Posted: Sunday, December 21, 2008, 2:09 PM | 23 comments |
 

Neal Is Excited
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Blaine Neal grew up a Phillies fan in South Jersey, where he was a star at Bishop Eustace Prep. He now has a chance to play in the Phillies' organization.

Phil Anastasia caught up with Neal, who signed a minor-league contract with the Phillies and is a non-roster invitee to camp this spring. Like Philadelphia native and non-roster invitee Mike Koplove, Neal is expected to open the season in triple-A Lehigh Valley as a relief pitcher. But if he has a good spring and pitches well for the IronPigs he could see time with the Phillies in 2009.

"It's a good situation for me in a lot of ways," said Neal, who has pitched in the big leagues with Florida, San Diego, Boston and Colorado.

One of them being this is the team he grew up cheering. And he cheered when the Phillies won the World Series.

"I waited 25 years just like everybody else," he said. "I was like 4 or 5 when the Sixers won it [in 1983] and I don't really remember that. I was like every other fan when the Phillies finally won it. I couldn't believe it."
Posted by Todd Zolecki @ 2:09 PM  Permalink | 23 comments
23
Comments   
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 10:51 AM, 12/22/2008
    Happy Holidays to all the Zo Zoners out there!
    — KarenA
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 11:53 AM, 12/22/2008
    happy Holidays to all the Zoners. May a repeat be under everyone's tree this year
    — jeff gross
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 12:26 PM, 12/22/2008
    Ditto to the above sentiments. And a hearty thanks to Todd for another great season of bloging. Hope it has been as useful/fun for him as it has to us. Always an enjoyable read, even when we don't all agree on some issues...LOL.
    — jimmymack
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 3:13 PM, 12/22/2008
    1
    — jeff gross
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 3:27 PM, 12/22/2008
    Merry Christmas to all Christians, Happy Hanukkah to the Jewish and for Scientologists..... good luck with finding Xenu and your Galactic Confederacy. May Uncle Charlie bring us all another World F'n Championship next year too!
    — Sully
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 4:25 PM, 12/22/2008
    AMEN Sully
    — jeff gross
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 4:25 PM, 12/22/2008
    AMEN Sully
    — jeff gross
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 10:00 PM, 12/22/2008
    Thanks, everybody! It's been a fun year. Thanks for checking in every day.
    — Todd Zolecki
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 6:23 AM, 12/23/2008
    Keep it up in '09 Todd. Best wishes to all of my fellow commenters.
    — mick314
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 7:43 AM, 12/23/2008
    Feliz Navidad to all. Thanks Todd.
    — EL Zorro
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 8:46 AM, 12/23/2008
    SOme team, somewhere, please do something!!! ANything, sign a ticket agent, a ball girl, a starting pitcher or first baseman, anyting!! This is getting boring. Even the bloggers have nothing to say anymore...... Merry Christmas
    — jeff gross
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 4:55 PM, 12/23/2008
    Unbelievable. Terrible economy; financial, automotive and retail industries in serious trouble; lagging holiday retail sales; escalating unemployment rates... ... ... ... and somehow the New York Yankees find $430M to pay 3 players (not including the $300M+ they shelled out for one player last year). Can you say "salary cap"? Good grief. Well, Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, and whatever else to Yankee fans, anyway. I hope that new ballpark is, with its ridiculously over-priced seating, is half-empty for 81 games next year. This is beyond ridiculous. Derek Jeter + Alex Rodriguez + CC Sabathia + Mark Texeira + A.J. Burnett = $875M. And they'll still lose in the first round of the playoffs.
    — RollinsWasRight
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 8:55 PM, 12/23/2008
    RWR: make that 78 games next year. I plan on personally supporting the Evil Empire for 1 game next year.... when the World Champs visit them May 22-24. It will be worth it to pay a portion of CC, Texiera and A-Rod's salaries to roll in there with a World Series Champions shirt, which may never happen again.
    — Sully
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 10:27 AM, 12/24/2008
    Something just occurred to me... with Mark Texeira signing with the Yankees, it seems like the next stop for Ryan Howard will be Boston, who, by the time he becomes available, will need a power hitting DH, preferably left-handed. Plus, Texeira's contract only empowers Howard's salary demands, and Boston is one of the few teams that can afford him.
    — RollinsWasRight
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 11:40 AM, 12/24/2008
    Zo, what's the record day for most comments in 2008, and what was the basic subject commented upon by the participants?
    — jp


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About Matt Gelb and Bob Brookover












Bob Brookover and Matt Gelb team up for their third straight season covering the Phillies for the Inquirer and philly.com.

This is Brookover’s second stint writing about the Phillies, having joined the coverage team after seven years as an Eagles beat writer. Brookover was hired by The Inquirer in 2000 as the Phillies beat writer after spending 13 years writing about the team for two suburban newspapers. While on the Eagles beat, Brookover, who had covered just two winning Phillies teams in 15 seasons, saw the Phillies move into a cash-cow new ballpark and begin playing a brand of the game he found unrecognizable. Follow him on Twitter here.

Gelb is in his third season covering the Phillies. He was hired by The Inquirer in August 2009 after graduating from Syracuse University. He has also covered baseball at The Star-Ledger and Cape Cod Times. Born and raised in Bucks County, he attended Central Bucks High School West. Follow him on Twitter here.
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