http://www.philly.com/dailynews/columnists/bill_conlin RSS Feed for Bill Conlin en-us Thu, 24 Jul 2008 11:45:59 GMT http://www.philly.com/dailynews/columnists/bill_conlin/20080724_Bill_Conlin__Explosion_of_maple_bats_bad_for_baseball.html TRY THIS THE next time you're going to fly. Show up at airport security holding a maple baseball bat that has been shattered just above the handle, leaving a 30-inch cross between a war club and a javelin. http://www.philly.com/dailynews/columnists/bill_conlin/20080722_Bill_Conlin__Tonight__it_s_Hamels_vs__Santana_-_oh__never_mind.html OK, THIS IS not as good as it gets. It ain't love, but it ain't bad, as the song says. It's not as good as the final weekend of the 1980 regular season, when the Phillies went into Montreal tied for first with the Expos and had to win two of three for the East title. I can still hear the "Happy Wanderer'' refrain echoing through the long-gone mausoleum that was Olympic Stadium. http://www.philly.com/dailynews/columnists/bill_conlin/20080718_Bill_Conlin__Phillies_need_more_than_average_Joe_Blanton.html WE HAVE had the obligatory first-half report cards. Then the Home Run Derby main event followed by an All-Star Game that only an insomniac remembers. http://www.philly.com/dailynews/columnists/bill_conlin/20080714_Bill_Conlin__Yankee_Stadium_is_the_house_that_built_memories.html WITH YANKEE STADIUM gone next year, Major League Baseball's revered cathedrals will be down to a precious two. The National League will have Wrigley Field, the American League will have Fenway Park and almost everybody else will be playing in cash registers disguised as Las Vegas theme hotels. http://www.philly.com/dailynews/columnists/bill_conlin/20080711_Bill_Conlin__Howard_s_27_homers_outweigh_his_125_strikeouts.html RYAN HOWARD DID IT again. And this time it only took the game's worst great hitter - or its greatest lousy hitter - a half-season to climb Mount Sewell. http://www.philly.com/dailynews/columnists/bill_conlin/20080710_Bill_Conlin__Hey_Brett_Myers__the_buzzards_have_short_memories.html PHILLIES SUITS and fans alike were still basking in the afterglow of the huge, unexpected score GM Pat Gillick made at the 2006 winter meetings. Pickings were supposed to be slim for a team that, as always, had few bargaining chips with which to acquire a starting pitcher - let alone a front-of-the-rotation stud. http://www.philly.com/dailynews/columnists/bill_conlin/20080702_Bill_Conlin__Huppert_miscast_as_manager_of_Lehigh_Valley_IronPigs.html WHEN I'M KING of the World . . . Top minor league baseball development managers will be assigned where they can do the most effective job of helping players advance to the highest possible level . . . http://www.philly.com/dailynews/columnists/bill_conlin/20080630_Bill_Conlin__Where_are_the_Latin_prospects_.html CLEARWATER, Fla. - If you can't stand the heat, get out of the Gulf Coast League. But, no sweat, this is your annual pilgrimage to the bottom rung of the professional baseball ladder, a 5-year look into a murky crystal ball. http://www.philly.com/dailynews/columnists/bill_conlin/20080624_Bill_Conlin__Journalism_101_for_2008.html COLLEGE AND high school students interested in sports-writing careers contact me from time to time seeking advice on how best to enter an industry in crisis. http://www.philly.com/dailynews/columnists/bill_conlin/20080623_Bill_Conlin__Phillies_fans__we_ll_let_you_know_when_to_panic.html THERE IS A significant difference between concern and panic. Concern is when the unsinkable ocean liner begins to list enough for the fine china to start sliding off the tables and the captain orders the women and children to assemble at their designated lifeboats.