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Friday, April 25, 2008
Man or Machine?

Just flew from Milwaukee to Philly to Pittsburgh, so this is my first chance to post today ...

Pat Burrell. Man or Machine?Pat Burrell remains one of the hottest hitters in baseball, so I decided to have a few Phillies teammates answer the question on the t-shirts they received in spring training: Is Pat Burrell man or machine?

"He's a man that is a machine," Brett Myers said.

"Can't he be both?" Adam Eaton said. "It's an open interpretation."

"Both," Chris Coste said. "He's the perfect mix of both."

Like the Six Million Dollar Man?

"Fourteen," Coste said. "He's the Fourteen Million Dollar Man. And if he keeps up this pace, it'll be a hell of a lot more than that."

Great point. Burrell is a free agent after the season. The Phillies tried hard in previous off-seasons to trade Burrell, but had no luck. Burrell said in spring training he would love to come back. Pat Gillick doesn't negotiate with players until after the season, so although he's leaving after the season it seems unlikely the Phillies talk to Burrell about any potential return until the Phillies name a new general manager.

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In the Phillies Notebook, Ryan Howard talks about not being in the starting lineup yesterday and tonight in Pittsburgh and Tom Gordon has pitched very, very well since his disastrous appearance on Opening Day.

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Centerfielder Shane Victorino will continue his rehab assignment tonight in double-A Reading. Victorino, who has been on the DL with a strained right calf since April 12, began his rehab assignment Wednesday at single-A Clearwater and went 2 for 3 with an RBI, walk and caught stealing. He was 0 for 2 with a run, walk and strikeout last night for the Threshers.

Posted by Todd Zolecki @ 12:58 PM  Permalink | 13 comments
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Comments
Posted by timm 01:41 PM, 04/25/2008
Zo, what is the schedule for Victorino? Back with the club on Tuesday?
Posted by Timmy 01:47 PM, 04/25/2008
Burrell is a manchine. Or Darth Vader. Whichever gets the Mets and Braves works for me.
Posted by Timmy 01:48 PM, 04/25/2008
Darth Burrell...more machine than man.
Posted by B Dub 01:52 PM, 04/25/2008
I'm in no rush to get Victorino back, if it means Werth goes back to part time. Werth is posting a .958 OPS! That's only behind Burrell and Utley.
Posted by bobby 02:34 PM, 04/25/2008
Watching Burrell at bat in the 9th the other night, with bases loaded and the game on the line, was awesome. A totally different guy from just a year ago at this time. Pardon the Rocky reference, but Pat had "the eye of the tiger"! And it was fun to watch.
Posted by Casey 02:45 PM, 04/25/2008
Who plays 1st tonight? Coste?
Posted by geektothecorenj 02:46 PM, 04/25/2008
If the Pineapple man comes back they better sit Stinkin Jenkins instead of werth.
Posted by geektothecorenj 02:46 PM, 04/25/2008
If the Pineapple man comes back they better sit Stinkin Jenkins instead of werth.
Posted by Todd Zolecki 02:48 PM, 04/25/2008
Victorino can be activated Monday, but since there's no game Monday it'll be Tuesday ... assuming he suffers no setbacks.
Posted by Norma 03:54 PM, 04/25/2008
Yo, Zo.......Have you heard how J.Roll's doing with his rehab? Didn't he take BP yesterday?
Posted by roque32 04:31 PM, 04/25/2008
This is the Pat Burrell we've been waiting for since his break out year. I'm rooting for the guy to keep going and that he stays healthy. That said though, I always thought that he would be better serving as a DH somewhere in the American League.
Posted by Todd Zolecki 06:49 PM, 04/25/2008
He took BP and came out fine. Like I've said in previous posts, don't believe the bogus rumor that has a fractured ankle. It's untrue.
Posted by Norma 07:55 PM, 04/25/2008
Thanks Zo! Wonder what his time-frame is?
13 comments
About Andy Martino
Andy Martino is in his first season on the Phillies beat. A former New York City public school teacher and graduate of the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, he previously wrote for the New York Daily News, where he covered baseball and worked with the award-winning investigative sports "I-team."
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