- Lee adjusts for successful debut in Philly
- Phillies Notebook: Phillies GM Amaro says Happ will remain in rotation
- Sam Donnellon: Phillies GM Amaro on a lucky streak right now
- Paul Hagen: Saved by Phillies, Marlins' Sanches could haunt them now
- Phillies' Myers says he feels fine after simulated game
- Phillies vs. Marlins preview
- Yanks pick good time to notch first '09 win against Red Sox
- NL East at a glance
- Nats rally from six-run deficit to win
- 5 WINNERS
- High Cheese
- GALLERY: 2009 Phillies
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Paul Hagen: Saved by Phillies, Marlins' Sanches could haunt them now
THIS JUST IN from the Baseball Is A Funny Game file:
The Phillies will spend this weekend trying to fend off the Florida Marlins, who are lurking just a little too close for comfort in the National League East despite a string of pitching issues.
One of the reasons the Fish have been able to keep their heads above water - sorry, just couldn't resist the mixed metaphor - is reliever Brian Sanches. He comes into the series with a 1.17 earned run average.
The twist here is that Sanches might be out of the game by now if it weren't for the Phillies. Or, more specifically, if it weren't for Triple A Lehigh Valley pitching coach Rod Nichols.
Sanches, who turns 31 tomorrow, spent 4 years in the Phillies system. He made 30 big-league appearances with them but spent the majority of his time in the minor leagues, which is where he worked with Nichols.
And it was the Phillies instructor who helped him salvage his career. "We need to change things, otherwise this is going to be the end," Sanches remembers Nichols telling him.
They changed his delivery. He perfected a split-fingered fastball. "That pitch, I really believe, is what got me to the big leagues," he told the Miami Herald.
It didn't happen right away. The Phillies let him go after the 2007 season. The Nationals did the same after last season. He signed a minor league contract with the Marlins, was the last player cut in spring training and wasn't called up from Triple A New Orleans until June.
So far, he has made the most of his opportunity.
"There were countless times when I though enough was enough, how much more can a person take of this?" he was quoted as saying. "But I'd step back and regroup and keep inching along."
As a result, he'll spend the next 3 days trying to help the franchise he works for beat the whey out of the club that might just have saved his baseball life. Yes, it's a small world after all.
The hot corner
* Indians owner Paul Dolan reacted to fan backlash over the team's five white flag trades, including Cliff Lee and Victor Martinez, by basically telling Tribe fans to get used to it. "That's the reality for [lower-revenue teams]. If every 4 or 5 years we get a shot at making the World Series ... and maybe contend in another one of those years, that's about as good as it gets for a team in our market." Yikes.
Dolan also said one way to level the playing field would be to have a worldwide draft and that owners will push for that in the next collective bargaining agreement.
* Now that it's come out that the Mariners explored trading ace starter Felix Hernandez in a blockbuster deal that involved the Red Sox and Padres right before the deadline, the thinking around baseball is that the star 23-year-old righthander will almost certainly be moved this offseason.
Around the bases
* During his playing days, Albert Belle had a reputation for being a brooding, angry guy. So it was surprising when he called longtime Cleveland Plain Dealer beat writer Paul Hoynes after the series of trades that stripped the roster and teased, "I heard you got demoted to covering the Triple A Indians."
* When Randy Ready replaced Jim Lefebvre, he became the Padres' fifth hitting coach in the last 3 years, 1 month.
