hit shutouts, most recently by Hamels last year.

Yesterday, I said he has tossed 17 straight scoreless innings, repeating what I heard from Tom McCarthy. Technically that's true for his last two starts, but it's actually 19 if you include the last two innings of an otherwise clunker of a start against the Mets.

I forgot to mention yesterday that Hamels also had a stolen base. It was the first for a Phillies pitcher since 1997 by ... possible future U.S. Sen. Curt Schilling, R-Red Sox Nation. I wish I could go back in time to see the big lug steal a bag in that game.

Jonathan Papelbon:

He had a two-inning save in the 2007 ALCS, but last night was his first in the regular season.

People often talk about cheap saves, but this one was anything but. Two innings, including entering the game with the bases loaded.

Batters facing Papelbon with the bases loaded are now just 3-38.

Last night was the 13th time Papelbon has gone two or more innings in relief (regular season only). He has five wins, two blown saves and last night's save. He has a 0.95 ERA in those 28 1/3 innings. Mariano who?

Jon Lester:

He now has 196 strikeouts for the season - more than any other Red Sox lefty has recorded in one season.

It's not you, it's me: All week, since we learned Brad Penny was going to the Giants, I told Christine he was going to shut down the Phillies. She would get insulted. Not her Phillies, she'd say.

I'd reply that it has nothing to do with the Phillies, it's just that he has to pitch well to make the Red Sox look foolish for dumping him. I fully expected a strong outing, but I couldn't have imagined this: eight shutout innings with five hits and a walk. Unreal. And, he needed only 102 pitches. We're surprised they didn't let him finish the job. Giants 4, Phillies 0.

The Red Sox, meanwhile, with Josh Beckett, the unquestionable ace of a team with an excess of pitching, trail the Rays 5-4 in the 8th. Beckett struggled for his fourth straight start: five runs (four earned) in six innings. We may come back, but we need Beckett to return to form ASAP.

Blame it on Curt

Brett Myers has had a good career for the Phillies, although it hasn't quite met the expectations for a guy drafted 12th overall in a pretty decent first-round 1999 draft class that included Josh Beckett, Josh Hamilton, Ben Sheets and Barry Zito.

Phil Sheridan took a long look Sunday at the Phillies tenure of Brett Myers, which is most likely over at season's end. He looks at the good, bad and puzzling times of young Brett, who is an enigmatic cross between the ultimate team player and a lightning rod for off-field problems.

"Dramas have followed me my whole life. I'm the guy who messes around and throws a peanut at someone and it hits them in the eye. When I was a kid, I broke my wrist riding my bike over a little wooden ramp. A hundred other kids rode over it, but I'm the guy that flips and breaks his wrist. I'm the guy that falls out of the Escalade."

And that's nowhere near the most interesting quote in this epic feature. We loved his first quote after being drafted and can't believe we haven't heard it before. Can we get a Desi Relaford shout-out?

"I want to meet Pat Burrell, Scott Rolen, Curt Schilling and Desi Relaford," the 18-year-old pitcher said that day. "I want to play with them now. Just put me in the big show!"

We also didn't remember this quote that inserts an intriguing SoxandPhils what-if:

As a low-level minor-leaguer in 2000, he angered upper management something fierce when he spat, "Who's going to teach me how to pitch now, Omar Daal?" in reaction to Schilling's being traded to Arizona.

So, if Curt weren't traded, would he have made Myers realize his potential as a top-flight starter? Would the Phillies have won one or more World Series before 2008? And, following that path, would that mean Curt wouldn't wind up on the Red Sox, and I would be a lot more cranky about another year looking up at the Yankees?

{I'm more intrigued by the idea of who would drive the other one crazy first: Curt and his preaching, or Brett and his recklessness.}

I dunno, but for a pitcher who sometimes seems one or two shy of a six-pack, Myers has given us plenty to consider. But, as Ruben Amaro said, should the next few weeks be the end of Brett Myers' Phillies career, neither side can complain.

"Brett's had his ups and downs, obviously, but at the same time he's done a lot to help the organization. He adjusted and went to the bullpen when we asked him to. He went back to the rotation when we asked him to. He went to the minors when he struggled. He's made some sacrifices. At the same time, we've treated him well with a multiyear deal. But there's no doubt he's shown a lot of flexibility."

For me, I'll just miss his curveball - one of the prettiest I've ever seen.

Today's news: It looks like Brad Penny is going to the Giants. Good riddance. ... There was a report that the Phillies would be adding to their collection of former Red Sox (Pedro Martinez, Matt Stairs, Jamie Moyer and J.C. Romero) by trading for Nomar Garciappara, who they tried to sign in the offseason. David Murphy, and no other local beat writer has even mentioned it.

L-V-P! L-V-P! L-V-P!

In the last seven years, the Red Sox and Phillies certainly have had their share of individual accolades: MVPs (Dustin Pedroia, Jimmy Rollins and Ryan Howard), Rookies of the Year (Pedroia and Howard), Rolaids Relief Award (Brad Lidge), World Series MVPs (Cole Hamels, Mike Lowell and Manny Ramirez), LCS MVPs (Hamels, Josh Beckett and David Ortiz) and All-Star MVP J.D. Drew.

This year, it's too soon to say whether Raul Ibanez or Jason Bay will wind up with the MVP or whether Beckett will continue his surge toward a Cy Young.

But Jayson Stark says a couple of our players may be headed toward less desirable trophies: Least Valuable Player and Cy Yuk.

I can't quarrel that Jimmy Rollins and Daisuke Matsuzaka have been awful this year. But J-Roll's recent hot streak gives the feeling that he'll play well for the rest of the year. And I'm not forgiving him for participating in the stupid World Baseball Classic, but Dice-K was clearly injured. And Chien-Mang Wang has been just as bad.

Today's LVP: Brad Penny, who gave up six runs in five innings in a 6-2 loss against the Blue Jays. The red-hot Phillies continue their series against the Marlins tonight in a quest to wrap up the NL East by August.

Phillies pitcher goes wild

Christine and I trekked into YanksandMets territory yesterday to see family. We happened to be online and saw that a then-unnamed Phillie had been involved in an altercation with a fan in Tampa and was accused of battery.

Soon, the mysterious identity was revealed as J.C. Romeo - hasn't he had enough legal trouble this year?

Given the history of Romero's suspension and that the Rays were the Phillies opponents in last year's World Series, we'll take the player's word here:

"What did he say? That he was drunk and got into a fight?" Romero, 33, said yesterday when asked whether he wanted to hear the fan's complaint. "I'm not going to comment on it. I'm trying to be professional, and I don't really want to get into that. Don't want to make a story out of nothing."

The fan, 25-year-old Robert Eaton, told the St. Petersburg Times that he asked Romero for an autograph outside Tropicana Field and was refused. Eaton said that he then made a comment about steroids and that Romero grabbed him by the neck and pushed him, Eaton told the Times.

Eaton filed a report with local police. He could not be reached last night for comment. It was not immediately known whether charges would be filed.

Of course the guy's name is Eaton. That automatically makes him suspect.

Weekend wrap: Charlie Manuel finally held his closed-door meeting after Friday night's loss, and the team responded with a 10-0 romp on Saturday. (J.A. Happ needed just 100 pitches for his first shutout, and Jayson Werth went 4-4 with two home runs.) They won the series finale against the Blue Jays 5-4 today. I didn't see much, but caught the ending in which Brad Lidge struggled but picked up the save.

They said it's the second time this year the Phillies won a series against an American League team. Christine had to remind me that the other team was the Yankees. Go Phils!

The Red Sox split a couple of pitchers' duels. Tim Wakefield, who is making it tough for Joe Maddon to leave him off the All-Star roster, beat Javier Vazquez on Saturday 1-0. Brad Penny followed that up with a good performance today, but Braves phenom Tommy Hanson was better as the Braves avoided the sweep with a 2-1 win.

Lifetime achievement award

Nick Cafardo today endorsed an unlikely star for his first All-Star game: Tim Wakefield. Amazingly, Wakefield has never made it to the Midsummer Classic in a 17-year career with 186 wins. He's been so classy and so consistent that Cafardo felt obliged to write about his All-Star chances even after pitching poorly, but just good enough, to beat the Yankees yesterday:

It may even be time to start thinking about things like the All-Star Game, one accolade that has eluded him.

"It would be huge," said Wakefield, whose eight quality starts are second on the Sox to Josh Beckett's nine. "It's one thing you want in a career is to make an All-Star team. We've won two World Series; just to add it to the list of things that you can say you've accomplished in your career. Obviously it would be nice to make a team and hopefully I can continue to pitch the way I've been pitching and finally make one after 14 or 15 years. Hopefully I can be in St. Louis."

In his best year, when the Red Sox plucked him up after he was discarded by the Pirates in 1995, he was 7-1 at the break with a 1.61 ERA. He didn't make the cut because he only had 10 starts in the American League. Besides, Erik Hanson made it for the Red Sox, going 7-2 with a 3.61 ERA in his first 14 starts.

It's too soon to start compiling the All-Star roster, but Wakefield probably won't get a spot because I can't see more than one Red Sox starting pitcher on the staff, and Beckett has better numbers (7-2 with a 3.77 ERA).

Wakefield's 2009 season is a perfect example of why the All-Star rosters could be expanded to honor career contributions of special players.

In other news: Pablo Osuna, a veteran journeyman playing in the Phillies minor league system, has been suspended 50 games for drugs. I hope this is an isolated case pertaining to one player and is not tied to the organization. ... Mike Pelfrey's teammates were proud of him for putting Chase Utley in his place last night. Here's the coverage from the Mets perspective:

"He's a guy that I look at who always takes his time in the box," Pelfrey said. "I don't know if he's thinking or what in between pitches, but I was ready to go, and he wasn't. ... And I was mad."

But according to Phillies coverage, Utley didn't notice:

And there was the minor (so minor that it really never happened) sixth-inning flare-up between Utley and Mets starter Mike Pelfrey. A few New York reporters asked Utley about it after the game, and he looked at them like they each had 12 heads.

Basically, Pelfrey was miffed when, just as he was ready to deliver a pitch, Utley stepped out of the batter's box. Pelfrey yelled toward the batter's box, and although it appeared he had more to say to Utley after the at-bat (a groundout to second base), both players said there were no words exchanged.

That's hysterical. The Mets are even too inept to fight with the Phillies. That, or Chase is just playing a brilliant mind game with the young Met. {Little of A, but mostly B. Utley wouldn't acknowledge something like this, especially to the press. He knows exactly what Pelfrey said but will never admit it. That's the way it should be.}

Tonight's games: Brad Penny battled for six innings (I was even reconsidering my previous get-rid-of-Penny posts) protecting a one-run lead (David Ortiz hit a big home run off CC Sabathia), but then the vaunted bullpen (Manny Delcarmen) blew it. Delcarmen gave up a barrage of hits, allowing three runs, most horribly a two-run double to Alex Rodriguez - his first hit of the series. The Sox have rallied, and the game is now tied at 3-3 in the 8th with the bases loaded and no one out.

Meanwhile, the Phillies and Mets went into extra innings for the second straight night. They've played some good games this week, making me kind of hope the Mets can win the Wild Card. That would be an entertaining NLCS with a new way to crush Mets' fans spirits.

Like, for instance, a three-run home run from a 37-year-old slugger having a career year who is not on steroids. Oh wait, that's what happened tonight. Phillies 6, Mets 3. So the Sox and Phils each head into the big showdown with series wins against the New York teams.

Two Brads didn't get the message

When I fell asleep, I thought the Phillies had the game in hand. So did Todd Zolecki, whose postgame post allowed early-risers like me to relive the roller coaster ending for Brad Lidge and the Phillies:

Sometimes I get the feeling something is going to go terribly wrong in a baseball game, and I get ready to rewrite my game story. I got that feeling when Steve Bartman interfered with Moises Alou in left field in the NLCS in 2003.

But last night was not one of those games.

Even after Brad Lidge put a couple runners on base with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning at Dodger Stadium, I still felt like Lidge was going to get out of the inning and preserve the Phillies' 3-2 victory.

I'll spare you the drama. Lidge didn't come through. Zolecki, however, pins blame on Pedro Feliz, who botched a ground ball with two outs in the 9th. "I just missed it," Feliz said. "I've got nothing more to say." Dodgers 4, Phillies 3.

Red Sox: There was no miracle comeback last night. Julio Lugo continues to draw ire from the fans and media. I don't see the games so I can't weight in. I do believe we need to upgrade defense at shortstop (isn't that what sealed the deal in 2004?) and remove Brad Penny from the team. He was outpitched by Kevin Millwood last night:

Penny pitched under odd circumstances. Roughly 90 minutes before the game, he sat on a clubhouse couch and watched a college game on ESPN. Every couple of minutes along the bottom of the screen, Penny could read about how the Atlanta Braves are reportedly discussing a trade for him with the Red Sox.
...
"That's been my whole career," Penny said. "I don't look at that at all, really."

While Penny couldn't last through the sixth, Millwood dominated. The Red Sox managed six hits in the first seven innings. Millwood struck out five, and his final victim was Lugo.

So despite the fact that both Brads were hurt by their defense, I still say they should have read the memo that this was supposed to be the week of good pitching news at SoxandPhils.

Maybe J-Moy doesn't trust the young'ins: I just like this note in David Murphy's story:

Chris Coste was behind the plate last night for the third time in Jamie Moyer's last four starts. Moyer entered the night 4-1 with a 3.90 ERA in five starts with Coste at catcher, compared to 0-4 with a 10.52 ERA in five starts with starter Carlos Ruiz.

Pitching some more

Last night, I fell asleep thinking that Cole Hamels, who had thrown 49 pitches through five innings, had a shot at a complete game.

I woke up this morning to learn he needed another 48 pitches to complete the 3-0 shutout over the Dodgers. He gave up five hits with no walks and five strikeouts. He faced only 29 batters.

Orlando Hudson said it best: "He stuck it up our (rear ends) the last two times we faced him. What more can you say?"

Actually, he hasn't had a bad start ever against the Dodgers. In four regular season starts (two each this year and last), Hamels is 2-0 with a 1.50 ERA, 0.83 WHIP and 8.67 strikeouts per nine innings against the Dodgers. And that doesn't count the two wins he had in last year's NLCS (three earned runs over 14 innings).

Sometimes a brief crude comment sums it up nicely.

Other pitching notes: Amalie Benjamin must have read yesterday's post about our teams' improving rotation. She quoted Josh Beckett in her game story pegged on that theme: "We still owe the bullpen some innings, so we've got to get our starters to go deeper." Benjamin detailed how well the starters have been doing recently.

Tonight, Brad Penny looked like he was continuing that trend with four scoreless innings, until the Rangers put up a four-spot in the 5th. The Sox are now down 5-1 in the 8th. Trade Penny's (rear end) out of here. Buster Olney reports that may be a possibility with both the Braves and Phillies showing interest. Todd Zolecki reports there may be truth to that Jason Donald rumor, but says the Phils have no interest in reliving the Vicente Padilla era.

See you tomorrow - hopefully with tales of an epic comeback in Fenway and another late-night win for the Phillies.

How to make six or four equal five

Both of our teams have pitching decisions in front of them.

The Phillies, seemingly keeping trade options on the back burner, are deciding among their own minor leaguers to get the first shot at replacing Brett Myers. The two favorites seem to be Kyle Kendrick and Antonio Bastardo.

Why is no one mentioning Adam Eaton? He won't cost anything beyond what the Phillies already pay him.

The Red Sox, meanwhile, have to fend off questions about a six-man rotation, which leads me to wonder: Why is a team with such a stacked rotation looking up at the Yankees, who were written off weeks ago?

Red Sox: They blew a second straight game against the Blue Jays, 5-3. Wasn't it last week we started them on a nine-game skid that crushed their early-season hopes? Possible Phillie Brad Penny scattered 10 hits over six innings giving up three runs (two earned). The news of the game wasn't another 0-fer for David Ortiz, but that the loss went to Ramon Ramirez, who gave up two runs in one inning - doubling his total for the year.

After the game, Terry Francona said:

It's one of the first tough innings we've seen. He just looked like he was having a hard time. Just looking at his body language, he looked like he was out of sync.

Papi, meanwhile, is now on a 2-31 stretch (.064).

Phillies: A big game for the big man, Ryan Howard hit two home runs, including a monstrous grand slam. Not such a big game for the Phillies big man on the mound. Except for hitting an RBI double, Cole Hamels had a rough night - six earned in six innings on eight hits and a walk. But the Phillies won in the end, beating the Nationals 9-6. Brad Lidge had his second straight save.

Etc.: I bought a new bike today. One of the store employees who saw my hat said "Yeah, Bosox," and had me bump his fist. He wasn't the guy handling my sale, so he wasn't buttering me up for a bigger commission.

Update 10:41: As soon as we posted this, Comcast SportsNet reported that Bastardo will be called up and will start on Tuesday.

SoxandPhils swap?

With young Clay Buchholz dominating AAA and another farmhand named John Smoltz beginning to make a case for a promotion, there's been a lot of talk about the Red Sox trading Brad Penny.

With Brett Myers' injury - which will require surgery, likely ending his season and perhaps his Phillies career - and the poor Phillies starting pitching for most of the season, there's been a lot of talk about the Phillies trading for a starting pitcher.

Is there a match?

Buster Olney muses about a Penny for Jason Donald deal. While part of me pines for the first SoxandPhils transaction since 2004, I don't want this deal to happen.

1. Christine would blame me every time Penny gave the fans in right field a souvenir or Donald appeared in highlights on MLB Network.


2. I'd love to dump Penny, who despite a pretty 5-1 record has an ERA of nearly 6 and a WHIP of nearly 1.6, so this would be a steal for the Sox unless Donald's injury is more than a sore hamstring.


3. See No. 1.

I think the Phillies will make a deal, but I don't think it will be this one.

Irony: In a week dominated by the news of Myers' injury, the Phillies had a curious "injury update" in Sports Weekly that I've never seen before: "The Phillies had no injuries to report." C'mon, every team has some strain or muscle pull to talk about. This jinxed Brett.

Tonight's games: Brad Lidge may be back. Before he entered, Christine said she thought he would have a good night. She even went so far as to say it would be pain-free, but she wasn't too confident about that after he nearly hit the leadoff hitter. J.A. Happ got the win in the 5-4 defeat of the Nationals. Shane Victorino had four hits. For some reason, Jayson Werth started using Sammy Hagar's Heavy Metal for his intro music again. It's about time. ... Red Sox lost to the Jays 6-3. Tim Wakefield had his worst outing of the year. David Ortiz was the only Red Sox without a hit.

Concerning pitching

Entering the year, the SoxandPhils had two of the most certain closers in baseball. Brad Lidge's struggles have since been well-documented here, and now Jonathan Papelbon is joining him.

The Sox won this afternoon, 6-5 over the Twins, but it should not have been so close. Up 6-3 in the 9th, Papelbon gave up a two-run home run to pinch-hitter Joe Mauer, which raised Papelbon's ERA to 2.57. (But it's still minuscule compared with Lidge's 9.15.)

Papelbon has been so automatic for the first few years of his career that any blip is a concern. One mitigating factor is that he needed only 14 pitches to give up a hit and a home run while still managing a strikeout. Without seeing the game, those facts make it seem that today was just a case of a great hitting beating a great pitcher, who managed to preserve his team's lead.

Other notables: The Red Sox didn't drop David Ortiz in the lineup; he was benched against lefty Francisco Liriano. Jacoby Ellsbury went 2-5, extending his hitting streak to 20 games, but he still has an OBP of .333. Mike Lowell led the way with four hits, and Dustin Pedroia had three and four others had two. Decent game for Brad Penny (5-1) who won his third in a row, giving up three runs in 5 1/3 innings.

Phillies: I have a feeling the 4th inning will sum up the night for Jamie Moyer. After pitching three scoreless innings, he walked Hanley Ramirez and Jorge Cantu. He ran the count to 2-2 to Wes Helms before throwing a fastball right over the heart of the plate. The former Phillie was frozen, but the umpire called ball. Next pitch? Home run. J-Moy then set down the next three, but now, thanks to a bum call, he's down 3-2 in the 5th inning in another pursuit of his 250th career win.

Incidentally, no Phillies starter issued a walk against the Yankees this weekend.

Papi homered - cancel the gold watch and rocking chair

Mike Schmidt topped a recent David Ortiz-inspired list of great ball players who suddenly lost it. Christine and I were discussing this yesterday, wondering whether Big Papi could follow Michael Jack's path and abruptly retire amid early season struggles.

I don't know if retirement ever entered his thoughts, but Ortiz has considered drastic steps:

"I was about to hit righthanded," he admitted.

But last night he hit his first home run of 2009 as part of a 2-4 night that increased his OPS to a whopping .645.

"I feel like I got my confidence back," Ortiz said after the game. "I feel like a real hitter, not like the punch and judy hitter I've been the first 40 games ... swing like a man."

I hope so. The Greatest Clutch Hitter in Red Sox history, a very proud and amicable man, deserves to leave the game on his own terms (provided he has been clean).

Interestingly, this marks the 20th anniversary of Mike Schmidt's retirement. The Daily News has marked the occasion with the 1989 retirement story, a Rich Ashburn column led off by a Harry Kalas home run call and an interesting look back.

As a 12-year-old in North Jersey, I was surprised by the announcement, but I never knew the move surprised everyone, perhaps even Schmidt:

Mike Schmidt was 39 years old, in a slump, playing for a Phillies team destined for another last-place finish.

Nobody had a clue that within a week he would stun even those closest to him by abruptly announcing his retirement.

Six days later, standing near third base at Candlestick Park in San Francisco, he was about to make one of the biggest decisions of his baseball life. It was a sun-splashed Memorial Day weekend Sunday. All he needed was an omen.

[...]

Then, just like in the movies, it happened.

The score was tied at three in the bottom of the fourth. The Giants had runners on first and second with two outs when Robby Thompson hit a grounder right at third, the kind of play Schmidt had made countless times on his way to winning 10 Gold Gloves.

Except this time, the ball went through his legs for an error to load the bases. Mike Maddux relieved starter Ken Howell. And the next batter, Will Clark, hit a grand slam.

"And I'm thinking, 'I'm really getting nothing out of this. We're not a very good team. I'm not playing near to the level that I'm comfortable with. What do I do now?'" Schmidt said.

Hopefully last night signaled a better omen for Big Papi.

Catching up: Papi's home run and two by Jason Varitek helped Brad Penny beat the Jays 8-3, setting up a chance for a sweep tonight. (Behind Jon Lester, they're up 4-0 in the 4th.) Phillies couldn't come back last night, losing 5-1 to the Reds. They finished the series this afternoon with a 12-5 win. The top of the order - Jimmy Rollins, Chase Utley and Raul Ibanez - went 9-15. Utley, Ibanez, Ryan Howard and Greg Dobbs homered. Joe Blanton pitched well until the 5th, when he gave up all five runs the Reds scored; Chan Ho Park walked two in a scoreless inning, his first appearance as a Phillies reliever.

[Photo credit: Philadelphia Inquirer or Daily News file photo]

Farewell Little Professor

We take a break from the stupidity of modern athletes to mourn one of the all-time great Red Sox: Dom DiMaggio.

Connected to and overshadowed by both premier outfielders of his generation, teammate Ted Williams and brother Joe DiMaggio, he had a stellar, yet underrated, career.

From his Boston Globe obituary:

The author David Halberstam described Mr. DiMaggio as "probably the most underrated player of his day." Playing in the shadow of the era's two biggest superstars made that inevitable, perhaps. But neither of his great contemporaries failed to appreciate Mr. DiMaggio's talents. Williams considered him "the best leadoff man in the American League," and his older brother called him "the best defensive outfielder I've ever seen."

Bill James' 2001 Baseball Abstract rated him the 24th best centerfielder of all time.

And I'm pretty sure he was 100 percent clean.

For some reason, this death makes me madder about the drug-infested era we're living through. It's also sad that there's only one left of the Ted Williams, Dom DiMaggio and Johnny Pesky trio.

I have a nice picture of them somewhere. I should go find it. (It's too big to scan in for the blog.)

And didn't mention yesterday because of Manny Ramirez and lack of sentimental attachment, but former Phillies manager Danny Ozark died.

J-Roll's an idiot: First Jimmy Rollins said he was retired from the prediction business. Then, he predicted a .400 month. (Although it's an improvement over April's .207, May's .222 is a far cry from Ted Williams.) Now, we learn he had predicted a Phillies-Yankees World Series. I guess hitting isn't the only thing J-Roll is struggling with this year.

Phillies: We bumped into a friend at the grocery store and talked for a while, so we were later than usual coming home. The Phillies were already three innings in when we tuned in the car radio, just in time to hear Cole Hamels give up his first hit, and to hear Larry Andersen say he's not into "Spacebook or Myface" when Scott Franzke asked if he Twitters.

Hamels pitched his first decent game of the year: six innings, two runs on three hits and two walks. Seven strikeouts. Things got a bit dicey in the 9th when Brad Lidge, who hadn't pitched since Tuesday, was summoned to protect a seven-run lead. He did, but gave up three runs in the 10-6 win over the Braves.

Red Sox: Brad Penny pitched into the 7th (two decent starts in a row) in a 7-3 win over the Rays (finally!). Jonathan Papelbon needed 11 pitches to quickly end the game in his non-save situation.

[Photo: Boston Globe files]

Confidence

The Phillies were rained out, but the Red Sox, playing in the rainproof Tropicana Dome, were on TBS as they tried to salvage a split against Tampa.

When we left for a dinner commitment, the Sox trailed 3-1 in the 6th, but I was confident they'd come back, if for no other reason than Brad Penny was starting. If he gives up only three runs in six innings, the Sox should win.

But when we returned, it was a 5-3 Rays win, so the Sox head to their first games in Yankee Stadium closer to the third-place Yankees than the first-place Blue Jays.

David Ortiz, who hopefully takes advantage of homer-happy Yankee stadium this week, took another oh-for-three.

He spoke today, saying he is starting to relax and confident things will turn around. I hope so, because MVP or no MVP, it has to be humiliating for Big Papi to have Dustin Pedroia intentionally walked in front of him.

He's confident this is just a slump, not the end of a fabled Red Sox career: "I'll be back," he said. "Write that [expletive] down."

Confidence was a topic during Saturday's Phillies game while Brad Lidge tried to get through the 9th inning. Christine was nervous. I reminded her she was more confident in him the last time we saw him in person with the World Series clincher on the line. She said she had more confidence in the team then. {The inconsistency and playing from behind is killing me. I know that's how the Phillies played during most of 2008, but when it mattered, they buckled down and left no doubt that every game was winnable. This year, I'm not feeling that yet.}

Conversely, from the Mets' perspective, this morning I heard New York Post columnist Mike Vaccaro interviewed on radio. He was asked whether he had any doubt Shane Victorino would walk to end the game.

He said he knew it was over when the Phillies had two men on and the Mets didn't bring in Francisco Rodriguez.

I guess confidence is all a matter of perspective.

Painful night

The 76ers pre-empted the Phillies again, so we watched the Phillies-Nationals game on the radio. Things were going well until the 5th inning when Joel Lannan bunted one back to Cole Hamels who twisted his ankle.

He left the game with a sprain. What's the over/under on five wins for the playoff MVP?

He was pitching pretty well, too: no runs, four hits and two walks in 4 1/3 innings. He lowered his ERA to 7.27. I keep thinking of Josh Beckett's struggles in 2008 after he pretty much single-handedly pitched the Red Sox to a championship in 2007.

The Phillies - riding a five-game winning streak - were tied for first for a few minutes until the Marlins finished off the Mets.

Red Sox: Brad Penny coughed up a 7-3 lead against the Indians in the third inning, hence the "painful night." It was tied at 7 when I started writing, but the red-hot Red Sox scored another in the 7th to reclaim the lead. If it holds, that would be 12 straight - their longest streak since June 2006 when they swept series against the Braves, Phillies, Nationals and Mets. I was convinced they were romping toward another World Series, but they wound up missing the playoffs.

All in all, we've had worse days

Despite the Phillies' worst loss of the season, a Brad Penny implosion and the Harry Kalas ceremony getting pre-empted for the Flyers game, it was still a pretty good day at SoxandPhils.

With the Phillies booted to Comcast Network (unavailable on Verizon FIOS), I called a sports bar Thursday to make sure it would be playing the game because Christine was upset about having to miss the pregame memorial for Harry. A convenient coincidence with my work schedule allowed me to get my normal Friday errands done in the morning and us seated in the bar by game time.

Unfortunately, there were just a few TVs showing the Phillies - I guess Flyers playoffs are more important than Harry - but we did get to see his sons throw the first pitches to Michael Jack Schmidt, John Kruk and Jimmy Rollins. Then, Harry's son Kane sang the national anthem. I got chills watching some of the players, such as Jamie Moyer, break up during the ceremonies.

The bar had sound for the Flyers game only, so we couldn't get the full effect of the Phillies' half-inning silent broadcast.

We had a nice meal and headed home to "watch" the game on the radio. Larry Andersen explained at length about the ugly tie he wore (Christine picked up on L.A.'s odd look when the TV broadcast showed him). In a nutshell, it was one of Harry's ties, and Andersen has a connection to his paisley ties.

As we listened at home, the Padres slowly chipped away at Cole Hamels and the Phils' 7-1 lead and wound up winning 8-7. Christine was a little vocal during the game. However, the Red Sox did the reverse to the Orioles. Brad Penny was awful tonight and put the Sox down by seven runs after two innings. But the Sox struck back and won 10-8.

Another game Christine won't see: Monday. That's because I won another prize from the Inquirer. It's not the tickets for suites at the 76ers or Flyers playoff games we'd been hoping for, or the Daily News Home Run Payoff, but something Christine has wanted: tickets to an advance screening of Earth.

It's not all-you-can eat wings and beer, but I'll take a free show featuring bears.

Seems like old times

We got to watch both SoxandPhils games today. With the Red Sox beating the Angels and the Phillies winning out West, it was a little reminiscent of last year's playoffs.

Red Sox: Forget about Jon Lester and Daisuke Matsuzaka - Josh Beckett's No. 2 will be Brad Penny this year, just like it's the Florida Marlins from 2001 to 2004. OK, Penny's days of dominance are over, but I'll take three runs over six innings every time from him.

The bats showed some life with two homers from Jason Bay and one from Mike Lowell, which accounted for all the runs in the 5-4 win.

Jonathan Papelbon was summoned for a four-out save. He made it a little too nerve-wracking in the 9th, giving up a run and walking the bases loaded before ending the much-needed win. Let's hope Josh Beckett makes like the Easter Bunny tomorrow afternoon and hops out of Anaheim with the Sox back at .500.

Phillies: Brett Myers was shaky, but the Phils managed an 8-4 win over the Rockies. Christine thinks he needs to gain back the weight to start pitching better. In his first game as a starter, Chris Coste nearly got Charlie Manuel to blow a gasket by dropping a pop-up, but he recovered to bare hand the ball before it hit the ground.

They're alive: All the starting position players had a hit - hopefully not just a Coors Field mirage.

Random thoughts

I woke up this morning to screaming headlines about Brad Penny's bum shoulder. I was terrified. But then I remembered: This isn't 2003. The Red Sox don't always choke in October, and the Phillies no longer end their seasons in September.

Plus, we have ample depth at starting pitcher: John Smoltz, Clay Buchholz, Michael Bowden or even Justin Masterson could be the team's fifth starter if needed.

Now, if J.D. Drew's back doesn't respond to these injections, then you can write off the season. I'm just kidding. It's just nice that these tidbits would have seemed disastrous five years ago, but after championships there's a calming sense that the front office has it all under control. Ditto for the Phillies.

He's fallen that far: Scott Lauber notes that Matt Stairs and Geoff Jenkins have become redundant and that one of them won't be in Philadelphia this year. I wonder whether Jenkins would have been considered one of the Phillies' worst free agent signings ever if Jayson Werth hadn't picked up his slack.

Showdown: We have some disagreement between current and former Philly.com writers. This afternoon, the Inquirer's new guy, Andy Martino, reported that the Phillies made an offer to free agent reliever Will Ohman. He cited the lefty's agent as the source.

Two hours later, Martino's predecessor, Todd Zolecki, reporting for MLB.com, shot him down: "A Phillies source told MLB.com today that they 'are not on Ohman.' The source indicated that Ohman's agent might be trying to generate interest in his client."

An hour after that, the Daily News' David Murphy reported that the Phillies have kicked the tires on Ohman all offseason but that a deal is unlikely.

I can't wait to see whether Zolecki or his replacement is correct.

Baseball players say the dumbest things

Two months after Cole Hamels played along with a radio bit and declared that the Mets did in fact choke the last two years, the Mets continue to flap their gums. Carlos Beltran took it to a new low this week:

The only thing that I know is he will be watched every time he faces us. Hopefully we kill him, and then he'll have to deal with the situation.

I wonder if that is "gangsta" enough for his manager, Jerry Manuel. What kind of thugs do they have up there? If someone associated with Philadelphia advocated killing an opponent, he would be vilified more than any other athlete not named Alex Rodriguez this week.

Oh, and speaker of A-Roid ... teammate Johnny Damon made a public service announcement, saying there are worse things Slappy could have done:

Murdering someone, you know there's plenty of other things that could be worse than what he did... Yeah, he did some bad things. He took a steroid, definitely do not condone that, at all. But there are a lot worse things he could have been doing out there. He hasn't done a crime.

Oh yes, taking illegal drugs purchased in a foreign country is definitely not a crime, Johnny. He has always reminded me of Saturday Night Live's Unfrozen Caveman Lawyer, but Phil Hartman presented much better defense arguments than Damon.

While New Yorkers did their city proud this week, we had a good ol' Sox and Phils feud across the coasts. Apparently, Larry Bowa isn't Brad Penny's favorite coach and vice versa.

"A lot of stuff went on last year," Penny told Tim Brown of Yahoo! Sports. "There were a few people I didn't get along with on the coaching staff that don't respect people. I mean, me and Joe [Torre] got along fine. I just feel like nobody had my back there. You're in the clubhouse and you have players coming up to you saying coaches are saying this to them about you. And that's just not a good situation to be in."

When asked which of the coaches Penny had issues with, Penny replied. "Your boy, Larry Bowa."

Asked for a reaction, Bowa fired right back without waiting to hear what Penny said:

"You mean the same guy who was never on time, out of shape and has one complete game? He has more stuff to worry about in the A.L. East than me. He has to worry about getting people out. He was never on time, was out of shape and never helped the kids out. Put that on the (expletive) dot-com. Put it in the headline," Bowa told Tony Jackson of Inside The Dodgers.

Christine said this exchange speaks poorly of Penny's character. I think it was just a symptom of poor coaching. He will flourish with the championship-caliber coaching staff in Boston.

Sweet sights of spring

Finally, the 2008 World Champion Phillies and the 2007 World Champion Red Sox have begun to take the field.

In a surprise, one of the first Phillies working out was Chase Utley - hopefully that means Marcus Giles won't set foot in Philadelphia.

The Inquirer has a nice photo gallery of the Phillies first unofficial day of spring training. And as usual, Utley wouldn't quit gabbing, this time about how his first fielding session went. He answered two questions from David Murphy with two words and five letters: No. Yes.

Ah, baseball is back.

{P.S. The Zo Zone is back, too.}

In Red Sox camp: The day was topped by news that Josh Beckett didn't show up fat and bloated like he did last year. There were also optimistic reports on Brad Penny and Mike Lowell and David Ortiz, but I just consider that spring optimism. I'm not ready to count on those three having healthy seasons yet.

But it was a day so positive that news of a Manny Ramirez book barely made a blip. After Alex Rodriguez's steroids, the AIDS lawsuit against Roberto Alomar and Joe Torre's book, who cares that Manny thinks the Red Sox elderly traveling secretary is rude? Or that Manny is liked by his friends?

[Photo credits: Philadelphia Inquirer (Utley), Boston Globe (Beckett)]