Coming: Funeral caskets with Phils logos

Phillies Phever isn't fatal - but it can be everlasting.

Starting this summer, a Michigan company will begin shipping funeral caskets with the logos and colors of eight major-league baseball teams - including the Phillies.

It gives a whole new meaning to "coffin corner."

Last year, Eternal Image (www.eternalimage.net) began selling urns to hold the ashes of dearly departed baseball fans.

The Phillies caskets, "crafted from our proprietary composite and decorated with various woods and metals," will feature a red stripe around the outside, and logos on the ends, the pillow and "the supple interior fabric" that lines the lid, an online description states. Suggested retail price: $4,499.

Dozens have been pre-ordered through funeral homes, according to Robbie Raffish, an Eternal Image spokeswoman.

The first set of teams with themed caskets also includes the Atlanta Braves, the Boston Red Sox, the Chicago Cubs, the Detroit Tigers, the Los Angeles Dodgers, the New York Yankees, and the St. Louis Cardinals.

Each urn is "die-cast aluminum," rests on a black-outlined "home plate" and has a "display dome" for holding a baseball. The ball that comes with the urn can be replaced by a more treasured souvenir.

More than 50 of the Phillies urns, which list for $799, have been sold.

Star Trek-themed urns and caskets will become another company line this year - giving "final frontier" a whole new meaning. Existing licensed lines relate to the Vatican Library Collection, the American Kennel Club and the Cat Fanciers' Association.