Associated Press
Evidently, Seattle's Adrian Beltre believes in ghosts.
- 3 WINNERS
- Phillies vs. Orioles preview
- Phillies Notebook: Phillies hope Ibanez injury not long-term
- Manuel nears boiling point as Phillies get swept by Blue Jays
- Dare we ask, what's next?
- Long road through minor leagues for Bishop Eustace's Rowell
- In major leagues, changing manager not always the answer
- Phillies prospect Michael Taylor a heavyweight five-tooler
- O's rally in 9th to beat K-Rod, Mets
- High Cheese
- GALLERY: 2009 Phillies
- GALLERY: 2008 World Series champs
- PDF: Seating at Citizens Bank Park
- PDF: Schedule
- PDF: Ticket prices and sales
RELATED STORIES
Page: 2 of 3 View All
Paul Hagen: In major leagues, changing manager not always the answer
Cheers:
-- For the Boston Red Sox, who celebrated their 500th consecutive Fenway Park sellout Wednesday night. Yes, they have a rabid fan base and their stadium is a treasure. They've won two world championships in the last five seasons. But to draw that many fans, that consistently is also a tribute to the front office.
Only three professional sports teams have had longer sellout streaks: Portland Trail Blazers (744), Boston Celtics (567) and Chicago Bulls (515).
"We have a very special place. There's no getting around that," said manager Terry Francona. "I know I've never seen anyplace like this."
Jeers:
-- To the Tampa Bay Rays. The defending American League champions stepped in to halt a scheduled promotion by the Class A Clearwater Threshers last Friday. The Phillies' Florida State League farm team had planned to give away bobbleheads of Pat Burrell wearing a Phillies uniform.
Apparently that's a violation of a rule that prohibits "promotion of the Phillies brand" within the Rays' television territory.
Can a big-league team possibly be so worried about what a Class A team is doing? Does this have anything to do with the Phillies beating the Rays in the World Series last fall? Or jealousy over the fact that so many fans in the area are loyal to the Phillies because they've trained in Clearwater since 1947? Whatever. Apparently they may have the right. But that still doesn't make it right.
By the numbers
3: Teams with all-time winning records on the road in interleague play: Angels, Twins and Marlins.
14: Runs given up by Indians pitching in their series opener against the Brewers on Monday, more than Milwaukee scored in the entire six-game homestand that preceded it. How bad is Cleveland's pitching? The Tribe averaged more then eight runs per game against the Brew Crew . . . and still got swept.
1,289: Career plate appearances for Arizona third baseman Mark Reynolds to hit his 62nd career homer. By comparison, Mike Schmidt hit his 62nd home run in his 1,360th plate appearance.
Up next
The pitching matchup for tomorrow afternoon in Anaheim is Jeff Weaver for the Dodgers against Jered Weaver for the Angels. It's the first time since 2002 (Cubs' Alan Benes vs. Cardinals' Andy Benes) that brothers have faced each other.
According to the Los Angeles Daily News, brothers have started against each other just 20 times since 1871 . . . and nine of those were Phil and Joe Niekro.
Quote of the week
Cubs manager Lou Piniella, on criticism that he isn't showing enough emotion: "What do I need to show fire for? I'm not a dragon."
