Comebacks and good-byes

On a rainy Sunday that ends a holiday weekend without much baseball news to chew on, the Sunday column fodder is also kind of light.

Nick Cafardo chats with Derek Lowe, who sounds like he wants to come back to Boston. The Red Sox, like the Phillies, have shown interest, but I don't think either will make a strong move to sign the 36-year-old who is the only active player with at least 10 seasons who has never been on the DL.

Why, Christine asked, would D-Lowe want to come back to the Red Sox when they obviously had no interest in re-signing him after the great 2004?

"If your No. 1 goal is to win, I would say there's only a handful of teams year in and year out that have a chance to win. Now, there are no guarantees, but there are teams who have a better chance than others."

Boston?

"Yeah, all because of what I just outlined," he said. "Even if I'd never played there. And I don't look at it as coming back, I look at it as who has the best chance to win? And they clearly do." If you're looking four or five years down the line, they fit the criteria of what I'm looking for. It's not just the fact I played there - but, yeah, there were a lot of things I enjoyed - but they're definitely a franchise that has a chance to win."

{Exactly, a chance to win. So my question still stands: Why the Red Sox? They couldn't even beat the Rays. I'm allowed to talk smack like that over the next year because I've had to endure it from Greg for way too long. And I think it's dumb to publicly ask to come back to a team that has already spurned you.}

Another former Red Sox, Jay Payton, who refused to be a back-up for a consistent winner three years ago, also sounds like he wants back in.

"When I talked to my agent recently, Boston was the first team I mentioned. I don't know if it's in the cards or if I squished my chances of ever returning there. I know the circumstances of my departure from there a few years back were blown out of proportion. I've talked to Tito [Terry Francona] several times since then and we're OK. I'd love the chance to go back there because that's a winning organization and they're committed to winning. They do things the right way."

Yeah, good luck with that one Jay.

Phillies: Todd Zolecki previews the arbitration offers. Basically, they'll offer it to Jamie Moyer, but not to Pat Burrell. I won't pretend to know if this means there's more or less chance of the old man returning, although it looks like Pat's a goner. But I'd love to see Moyer go through the arbitration process to show the youngsters how a professional handles it.

It still hurts

My cousin, a Mets fan who I haven't seen in quite a while, stopped by when we were visiting my parents. He asked what was new, so after I filled him in on the personal family stuff, I slipped: "Watched the end of the World Series."

"What World Series? I didn't watch a single pitch of the post-season," he said.

Later, I forget how this exchange started, but he looked at Christine, made a flabbergasted harrumph and just muttered, "Phillies."

He's more of a football fan, and I thought he'd be more jazzed about the Jets than still stinging from another Mets collapse, but I can understand the feeling. I still feel burned about 2003 even though I know it just made 2004 even sweeter.

Red Sox: After the Phillies grabbed attention yesterday with the Mike Koplove acquisition, the Red Sox stole back the thunder at SoxandPhils with a big trade. OK, it was a little one: Wes Littleton from the Rangers for not one but two players to be named later and cash (currency, not Kevin).

Like Koplove, his numbers are neither bad nor dominating. He's out of options, so the deal officially creates a log jam in the bullpen unless/until Justin Masterson is moved to the rotation or a pitcher is moved in a trade.

Littleton's career highlight is that one of his three career saves came in a 30-3 game. Christine likes when pitchers get three-inning saves in blowouts. That was a doozy.

Also, the Red Sox plucked Tim Bogar from their archenemy Tampa Bay Rays to be the first base coach. I hope he took good notes on how the Rays beat the Sox last year.

A Joe Torre memory that doesn't irritate me

Compared with Christmas when we do the Burlington-to-Camden-to-Bergen-and-back-to-Burlington-county tour in one frenzied day, Thanksgiving is a breeze. We split the families over two days. Today, we head to North Jersey where, depending on how crazy things are with the family, we might pull some more junk, err, treasures from my childhood out of the attic.

Last time we went up, we salvaged some newspapers - nothing much to speak of - and my old Baseball Talk Player.

For those who aren't familiar, Wikipedia's entry is pretty thorough. This Web site also has some good stuff, including a little audio.

Basically, Baseball Talk played large versions of 1989 Topps baseball cards. There were clear little discs on the back that contained audio of Don Drysdale, Joe Torre and Mel Allen, all who narrated little stories about current stars, all-time greats or historic games.

My machine doesn't work anymore - it's headed to the trash after I finish writing. I really wish I could listen to these one more time. They were cheesy, yet catchy.

The cards came in sets of four. I tried to collect all the Red Sox, which didn't leave me with too many Phillies - just a Steve Carlton from his Cardinal days. Among the Red Sox were the 1986 World Series Game 6, Jim Rice, Wade Boggs, Roger Clemens and Mike Greenwell.

For some reason I associate memories of this toy with my Dad's sister, who died when she was 30. I can't remember if she bought me the whole kit or just a pack of cards. Probably the whole kit.

I was only 13 when Aunt Ginny died of scleroderma, but I have two other baseball memories of her: She got us tickets to Yankee Stadium in 1989 - the first time I saw the Red Sox play there. We sat behind home plate, and someone fell on the backstop screen.

And, I remember everyone gathered at our house after her funeral. The 1990 World Series was on. Memories are weird sometimes.

Oh well, off to see the family. The long drive ahead would be much better if this machine worked so we could hear all about Willie McGee's exploits again.


Breaking news: There's a report that the Phillies have signed a free agent pitcher! Don't get too excited, it's just minor league journeyman Mike Koplove. David Murphy may have built expectations a little too high, sort of proclaiming him 2009's Chad Durbin, but I like the acquisition. I don't know why Koplove has fallen off the map in recent years because his major league numbers - while not dominant - are pretty good. Plus, he's a local guy who spent all of last year in the minors, so he won't complain about waiting his turn in AAA if there's a roster jam at the beginning of the season.

Happy Thanksgiving

I know we should be expressing gratitude for family and friends, health, jobs, our successful baseball teams, etc.

But I have a gripe today.

I'm sure Christine will disagree, but I don't mind ceding Thanksgiving to football. It's a perfect mix of cold weather, food and vegging out. But why can't they put any decent games on?

Let's look at today's matchups (bear with me, we'll get to a baseball point):

We open with the slaughter of the 0-11 Lions against the 10-1 Titans. The only thing to root for in this one is such a bad game that the NFL finally decides to ditch the tradition that says the Lions have to host a Thanksgiving game.

Next up is the rebounding Cowboys (7-4) against another turkey, the 2-9 Seahawks. I won't mind if I have to miss this one for dinner.

Finally, perhaps the day's most compelling game, the 7-4 Cardinals look to clinch their first division title since before I was born against the 5-5-1 Philadelphia Eagles. OK, this game isn't good either, but it could be must-watch simply to see where the Eagles soap opera devolves to next.

It could get ugly in the stands today. All week, talk radio has been filled with callers saying they will still go to the game, but will wear Phillies garb. One guy said he's going with a bag over his head with "129 days until Opening Day" written on it. If I predicted such sentiment a year ago, I would have been laughed off the Internet.

OK, back to baseball. With such a crappy football lineup, you would think Comcast would have capitalized and moved up its Miracle on Broad Street series. Don't get me wrong, it's a great idea to replay key games - we'll be watching Matt Stairs homer as we wait for Santa on Christmas Eve - but they could have added so many more games to this promotion. How could they leave out Game 3 of the World Series? Who wouldn't watch that over Titans-Lions today?

Anyhoo, enjoy your turkey, and if you're watching football today because there's nothing else on (except the dog show Christine will watch at noon), go with the Titans, Cowboys and Eagles (just a gut feeling that they'll pull it out).

Free agent nibbling

A Yankee-loving colleague, who hasn't been thrilled with the Yankees' desire to have CC Sabathia open their new park, wasn't happy either with recent reports that the Angels are about to jump into the fray. If CC gets his wish and stays out West, he reasoned, there's even more of a chance the Yankees would overpay for A.J. Burnett.

Burnett, who has just two seasons (both preceding free agency years) of making at least 30 starts, has been linked to several teams. He's already been mentioned in Boston, but that seemed like a move to drive up his price for the Yankees. And now, perhaps more puzzling, he's being discussed in Philadelphia.

I don't buy it. The Phillies overpay for mediocre free agent pitchers - see Eaton, Adam - but not usually for ones who will command top dollar. They're also linked to Derek Lowe, who makes a bit more sense given he won't cost as much in dollars or years. But as Christine reasons, even if they lose Jamie Moyer, they still have J.A. Happ, Kyle Kendrick and Carlos Carrasco to fill the last two slots in the rotation. Oh yeah, I'm forgetting somebody else. Did I mention him already today?

Christine and I have thought it's been a quiet off-season. I didn't think too much about it because neither of our teams faces major overhauls. But turns out it's one of the slowest starts to off-season maneuvering ever.

Dice-K pays dividends

When the Red Sox stunned the baseball world two years ago by bidding $51.11111111111 million for the rights to negotiate with Scott Boras and Daisuke Matsuzaka, it was an investment in more than just talent. It was about branding the Red Sox in Japan, and evidence of that strategy might be the fact that Junichi Tazawa is expected to select the Red Sox, even though they didn't offer the most money.

Although Dice hasn't exactly fulfilled the lofty expectations he brought to the United States, he's still a legend in his own country, and surely Tazawa (I think we'll call him Taz) would love to come out of the pen to relieve his fellow countryman.

Phillies: No problems with Chase Utley's surgery; Phils think he'll be ready before late May, which has been the worst-case scenario. Oh yeah, Pedro Feliz had surgery too. I've been forgetting to mention. He should be ready around Christine's birthday (late February).

What's in the bag?

The andPhils half of the blog trudged home with a large black bag full of ... of ... of ... I'll tell you on Dec. 26. But Christine didn't bring home any good baseball stories from her shopping expedition, so you're stuck with me still stuck on Christmas.

The season's shopping would have been so much easier if we were aware of this auction of Ted Williams' hunting memorabilia. What sparks the yule better than the head of a buffalo blasted decades ago by the Splendid Splinter? Could you imagine the joy on Christine's face, sitting beside the tree, opening up a rifle once held by the greatest hitter who ever lived? And I'm sure she could have found something for me.

Meanwhile, the Red Sox played Santa Claus today, offering a $6 million contract to Japanese pitcher Junichi Tazawa. They might have given a one-year offer to Jason Varitek, which I think is a fair balance of last year's awful offensive season and his history with the club, but Scott Boras played Scrooge and said no offer was made.

Boras argues Tek's value is that he's a catcher capable of winning 60 percent of a team's games. That's true, but that can be flipped to say the Red Sox are capable of winning 60 percent of their games despite a catcher with a .672 OPS.

Phillies: A Q&A on MLB.com attempts to explain why Chase Utley waited nearly a month into the offseason to take care of his nagging hip injury. It doesn't clarify anything for me.

It sure ain't baseball season anymore

After I finished the yard work for likely the last time of the year, we put up the Christmas lights. It was fricking cold. I feel less Christmassy than I did yesterday, but I'm sure I'll have the feeling again once I take a ride around the block and see the house with the big holiday display for the first time of the season.

Being in a cold frame of mind, we caught the end of the Eagles game on the radio and TV. Wow, what a mess they are. In a few months, Charlie Manuel will be the longest-tenured coach in Philly. He's already the most successful and beloved.

In the last three weeks, the Iggles have been crushed by the Ravens, tied the Bengals and lost to the Giants in a game that was attended by several Phillies. Christine is wondering whether the football players have been intimidated by being so close to champions. Interesting theory.

Just when I thought there was no baseball news today, at the bottom of Nick Cafardo's column we learn that Ben Davis, our favorite catcher who we saw at games in Camden and Las Vegas in 2007, is trying to become a pitcher. Good luck.

'Tis the season

One half of SoxandPhils went Christmas shopping today, and I'm all Christmassed up - ready to skip Thanksgiving to get to the main course.

Here are some of the baseball-related tidbits that I can share without giving away anything that Christine will find under the tree in a month:

--When in a sports collectibles store to look for discounted 2007 World Series swag ... er, to check out the latest in Phillies World Series merchandise, a middle-aged couple approached the counter.

"Do you have any David Wright shirts?" the man asked.

I smiled, bit my tongue and kept listening.

"No, but I might be able to order one," the proprietor said. "Child or adult?"

"Adult," the man answered unabashedly.

Poor guy. Doesn't he know they invented the Internet so you wouldn't have to order embarrassing shirts in enemy territory?

--At a big box electronics store, I looked to see if there were any Phillies DVDs out yet, but I saw a more interesting title: The 2006 Mets: The Team. The Time. Um, time for what? Choking against the Cardinals in the playoffs as a warm-up for two monumental regular-season collapses?

--One holiday-timed Phillies item caught my eye while waiting to check out - Gary Matthews' book, Phillies Confidential: The Untold Inside Story of the 2008 Championship Season. It's real small, and judging from a glance, it looks just as cheesy as one would expect a book by Sarge to be. I told Christine we'll wait for the movie to come out. {I wonder which has more details on the season - our blog or Sarge's book?}

--Finally, this wasn't at a store, but in the Major League Baseball holiday gift guide. A Yankees T-shirt says "Respect the dynasty." OK, everyone listen to the Yankees shirt and respect the SoxandPhils dynasty that won three of the last five championships.

The andPhils half of the blog is doing her shopping Monday. Maybe she'll come back with some similar stories.

Goodwill

I made Christine happy tonight. I put one of my antiquated Red Sox shirts in the Goodwill pile.

It's no statement toward Pedro Martinez. I kind of feel indifferent toward him.

Nor is it about the condition of the shirt (the blue one). Other than a couple of bleach spots I dripped on it when I lived by myself, it's in mint condition compared with some of my others, such as my 1989 Great White concert T-shirt, which has some air holes for those warm summer days working in the yard.

It's more a fact that my T-shirt drawers are getting stuffed. And I was larger when I bought it, and it now fits like a smock.

I hope somebody appreciates it. If nothing else, I'm helping out someone in this economic catastrophe.

Man, how did this post get so depressing?

Uh-oh, Utley's injured

One aspect of the World Champion Phillies that didn't get much attention is how healthy they were in 2008. Only 11 players were placed on the disabled list - including nobodies, such as Chris Snelling, someone who missed literally a couple games, such as Brad Lidge, and someone who wasn't missed anyway, such as Tom Gordon.

The title defense isn't going as smoothly in this regard. Chase Utley, who denied having a hip injury during the season, has a hip injury. He's having surgery and could be gone until June, or maybe he could be back at the beginning of the season.

We understand playing through it during the season - his numbers may have suffered, but the team won a championship. But why did he wait until more than three weeks after the parade to have this taken care of? You'd think the sooner the surgery, the sooner he's back on the field.

The parade was Oct. 31. Knowing what a gamer and team player he is, why wouldn't he have demanded to be on the surgery table Nov. 1?

Since the Phillies need a serviceable second baseman for a while and the Red Sox need a fourth outfielder to replace Coco Crisp, we should talk about trading Julio Lugo for Greg Golson. Too late. John Mayberry used to be a prospect, but he's 24 and hasn't yet had a full season in AAA. His power numbers are good, but he struggles getting on base.

The Red Sox also acquired an amply sized minor league outfielder today. I've never heard of Paul McAnulty, but you've got to like that he's described as a Matt Stairs type. Baseball Prospectus describes him as "bad-bodied."

Rumor mongering: The pesky rumors persist that the Red Sox may be in on Mark Teixeira and A.J. Burnett. I'd pass. Raul Ibanez has popped up on the Phillies radar. {Unless he has a bull dog we don't know about, bring back Pat Burrell, please.}

Coco goes bye-bye

It seems like Coco Crisp has been on the trading block for years, but somehow today's trade to the Kansas City Royals for Ramon Ramirez took everyone by surprise.

Coco came to Boston with high hopes, and although his defense was a valued component of the 2007 World Championship, his bat never produced as expected.

My first reaction to the deal was, "Who the hell is Ramon Ramirez?" I think I'm going to call him Razor Ramon, who apparently doesn't like jokes about the late Owen Hart.

Looking at the numbers, I'm quite pleased with the trade - pretty odd given the fact that I had never heard of the guy until this morning. He will be 27 next year and has had two real good years under his belt. He was probably the best reliever you never heard of in 2008, posting a 2.64 ERA, 1.22 WHIP and 8.78 strikeouts per nine innings in 70 2/3 innings.

Those numbers will look really good in front of Jonathan Papelbon next year. "You can never have too many good relievers," I said. "I know, Greg," Christine replied. "Relief pitching is why the Phillies won the World Series."

Two things of concern with the new guy, according to the Boston Globe's research: Jose Mesa took him under his wing in Colorado. And, he may be a bit of a hothead who'll engage in bean ball wars.

Christine was more concerned about the latter. I dismissed it, figuring Papelbon will be a calming influence on him. Ha!

Dustin' off the mantle for a big trophy

Dustin Pedroia, the littlest big man in Boston, accomplished today what David Ortiz, Nomar Garciaparra, Pedro Martinez and even the great team leader Manny Ramirez could not. He became the first Red Sox since Mo Vaughn in 1995 to win the MVP.

He's a grinder and a true Dirt Dog who gets the most out of his ability. And, he has to be one of the most unexpected deserving MVPs.

Even knows he doesn't fit the prototype:

I'm not the biggest guy in the world. I don't have that many tools. If I'm walking down the street, you wouldn't think I'm a baseball player. I've had to deal with it my whole life. I have to do everything to prove [people] wrong.

Remarkably, just like some writer left Ryan Howard completely off the ballot, one person omitted Dustin MVPedroia. At least this guy, Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News, was gracious about it:

Obviously, I was wrong in my opinion in this situation. This year, I think I may have tended to value power numbers over the intangibles. I may have focused too much on the statistical analysis. As I continued to weigh that, Dustin dropped further and further on my list, but I think what was proven today was that I was wrong.

The guy who hosed Howard wouldn't say anything.

I had a good feeling Pedroia would win. It was cinched for me this morning when Mike and Mike unveiled his MVP song, "Dustin Will Win" to "Dust in the Wind." I've loved that song since it was featured in Old School.

[Photo credit: Associated Press]

Free agent busts say the darndest things

During the playoff run, one notable Phillie was conspicuously absent: Adam Eaton.

Christine and I waited and waited for some reporter to snag the big interview on how the $24 million bust felt watching the playoffs from wherever he spent October.

It took blog-lover Murray Chass to track him down.

Among the jewels we learned from Mr. Eaton:

• The Phillies never informed him that he sucks, so he didn't know why he didn't pitch at the end of the season. "You'd have to ask them. I didn't ask them. There wasn't necessarily a lot of communication."


• He did his part to help the Phillies win the World Series by going away. "I'm not worried about a World Series share. I'm happy for the team. Not that I contributed in the second half, but going to minors I felt I was helping myself and the team."


• It's going to be deja vu in spring training. "I think I need to establish myself again. The off-season started a few days ago so who knows what's in store for anybody, whether you'll be traded or what. Right now I'm a member of the Phillies and hope to win another World Series."

Because it had been so long since we've heard from Eaton, I thought we should take a look back at some of our favorite 2008 Adam Eaton memories:

In August after getting shelled by A and AA hitters:

But the way I felt and the way I made the adjustment throwing breaking balls for strikes (later in the game) and (the fact I was) able to get ahead and put some guys away with the slider and curveball ... I take positives from that.

And:

I made a few bad pitches. Definitely would like to have one back, the grand slam. Learned from that mistake and ended up striking him out the next time.

In a 6-4 loss to the Diamondbacks in May, Eaton gave up five runs in the fourth inning, including one when he walked Randy Johnson with the bases loaded.

In April, Charlie Manuel used Eaton as a pinch runner. I speculated the manager was hoping his dud of a pitcher would get injured on the basepaths.

Eaton had other ideas:

I was hoping we'd hit a home run.

In March, Eaton didn't mind losing his spring training finale 14-5:

The results weren't great, but I felt good. I felt like my stuff was just as good at the end as it was at the beginning. The way I feel and the way my stuff is, I'm pretty happy.

He was also shelled in his first spring training start, which led to this infamous quote:

I think I've established myself as a big-leaguer. I'm getting paid extremely handsomely, probably more than I'm worth. But everyone is not worth what they're getting paid. It's fun. If you don't like the competition, what are you doing here?
Everyone should thrive on competition.

Now that we've covered the LVP, onto MVP news. As expected, Ryan Howard came in second to Albert Pujols, who didn't turn it down because of failing to make the playoffs. I'm surprised the only other player, besides Howard and Pujols, to garner a first place vote was Brad Lidge, who finished eighth. Chase Utley came in 15th.

I expect better results for Dustin Pedroia when the AL MVP is announced tomorrow.

Blowhard, fall hard

As Yankees owner Hank Steinbrenner continues to tell the world he's going to buy CC Sabathia and any other pitcher with a pulse, and invest in research aimed at bringing Babe Ruth back from the dead for the stretch run, the Phillies, Red Sox and pretty much every other team that's been more successful than the fallen empire quietly goes about their business.

The Inquirer has a story and column package today reminding us that mega-deals like the one CC will get rarely guarantee parades. To quote Bob Ford:

In the end, Eric Bruntlett and Joe Blanton can trump CC Sabathia sometimes, and Matt Stairs and Scott Eyre can mean more than Manny Ramirez. Not always, but occasionally. If you are lucky enough, and patient enough.

In past years, a headline like "Phillies' Amaro in no hurry to spend money" would be the kiss of death for a rookie general manager in Philadelphia. But it's the same approach, which had been questioned if not criticized until last month, of Pat Gillick.

Hank's winter bluster has been greeted by ... by ... by... crickets? Theo Epstein and the crew do their best to keep things quiet when retooling the roster. They have a track record, so let Hank crow, knowing he'll have to eat it again next September.

All right, things aren't so quiet out of Boston this morning. I assume management is responsible for this Manny Ramirez leak during the first weekend of unfettered free agency. Cue damage control from Scott Boras:

The bottom line is he was never suspended and there was never cause for suspension. The fact is the intent to suspend is not a suspension.

That settles that. Lavish money on him and don't worry about his antics. Manny, meet Hank; Hank, meet Manny.

Phils phans win again

First they saw their team win the World Series, and now it looks like they've won the SoxandPhils preseason prediction showdown.

No one did particularly well, but Phils fans (probably picking with heart more than head) each got three of the four National League playoff teams correct, plus the Phillies as World Series Champions.

Brian was the only one to correctly predict an AL team. He went with the Angels. The rest of us were killed by the Mariners. But Brian also unofficially predicted 16 wins for Adam Eaton.

Christine also picked three of the NL teams (everyone got burned with the Diamondbacks in the West). She was also the only one to correctly pick an award winner (unless Jose Reyes wins the MVP next week). She went with Geovany Soto for Rookie of the Year.

She almost picked the correct number of games the World Series would last. She blames Clint Hurdle for getting it wrong. She assumed the NL would have home-field advantage, so she went Phillies in six, figuring we would have tickets to that game. If she knew Hurdle was going to suck in the All-Star game, she would have picked five. Also, it would have been impressive if she had gone through with her thought of picking the Rays in the East.

Only the Cubs division win and Willie Randolph being the first manager fired saved Joe Wolf's Vertical Jump from joining his brother on the shutout list. Joe Wolf may have picked the Phillies, not his beloved Expos, if he were picking seriously.

Like his Mets, Endy in the Outfield had nothing to show for his efforts.

Results could still change when the MVPs are announced this week, but no one has a serious candidate. In the NL, there are three Chase Utleys, a Reyes and Prince Fielder. In the AL, there are two Grady Sizemores, a Miguel Cabrera and Vladimir Guerrero. I've got the best shot at picking up a point with Alex Rodriguez. But I'd forgo that one to see Dustin Pedroia win it.

News: Still not much doing for the SoxandPhils. I was downstairs this morning when I heard Christine clapping at the computer. I expected something big. Her reaction was to the news that Mike Zagurski would be healed in spring training.

I know she likes the rotund pitcher we call Fattie, but I think her overreaction was just an excuse to look at this picture. We didn't get any baby bunnies this season.

The year after

The Phillies are World Champions. The Red Sox aren't.

There's no definitive answer to how much our usual $20-$22 tickets will increase. Just the other day when Christine lumped the Red Sox with the Yankees, I teased her back that the Phillies will soon follow. Well, after your team increases ticket prices by a couple dollars, they'll soon be offering a pitcher $150 million on the first day of free agency.

By the way, in CC Sabathia's last three playoff starts - two against the Red Sox in 2007 and one against the Phillies this year - he has a 10.93 ERA in 14 innings. Just sayin'.

Keystone debate

Chase Utley and Dustin Pedroia were the only SoxandPhils to win the Silver Slugger today. Each started the All-Star game. Pedroia, a favorite to win the MVP, also won the Gold Glove, and many thought Utley should have won it, too.

It's clear that the Red Sox and Phillies have the best second basemen in the game. It's time to see who is best. The thought that Pedroia could compare with Utley is still strange to me. Utley has clearly been the best at his position for several years, and it's still hard to picture Pedroia as anything but an overachieving dirt dog.

I know I'm judging what could be Pedroia's best year to one of Utley's poorer years, but they had comparable seasons. Pedroia's averages were .326/.376/.493 to Utley's .292/.380/.535. They both displayed some speed and power, though Pedroia had an edge in stolen bases and doubles; Utley had the edge in home runs. The big thing I come back to is Pedroia was 24 this year; Utley, 29.

I guess I'd still take Utley for the next season or two, but Pedroia is closer than I thought and should overtake Utley for the class of the position in a few years. Of course, each of these players values a World Series victory more than any individual ranking or award.

Final Pedroia thought: I've had Hava Nagila in my head all day because of Mike & Mike's MVP song for Pedroia.

Final award thought: Daisuke Matsuzaka (I haven't had to spell his name in a while. I'm out of practice) came in fourth in the Cy Young voting. Neither he nor Jon Lester deserved to finish much higher than that, but I would have thought Lester would have garnered more votes. I know, the dolty writers like shiny objects and gaudy win-loss records.

Dale friggin' Sveum? Really?

I fully expected Charlie Manuel to get hosed in the Manager of the Year voting. It seemed like a foregone conclusion that Lou Piniella would win it. I guess you can make a case for him because he piloted his team to the best record in the league. But I think the award should go to the guy who most exceeded expectations, and the Cubs were a lot of people's preseason pick to win the National League.

There's no excuse, however, to vote for Dale Sveum. He's a SoxandPhil who did an admirable job keeping the Mets out of the playoffs after the Phillies got Ned Yost fired, but how can you vote for a guy who managed 12 games? I know, his .583 career winning percentage would put him in the top 10 all-time, but he needs 988 more games to qualify.

One dolt voted for a guy who managed for two weeks. Eight dolts left off the eventual World Series champ who turned a patchwork pitching staff into standard-bearers, had the guts to bench the league MVP and finally won over a tough town.

At least he beat Joe Torre, who's basically a .500 manager without big names and payroll.

No playoffs, no MVP

I'll jump the gun and skip past tomorrow's likely snub of Charlie Manuel for Manager of the Year to Monday's likely snub of Ryan Howard for MVP. Admittedly, I'm not sure he deserves it. Even Jayson Stark noted today that the Philadelphia baseball writers chose Brad Lidge as the team's MVP.

I'm not certain Albert Pujols, Howard's biggest competitor, is deserving either. Let me quote an expert: "Someone who doesn't take his team to the playoffs doesn't deserve to win the MVP."

Who said that? Stark? Peter Gammons? Bill James? Nope. How about Mr. Pujols when he was upset Howard won the award in 2006? Bingo.

If Howard wins it, I want Pujols to offer the congratulations he failed to give two years ago. If Pujols wins, I'd like to see him decline the award since the Cardinals finished four games out of the playoffs. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think the Howard played deep into October.

Meanwhile, despite the three dolts who thought Edinson Volquez qualified for Rookie of the Year and some of the Gold Glove selections, the writers got another award correct today: Tim Lincecum won the Cy Young and he's the cover boy of MLB 2K9. Lidge came in fourth. The Phils best pitcher, Cole Hamels, didn't get a vote.

Poor showing

Jacoby Ellsbury finished third in the AL Rookie of the Year voting announced today. You could argue that his showing mirrored where the Red Sox ultimately ended up. I'm not certain, however, that Ellsbury deserved to finish that high. His showing might have more to do with his play in last year's World Series than this season. Although this year was disappointing for him, I still have high hopes.

The Phillies had no viable Rookie of the Year candidates, although Christine's preseason pick, Geovany Soto, won it in the NL. This year's winners, Soto and Evan Longoria, were about as clear-cut as you can get, but the NL voting was a travesty that won't get any attention because it didn't cost a deserving winner.

Under the vote totals is an asterisk: *(Edinson) Volquez received votes despite being ineligible as a rookie. What the (insert your favorite Chase Utley word here)? About halfway through the season, I wondered why Volquez wasn't getting any ROY buzz. So I looked it up and saw he shed his rookie status last year. Three writers, whose jobs it is to know stuff like this, couldn't be bothered to do the same.

I bet they'll overlook Cole Hamels in the Cy Young vote that is announced tomorrow. OK, postseason doesn't count, so he doesn't deserve it. He'll have to be content with his NLCS and World Series MVPs.

One Phillie who does deserve an award is Charlie Manuel, but he's getting no hype. Sports Weekly (it finally arrived Saturday) had its writers pick the awards. Where did Cholly rank? I can't tell you; they list only the top three. Yeah, Lou Piniella and Joe Torre had much better seasons.

Other news: Brad Mills is interviewing for the Mariners job. So is DeMarle Hale and Alex Cora's brother Joey. John Farrell isn't. Scott Eyre is coming back to Philly. Jimy Williams isn't. And it looks like Matt Holliday won't be coming to town.

{My theory on Williams: Maybe he thought he would be next in line for the manager's job if Manuel were ever fired. Well, it's clear that Cholly won't be fired and won't be going anywhere, so maybe Williams decided it was time to cut his losses.}

Salty wants to be a lieutenant

The slow offseason sputters on. The only thing of note today is Nick Cafardo's column in which Jarrod Saltalamacchia says he'd love to come to Boston to learn how to be a major league catcher under Jason Varitek.

This is welcome news because he has long been on the team's radar and one of the priority's this offseason is finding a replacement or supplement (depending on how serious Scott Boras is about that four-year, $52 million contract for the 36-year-old who can't hit) for the Captain.

Also of note in the column is that Charlie Manuel is campaigning to bring Manny Ramirez to Philadelphia. God no. I'd sign Shea Hillenbrand and his zoo (read the column) before letting Manny ruin the World Champions' mojo.

Stop the presses!

Since the harried pace of the playoffs, baseball time has moved in slow motion. Yesterday was a particularly slow news day for the SoxandPhils, yet somehow I missed the most important news item of the day: Major League Baseball acknowledged that Philadelphia fans can be civil.

Of course, Jimmie Lee Solomon, Major League Baseball's executive vice president of baseball operations, couldn't just say something like, "Philly fans don't deserve the bad reputation they get." Nope, he's got to credit the security.

I thought there was going to be a problem possibly if Philly won the World Series, but if you noticed the crowd, they were very content. They were Philly fans, who are very excitable and express themselves in a very boisterous fashion. ... But I thought security did a great job.

There was a clear security presence during Game 5, but there was no way a Phillies fan would risk getting tossed by going on the field and missing the ensuing party.

Oh well, off to visit the folks in enemy territory, where for the first time Christine and I can both look at Mets and Yankees fans and wonder if they can remember their last World Championship.

Cover boys?

Last week Christine was upset when the Phillies weren't on the cover of Sports Weekly. After all, it used to be called Baseball Weekly, until they added football and, for a short while, NASCAR.

Turns out, the issue was printed before Game 5 was finished, and there was a nice spread inside on where the series stood at that point.

But this week, there's more football on the cover with just a note that the Phillies are World Champs. We saw this in Wegman's because our copy - which used to come on Wednesdays but has been pushed back to Fridays in recent weeks - hasn't arrived yet.

Let's see if it arrives before 2012 when the Red Sox want to host the All-Star game again to commemorate Fenway's 100th anniversary. Christine thinks it's unfair because it hosted in 1999. I understand the animosity toward the Red Sox and the extra treatment they get, but when you have a building that predated World War I and is still in use, you treasure it while you can.

Little appetizer and other morsels

Yesterday it was Jimmy Rollins and Shane Victorino. Today Dustin Pedroia won a Gold Glove, his first. Actually, he knew yesterday and didn't keep it a secret. I never knew award winners were told a day ahead, and I don't know if he'll get in trouble for spilling the beans.

Thankfully, I think they still wait until hours before the official announcement to tell a player that he won the MVP. That's the main course for Pedroia this year (and the Red Sox, as Christine reminded me that they didn't get the job done this season). Today's fielding award is just a little shrimp cocktail for the littlest big hitter in baseball.

Things don't look so good for Pedroia and the Sox next year. Manny Ramirez won't consider coming back. Did I miss something? Was this even a possibility? Didn't we bend over backward last summer shipping him out of town so he could get the Dodgers' hopes up for the Phillies to knock them down? Whatever. The season ended just over a week ago, and I'm already sick of hearing from Scott Boras.

There's some talk that Manny could replace Pat Burrell in Philadelphia. I don't buy it. To quote Tony Massarotti: "One glitch: Pat Gillick, who just stepped down as Philly's GM but is staying on in an advisory role, is too smart to advocate signing a guy like Manny. (We think.)"

One glitch with that glitch theory: Gillick might be interested in winning a Stanley Cup instead.

I thought this was a slow day when I sat down to write tonight, but things are certainly getting crazy. Next thing you know, we'll be reading that the World Champs are again considering trading the farm, and Shane Victorino, for Matt Holliday. Oops.

{No way, I'm not buying that. This city loves Shane-O, and I think he loves it back. I hope management isn't dumb enough to trade him.}

They're golden

And the awards are starting to roll in for the World Champions.

A day after he was named the best-fielding shortstop in baseball by a stats group led by Bill James (Derek Jeter was named the worst), Jimmy Rollins today won his second consecutive Gold Glove award. Shane Victorino was awarded his first Gold Glove. Congratulations to them.

But guess who didn't win an award this year? Why, that would be Aaron Rowand! Man, sucks to be him. Leave a team, and then they win the World Series and retain the award you won last year. I'm glad that players such as J-Roll and Victorino stepped up this year to end all of that nonsensical chatter about the Phillies not having the same fire and drive without Rowand. I think they managed just fine without him.

Personnel move: The Phillies fired third base coach Steve Smith. I agree with this article that Smith's bad base-running decisions fell off the radar as the Phillies started to win and the pennant race heated up. But he definitely made some boneheaded moves, and he wasn't well-liked by the fans. Turns out that Charlie Manuel didn't like him too much either. It was Manuel's decision to fire him.

[Photo credit: Reuters]

Election Day

It seemed tempting, but I refrained from writing in Cole Hamels for president. A local merchant posted that note last week on one of the signs outside of his store; Greg was tempted to stop today and ask if anyone voted for Hamels, but he ran out of time on his way to work. He probably ran out of time because I think he stopped at more than one Starbucks for his free coffee. And yes, he did vote, even though it was no longer required to claim a cup of joe.

A few random thoughts and notes tonight as I await election results.

**Les Walrond's short-lived Phillies career is over. He was claimed today by the Blue Jays. (It is so refreshing to say "Blue Jays" without having the cloud of 1993 hanging over my head anymore.) And yesterday, Rudy Seanez filed for free agency.

**As the 2008 team disperses, I'm reminded of something important that I overlooked the other night. As I was reminiscing about players who will soon be part of the Phillies' past, I forgot to mention Chris Coste. I'm afraid that he's not long for this team. Lou Marson is waiting in the wings, and it's only a matter of time before he's in the big leagues for good. I expect that Marson will start in AAA in the spring, but once he's ready, Coste will probably be expendable. Sadly, he probably already feels that way, as Charlie Manuel made it clear in September and October that Carlos Ruiz is his preferred catcher. Well, whatever happens, Coste will always be welcomed in Philadelphia, and I'm glad that he got the chance to play here and be part of the magical 2007 and 2008 teams.

**Last week, after the Phillies won, I checked the Baseball Prospectus page. I wanted to see it officially say that the Phillies had a 100% chance of winning the World Series. But a little part of me still thought that it would say something like the Phillies only had a 99.2% chance of winning. (OK, so maybe it will take a while to shake away all of the negative thoughts.) Anyway, I love looking at those numbers - on Sept. 30, the Phillies were given only a 5% chance of winning it all.

**Following the Phillies lead, the Red Sox signed their GM. Jeez, what has he done to deserve a new contract? It's not like he's won any World Series lately.

**Crazy Scott Boras thinks Jason Varitek is going to get a huge contract, along the lines of Jorge Posada's 4-year $52 million contract. I think Scott Boras is nuts. I'm not the stats person on this blog, but 2008 was a dismal year for him. Yeah, he can still catch, but he was a liability offensively. Carlos Ruiz was no better offensively, but he's seven years younger than Varitek. Not to mention the fact that Ruiz is making just over the league minimum and isn't even due for arbitration until 2010. If baseball really is going to be feeling the economic crunch, I think the Sox should take a pass on resigning their captain.

**Current Sox and former Phil Mike Timlin filed for free agency today. Actually, barely a former Phil. I forgot that he was with the team for only half a season. It seems like it was longer. I guess because I've had to listen to Greg rave about him for the past six years. And complain about him this year.

I'm off to set up camp in front of CNN until Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert come on at 10 p.m. Let's hope this election is decided earlier in the night than some of those marathon playoff games I endured over the past few weeks.

A new administration

We'll find out tomorrow night or early Wednesday whether Barack Obama or John McCain will head the country on Jan. 20. The Phillies didn't wait so long, installing Ruben Amaro Jr. as general manager to replace Pat Gillick. Now we know why Gillick said "Let's do it again" on the World Series podium. He's staying on as an adviser.

Red Sox: Theo Epstein may have to pony up the team's resources, as Kevin Youkilis and Jonathaon Papelbon could demand huge raises. Papelbon, like Cole Hamels, whined about his contract offer last off-season, so things could get ugly again. Youk seems to be a solid citizen who won't complain like the younger superstars.

The Globe's Nick Cafardo suggests that situation, along with the economic downturn, could make this off-season's arbitration process very interesting.

Meanwhile, while explaining for the 10 millionth time that he's voting for McCain, Curt Schilling once again referred to himself as retired, or a likely retired baseball player who owns a small start-up. It's unlikely that Jake Peavy will replace Curt on the roster. That's good - I worried enough about overpaying in prospects for an ace last off-season. Jon Lester started but lost Game 7 of the ALCS. I forget what Johan Santana did this postseason.

Getting back to presidential politics, and giving each candidate equal SoxandPhils time, Jimmy Rollins did a robo call for Obama. We had four calls on the machine today, but none from J-Roll.

Final thoughts

The Phillies won the World Series. We were there. Incredible.

I tried to take a picture immediately after the last out, but as you can see, it didn't quite turn out. I was shaking from the cold and the excitement, and everyone was going crazy in the stands. There were streamers and confetti flying through the air, and people were dumping beers on each other. Fireworks were going off at the stadium and in the city streets, and the field was immediately filled not just with the Phillies and their personnel, but with the national crew for the post-game show. My eyes welled up as the World Championship banner was unfurled over the center field wall.

I don't think I can describe how I felt at that moment- rather than going crazy, just a sense of overwhelming calm and contentedness that the Phillies, who I have followed for all these years, finally reached their goal. It feels great that my team won, but I'm more happy and proud for the players who gutted it out, throughout the year and over many seasons.

And as I think about the players, that's when I start to get a little sad. The end of the baseball season is always depressing for me - summer is officially over, there are no more games to watch, and a long, cold winter is just around the corner. But this time, it's different. The Phillies proved they are the best team in baseball, but that's the highest that they can go. They will win again, but it probably won't be with the same feeling of accomplishment and joy. And it definitely won't be with the same group of players. This column by Phil Sheridan really tugged at my usually cynical heartstrings.

Pat Burrell, who I have long rooted for, will be gone. Jamie Moyer may or may not be back with the Phillies, or there is always the possibility that he will retire at the pinnacle of his career. I'm not shedding any tears over the loss of So Taguchi or Tom Gordon, but they both had their moments this year that helped the Phillies win. The starting rotation, after Cole Hamels and Brett Myers, is up in the air: Joe Blanton, Kyle Kendrick, J.A. Happ, Adam Eaton, possibly Moyer and possibly some other players to be named later - how do they fit in the equation? Not to mention the loss of Pat Gillick and Mike Arbuckle. They weren't on the field, but they created the 2008 champs.

And how will the contracts for Hamels and Ryan Howard play out this off-season? Will the Phillies reward them for the efforts and successes, or will the situation turn ugly, as it did last winter with Howard?

I'm trying not to think about these things too much right now. How I don't want my team to become the kind of obnoxious team with pink hats filling the stands, with players who become divas and whose egos explode after tasting such success, and with poseurs buying up all the game tickets, which will undoubtedly skyrocket in price.

No, right now I just want to remember 2008 because I will never get to experience this again. I want to watch the recording of Wednesday night's clincher to relive that night. I'm already eagerly awaiting the '08 year-end video; they are always well-done and provide a great look back at the season's highs and lows, and I know Dan Stephenson will outdo himself this year as he creates this important memento.

On Jan. 1, I was working on this computer, downloading songs onto my iPod. Greg came into the room and made a grand announcement: "I've made a decision, and it's going to affect you." I momentarily panicked, wondering what kind of life change was ahead. "I've decided to start a blog. About the Red Sox and Phillies." And for that, I'll always be grateful to Greg because I have such an unbelievable time capsule of this year, from all of the games we went to, the scorecards he kept and the detail of how I felt nearly every day this season.

I know we'll keep updating this blog, but for me, it can't get any better than 2008.

Thank you, Phillies.

Off day

Although the playoffs ended with joy in our house for the second straight year, they make for a pretty tiring month if you closely follow five of the seven playoff rounds, as we did this year.

So today was largely a baseball-free day - except for when I played a few minutes of a game I recorded on the DVR and bought the special Phillies championship edition of Sports Illustrated.

Things haven't been so quiet for the squads. The Red Sox brought back one of their legends for 2009, while the Phillies said goodbye to four of theirs.

The Red Sox picked up Tim Wakefield's 2009 option, bringing him back for a 15th season. Although he was shelled in the playoffs, he remains one of the better pitchers in the league, and if age suddenly catches up with him, he only cost $4 million.

The Phillies, meanwhile, sadly dumped two of their all-time greats. They declined options on Tom Gordon and So Taguchi. We didn't mention it, but did anyone find it odd how Flash was in the middle of the screen every time the cameras showed the clubhouse celebration on Wednesday? And where was Adam Eaton?

Two other guys who actually played major roles in making the Phillies World Champions are leaving. Pat Gillick, who seemed to hint at a return on the podium Friday, will be replaced by Ruben Amaro Jr. Mike Arbuckle, apparently tired of getting passed over, will leave the organization.

Don't forget to set your clocks back.