More dugout chatter

Last week Chase Utley and Pat the Bat took questions from the phans. Today, young Brett (I know he's no longer young, but we'll always call him that) joined the fray. We didn't learn whether he owns a computer or anything else too revealing, but he gave me a few nuggets to work with.

First of all, what's up with these fans always asking the same questions: what's your favorite ball park, what other position would you have liked to play, do you enjoy Philadelphia, etc. How come no one asked the commonplace, how's the wife and kids? {First, because obviously they are staged questions. Second, is this really a joking matter. Can't we hope that he has grown up and learned not to hit his wife.}

Anyhoo... we learn the chat interrupted the filming of commercials. Since I'm sure young Brett doesn't have a high Q-rating, this can only mean more cheesy Phillie promo commercials are on the way. Just the other day I told Christine I could use some Phillie commercials as blog fodder. She agreed and also can't wait to see this year's slogan. {Last year's Jamie Moyer-Chase Utley commercial? Awesome, if a little weird the first time I saw it.}

We also learn that Myers, as a real young Brett, looked up to Roger Clemens. He's got the fat part down, let's hope he doesn't emulate the illegal drug use. {Those who have David Ortiz on their team should not crack fat jokes.}

Then, we learn something truly scary about the Phillies front office:

slrmp97: How does it feel knowing when the Phils were looking for the best starting pitcher available this offseason, they decided you were it?
Myers: It's a great feeling that the organization has that kind of confidence in me. Hopefully, the fans feel the same way.

What? Since Pat Gillick took the liberty of letting the world know Johan Santana was available last fall, does he think Myers is better than Johan? {Sigh. Is Santana truly available? No. He's not a free agent. He's not going to be traded.}

And toward the end he answered "Would you play for the Mets?" in an odd way:

Myers: Never say never, but I seriously doubt it. As I stated earlier, I have a lot of love for this city and that would seem really weird. I wouldn't want to feel like a traitor!

Based on the answer it seems like he would, but other than Curt I haven't truly believed any Sox when they said they wouldn't play for the Empire. {Talk about overanalyzing. I don't think he'll play for the Mets - he seems kind of stubborn like that - but he gave the safe, PC answer of never say never. Oh yeah, and Curt Schilling's fat too.}

Etc.: Heard a couple of Phils on the radio today. Brad Lidge sounds like he's going to have the mental makeup to handle Philly. Shane Victorino, however, needs to work on his math skills. When asked about J-Roll's prediction of 100 wins, Victorino said it doesn't matter how many wins they have - even 60 - as long as they make the playoffs. You have to win a few more than 60 to reach the playoffs Shane.

Feel those Goosebumps

Something Santa left under the tree for Christine was GOOSEBUMPS, the story of how the Phillies managed not to blow it in '07.

I enjoyed reliving the season, but noted two glaring omissions:

1. The first franchise to reach 10,000 losses. We were there -- thanks to Brian. I still have the scorecard.

2. Another fateful Adam Eaton loss, his last of the year on the season's final Saturday. See, the day before the Phils took their first division lead -- one game over the Mets. On Saturday, Eaton again made Christine cringe, tying things up heading into the final game.

But on the video, hosted by J-Roll, Saturday never happened. The Phils took their first lead of the year on the Friday, which meant on Sunday a win and a Mets loss would give them the division. The same was true for Saturday if not for Eaton and the Mets winning a rare September game.

I had GOOSEBUMPS Sunday -- that's the name of the DVD, and the Phils slogan in 2007. They finally had a fitting one after years of losers like "Bring it On" for the 65-97 2000 edition managed by Terry Francona who was still learning to be a World Series genius {note from Christine: this grandiose way of thinking is one of the reasons why I don't like the Red Sox} and another favorite "Real Grass. Real Fun" to celebrate moving from the Vet to the new park, which still lacks a decent nickname.