There's only one Phanatic

We got to the park early for Sunday's game. We always get there early, but there was actually something special going on - a whole bunch of Phanatics, on display, in art form.

It was so cultural.

We snapped a bunch of random pictures of the various examples of Phanatics that were fashioned by local artists. They were on display before being auctioned off this month.

Here's a listing of the Phanatics in our pictures(except the first picture). I'm pretty sure the one on the far right is P. Phanatic Star Voyager, but I'm not sure which golden Phanatic is next to him.

1. The Phanatic Paints A Mural

We really liked this one. "It's so meta," Christine quipped. "It's a Phanatic painting on a Phanatic."

2. Ben Phranklin Phanatic

I'd hate to see our electricity bill if this guy and not Benjamin Franklin flew the kite on that infamous night.

3. Key to Golden Love Phanatic

We don't get it.

4. Phanatico Latino

That's a tribute to all the Latin Phillies stars including Ruben Amaro, Juan Samuel and Carlos Ruiz.

5. Yesterday Today and Tomorrow

That's a tribute to all Phillies - past, present and future. It's one of the five statues that the Phillies are keeping.

6. (Not pictured) PhanaTrent.

More info about the rest of the real Phanatic statues can be found here.

Forgotten from yesterday: I didn't mention this in yesterday's recap of our experience at the park on Sunday because it happened on the walk out of the ballpark after I stopped taking notes on my scorecard.

Some guy saw my Red Sox hat and said, "Yeah, Red Sox," and punched me in the arm.

It was random and confusing. I'm not sure if he was sarcastic or not, but even if he were the punch did not seem offensive.

My Red Sox hat elicited another comment today when Trent and I dropped off his application for a local baby parade. We're not going Little Miss Sunshine, just thought it would be a nice little campy thing to do with the little guy.

Anyway, the woman at the counter saw my hat and told me her fiance loves the Red Sox.

Today's games: It was a SoxandPhils double header on the tube tonight. MLB Network was supposed to show the White Sox and Tigers, but the Red Sox and Rays were on instead.

I wish they stuck with their original broadcast.

I thought I'd have an enjoyable moment with Trent and the Sox. They were up 2-0 when I flipped it on.

But then Daisuke Matszuka blew up, giving up eight earned in 4.2 innings. The Rays won 14-5. I'm still holding out hope, but I'm not sure Terry Francona is: "Every player in the Sox starting lineup has either been replaced or changed position," reports Gordon Edes.

The Phillies, despite Jose Contreras and J.C. Romero's efforts to blow the game, beat the Marlins 8-7 to reclaim first place.

The Phillies led 7-4 in the 8th, but Contreras gave up three runs. J.C. couldn't clean up the mess.

In the bottom of the inning, Placido Polanco drove in a run, and because the Braves lost to the Pirates, the Phillies have a half game lead.

The Phillies need a better scheduler

An ad caught my eye in the Phillies program I bought last week. It was for a sports card and memorabilia show. It's odd because the featured athletes are Curt Schilling and Joe Blanton. (Another current Phillie, Ben Francisco, is also listed.) Fine, you can theme Schilling and Blanton as two rotund pitchers with Phillies connections, but the date is the odd part. The show runs Sept. 24 through Sept. 26.

That's the dates of the Phillies last home series of the year. It's against the Mets, who I'm sure would love to play spoiler against the team that has ruined their recent seasons.

I thought maybe someone made sure the show didn't conflict with games, but nope. Friday's show runs from 5 to 9 p.m. when there's a 7 p.m. game. While Saturday's game time hasn't been announced, it's hard to imagine one not conflicting with a 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. show. And there's no way a player can participate in a 1:35 p.m. game Sunday and a show that runs from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

I think somebody screwed up. I went to the show's site to investigate further and found out that the appearance times for everyone, even former Phils like Curt, Darren Daulton and Geoff Jenkins, are listed as TBD. And there are additional current Phillies booked for the show: Placido Polanco and Ryan Madson.

Christine won't be happy if the Mets beat the Phillies that weekend with a quarter of the team signing cards with Curt Schilling.

Speaking of members of the 2004 Red Sox: Manny Ramirez is leaving the Dodgers, who start a series with the Phillies today, and joins the White Sox, who play the Red Sox on Friday and seven times until the end of the season. As if the end of this season won't be annoying enough.

Tonight's games: The Red Sox are off. The Phillies play late in Los Angeles. I had a nice day with Trent, but I'm pooped and won't attempt to get the beginning of the game into this post.

Sore SoxandPhils

We like it when the SoxandPhils emulate each other in good ways - they draft well, they have rivals in New York and, most importantly, the 2008 Phillies followed the 2007 Red Sox as World Champions.

But there's a disturbing trend we'd like to see end. Both teams are getting hammered with injuries this year. The Phillies have had their starting lineup together just seven times, and the Red Sox have probably lost more players. And, they seem to be matching each other player for player. Dustin Pedroia for Chase Utley and Carlos Ruiz for Victor Martinez, for example. There's no direct match for Placido Polanco and Clay Buchholz, so Adrian Beltre and Roy Halladay better be careful.

SoxandPhils limbo: Fabio Castro was sent down. That's the second time he's been a Red Sox without getting into a game.

Tonight's games: The Phillies lead the Reds in the 10th; the Red Sox lead the Rays in the 8th.

Go back to Minnesota

Christine and I played hooky from watching the Phillies today to go to Popcorn Park Zoo, a favorite home for needy animals.

We missed them not giving Roy Halladay any support and getting shut down 4-1 in a complete game by Carl Pavano. Incredible.

So the Phillies lost a series to the Twins, and many Twinkies fans will be leaving Philly happy. We couldn't believe how many Minnesotans ventured to the East Coast for the series. At first it was cute, then it quickly became nauseating because the fans didn't give them the Philly treatment.

Consider this couple who sat near us on Saturday, decked out in matching Nick Punto (why Nick Punto?) shirts. We got past that tackiness when we learned from their sign, which they waved incessantly, that it was their honeymoon and they were following the Twins from Philadelphia to New York.

The kind usher in our section loved their story, offered some tourist sight-seeing advice and gave them a ball he said he got in batting practise the night before. (We've seen several ultra-nice ushers at the park lately.) They cheered hard for their guy, Punto, but left when he walked in the 9th inning, missing the Twins great comeback.

We can't understand why they didn't catch any of the Phillies fans' vitriol. Late in the game, finally, someone told them to put down their stupid sign and helpfully pointed out that they misspelled "Philly's." And, yes, that was in reference to the team, not the city.

Christine and I appreciate the idea of spending a honeymoon chasing baseball, but we would not feel the need to advertise it, and we would not wear matching outfits.

These weren't the only Twins fans near us on Saturday. Perhaps a foreshadow for the honeymooners were a couple of retired folks. The gentleman wore a Michael Cuddyer T-shirt, and his wife wore a "Gramma Jan" Twins jersey with the No. 41 on it. She also wore big baseball earrings with Twins logos. She didn't really irritate me until we were leaving and she stopped traffic down the stairs to chat with some more Minnesotans who were still in their seats.

Other observations from the stands on Saturday: The kid next to me amused me until late in the game when he spit incessantly. He didn't have anything to drink, so I don't know how one boy could have so much saliva. Before annoying me, I learned that he and a buddy got balls tossed to them from Twins Francisco Liriano and former Red Sox Ron Mahay. The balls had logos for the Twins inaugural season at Target Field; apparently the road team brings its own balls. ... His buddy made us laugh when he started calling Jayson Werth shaggy. "He looks like Shaggy from Scooby-Doo," he said, breaking out his best Scooby impression.

Once again, we caught the Phillies' father-child game before the real game started, so the dads actually lost two games in one day.

Musically speaking: After stints with Journey, Sammy Hagar, Kings of Leon and others, Jayson Werth is using Metallica's Wherever I May Roam for his intro music. It's probably a slump buster, but I wonder if he's talking about his impending free agency. ... I'm addicted to Placido Polanco's into music, I Know You Want Me by Pitbull. I don't know why it never caught my ear when Pedro Feliz used it. ... They played Roller Coaster at one point. I think it should be retired in honor of Chris Coste. ... The Phanatic danced to Cab Calloway's Minnie the Moocher. We never heard that one at the ballpark before. ... The St. James Alumni Blue and Gray Voices directed by Pete McLaughlin did the anthem because it was St. James Alumni day. I don't remember their rendition, so it probably wasn't bad.

Antiquated shirts: Jimmy Rollins (not being snarky, I saw a Rollins No. 6, ironically walking next to a Howard No. 6), Jim Thome (also saw a current version of his Twins shirt), Bobby Abreu, Cliff Lee and former Twin Carlos Gomez.

I don't consider shirts of Hall of Famers antiquated, so it was nice to see a Kirby Puckett jersey, even though the guy wearing it should go back to Minnesota.

Oh well, almost time to see the Red Sox try to complete a sweep of the Dodgers to remain a game behind the Yankees and pull into a tie with the Rays for the Wild Card. Who was worried about their slow start?

Friday fun with flags

Earlier this week, I mentioned the huge flag that was on the field during the Opening Day pregame ceremonies. Tonight, we present our little photo essay of how the flag was 1) unfurled; 2) displayed in all its glory; and 3) refurled.

While the flag was stretched over the outfield, we wondered how they would fold it up without letting it touch the ground. We decided that they knew what they were doing.

They did - they ran as quick as possible. It did touch the ground, but surprisingly few times for a flag that size.

With this, I conclude our leftover pictures from Opening Day.

Well, there's one more, but it's not enough for a post, and I'm not sure whether it will see the light of day.

Phillies: Christine and I were driving in separate cars when Roy Halladay had his first at-bat in Citizens Bank Park. The Phillies had the bases loaded and a three-run lead. I was certain he was going to further his ever-growing legend with a big hit. He didn't. Christine booed, in joking appreciation that he is not perfect.

It didn't matter because his teammates had his back - including a three-RBI game for Juan Castro and home runs by Placido Polanco and Chase Utley, who has gone deep in four consecutive games.

I wasn't happy when they let Halladay hit in the bottom of the 7th in the pouring rain with a seven-run lead. He pitched another inning and gave up a second run before David Herndon nearly blew it, giving up four runs in the 9th and setting up a save for Ryan Madson, who did finish off the 8-6 win over the Marlins.

Red Sox: While watching the Phillies, I had a feeling that I should switch to MLB Network. My ESP was rewarded by a live look in at the Red Sox and Rays game, which was then tied 1-1 in the bottom of the 6th. David Ortiz was up with a man on, and I cringed at the thought of him making another out. He didn't. He laced a solid hit to right, but the third base coach waved home Kevin Youkilis, who was out by a mile. Arrgh.

The two teams that will likely battle for the division all summer long remain tied 1-1 in the bottom of the 9th before a rain delay kicked in. Nice start by Josh Beckett, one unearned run in seven innings. Jason Varitek hit a solo home run - his third homer in his second start.

Because the Captain is back, maybe we could trade Victor Martinez for an outfielder. We could use one with Jacoby Ellsbury injured and Mike Cameron recovering from kidney stones. Ouch.

Changed my mind: Here's that last picture I was saving from Opening Day. We were planning to break it out when Herndon had a bad game, so here's a shot of Herndon and his pink bag:

Stay Hungry with a side of snark

In today's column, Nick Cafardo shoots down the idea of players playing well in their contract years, but then lists a bunch of Red Sox - primarily David Ortiz - who should have good years because they're out to prove their worth for a big payday after 2010.

I'm glad Cafardo - whose work I do respect despite today's snark - thinks that Ortiz, Josh Beckett, Adrian Beltre, Jonathan Papelbon, Victor Martinez, Daisuke Matsuzaka and Bill Hall will be motivated by dollars to have big years. But am I naive to think that contract status is a minuscule part of a formula that determines success?

If I am, then so are John Henry and Theo Epstein:

"I'm not really a believer in the theory that players can play at another level in their contract years," wrote Sox owner John Henry in an e-mail. "I think our players generally give as much as they have over 162 games. It's a long, long season. Sometimes it may not look that way because they often play injured - more often than people think, because a lot of injuries - especially nagging ones - you never hear about."

"I've never studied it myself," said general manager Theo Epstein, "but the data I have seen does not suggest a consistent pattern."

Further confounding the argument is that Cafardo cited a Maureen Mullen MLB.com report that Dice-K ditched his regimen at the Arizona Performance Institute for a week:

Dice-K spent a week there in December and is continuing his training there this month, although he unexpectedly took this week off, according to a source. The time off is not believed to be injury-related.

That doesn't sound like he's too hungry, unless he was literally hungry and took off to find something to eat. At least this topic put Stay Hungry, one of my favorite Twisted Sister songs, in my head, a vast improvement over some of the songs that have been rattling around my noggin this weekend.

More snark: Over in Phillies-land, we can rest assured that with Opening Day 64 days away, Placido Polanco is "working on third-base skills." And I thought he was just going to wing it at a position where he logged about 330 innings in 2003 to 2005, but none since.

By the way, that was not a knock at Matt Gelb's report. At least he's writing. Whatever happened to Andy Martino?

[Photo credit: Wikipedia]

Sufferin' succotash! Sox sign shortstop Scutaro

Last night, I kind of dismissed reports that the Red Sox had Marco Scutaro work out for them. I thought it was just due diligence. I was shocked - and disappointed - this morning to see he is now our shortstop for the next two years, keeping the position warm until 19-year-old Jose Iglesis is ready for the major leagues.

Statheads are split on this one: Rob Neyer approves; FanGraphs, however, suggests that the Fenway faithful won't be pleased when Scutaro plays like he can, not as if he is the starting shortstop of one for one of the game's premier franchises.

Count me guilty as charged, although I'll give him credit for chasing a trophy instead of the dollar:

"There was a team that was making a real good offer, but I can say this, I took a little less money just to come here, to have a chance to win a ring," he said.

I also hadn't considered what this deal means for Jed Lowrie, once considered a solid prospect:

Where does this leave Lowie?

It's up to him at this point. He can win a bench job in spring training and push for playing time. Theo Epstein chose his words carefully, saying the Sox still believe in Lowie. But actions speak loudly in this case.

Christine will take delight in calling my new shortstop Scooter.

One more Placido Polanco note: I love the anecdote about how his son still wore his Phillies jerseys throughout his tenure on the Tigers, but I'm not buying it. The kid is 6 years old, how would a jersey from four years ago still fit?

PP phones home

When I woke up to headlines that the Phillies may soon sign Placido Polanco to replace Pedro Feliz at third, I immediately thought of last offseason when I ripped the Phillies for signing Raul Ibanez to replace Pat Burrell. They were similar players, except Ibanez was older. I didn't like it.

Polanco and Feliz are essentially the same age, and Polanco, whom Christine dubbed PP in his first stint as a Phillie, is the better player. There is no doubt PP is the much superior hitter, but he was adequate at second base and will be expected to replace Feliz, an exceptional third baseman who may be one of the best ever. (I wouldn't go that far, but someone who knows more about the subject, Michael Jack Schmidt, said so on WIP this morning.)

Perhaps Polanco will play an adequate third base and no one will miss Pete Happy, but again, I just don't understand how one year for Feliz at $5 million was deemed extravagant while three years and $18 million for PP is considered a bargain.

Oh, and back to the Ibanez comparisons, of course I didn't know that Raul recruited his neighbor to Philadelphia:

During his press conference today at the Bank, Polanco said he resides two blocks from Raul Ibanez in South Florida. About two weeks ago, Ruben Amaro Jr. paid a visit to Polanco, letting him know the Phillies were interested in reacquiring him to play third base. From there, Ibanez became the club's chief recruiter, encouraging Polanco to rejoin the Phillies.

"We work out together," Polanco said, "and he said [Philadelphia] was better than what I told him."

So don't count me thrilled that PP has joined the ranks of Doug Glanville, Jose Mesa and Ricky Bottalico as players with more than one stint with the Phillies.

Christine was upset they got rid of Feliz, but she liked Polanco when he was a Phillie and will reserve judgment until she sees PP take some balls at third.

Rob Neyer and Beerleaguer.com approve of the signing.

Other news: The Red Sox may also sign an infielder similar to Polanco - similar in that I won't be happy with the acquisition and Christine will like his name: Marco Scutaro. ... And a day after the Braves signed former Red Sox reliever Billy Wagner (also a SoxandPhil), they locked up Takashi Saito. No word when the "Former NL Closers Who Briefly Pitched for the Red Sox Caucus" will have its first meeting in Atlanta.