Philadelphia Sports

Scott Lauber covers the Phillies beat for the Wilmington News Journal.  He also runs the blog Philled In, an inside take on your WFC. 

I caught up with him, from Clearwater, to talk baseball last night.

SHAY RODDY: Alex Rodriguez admitted to taking steroids from 2001-2003. What does this mean for the game?

Chris Coste, the most lovable professional player in Philadelphia right now, might become the most lovable former Phillie within the next week or so. Coste, who is the man who fought his way to the major leagues to finally get a shot with the Phillies in 2006, received immortality status when the Phillies won the World Series last October.

I usually try to stay away from these kinds of articles but, after reading several "Greatest Team Ever" or "Best Team Ever" articles, I decided to write my own. Now, I know this I have only been around for 19 years on God's good green Earth so I do have a bit of bias towards today's players. But, all biases will be put aside and I will judge players based on career and other information.

Here’s the scoop: Cole Hamels left Clearwater, FL tonight for the Philadelphia area to have his left elbow examined tomorrow by team doctor Michael Ciccotti.

General Manager Ruben Amaro, Jr. said Hamels complained about “a little bit of a persistent soreness” in his elbow. “We thought it was important at this time for Dr. Ciccotti to check it out,” Amaro said.

Andy Martino is the new guy in town.  He’s beginning his first season on the Phillies beat for the Philadelphia Inquirer.  Martino let me know a little more about himself in our interview, Sunday afternoon.

SHAY RODDY: Where are you coming from?  What jobs have you had in the past?
ANDY MARTINO: I last worked for the New York Daily News, where I covered most New York teams: Yankees, Mets, Giants, Jets, etc.  For three years before that, I was a high school teacher in Brooklyn.

In spring, hope is eternal for all 30 clubs.  Who will be this year's Rays?  Will the Cubs break the curse of whatever farm animal or dumb oaf they want to pin their century of futility on? 

As I sit behind this keyboard on March 14, 2009, here are the predictions for the 2009 Major League Baseball season.  I swear I will stand by each and every prediction until, at least, the All-Star Break.

AL East

1. Boston Red Sox

2. New York Yankees

3. Toronto Blue Jays

4. Tampa Bay Rays

Since the dawn of Philadelphia sports in 1883 with the Philadelphia Phillies, Philadelphia has been blessed with great and Hall of Fame-caliber athletes.

Many of those athletes who have played for the Phillies are not well-known.

From the comically bad to the legendary in their own time, these 10 should bring to light more about the Phillies past players. So, after hours of tireless research and question asking... without further posturing, here are ten Philadelphia Phillies that you never knew about.

PIRATES 6, PHILLIES 5
at Clearwater, Fla.
Friday, March 13

Pirates on the mound

Left-hander Zach Duke threw the ball well in 3.2 innings. He allowed just one hit and one walk and struck out two. He got into a bases-loaded jam in the fourth after a leadoff single to Eric Bruntlett, a two-out walk to Ryan Howard, and an error from third baseman Andy LaRoche to load the bases, but left-hander David Davidson took over and got out of the inning without a run scoring. Daniel McCutchen allowed five runs in 1.1 innings.

Today, we move from Washington to the top, where we take a look at the World Series champion Philadelphia Phillies, our next team in 30 clubs in 30 days.

The Phillies once again ousted the Mets to win the NL East, going 92-70 on the year, while putting up an impressive 17-8 September record, with an even more impressive 11-3 postseason record that included the Phillies first World Series title since 1980, and only the second championship in their history.