Posted: Sunday, March 1, 2009, 8:41 PM | 53 comments |
 

Hello from your new beat writer
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My name is Andy Martino, and I have the privilege of joining the Inquirer as the new Phillies beat writer. I am already very familiar with the team through my work at the New York Daily News, for whom I covered the N.L. East last season, among other duties.  So I’ve spent plenty of time in the Phillies’ locker room, including during the World Series. My job is to aggressively dig up news and deliver it to readers in a fair and objective way; in other words, I work for you, so if you ever have questions, complaints, compliments or suggestions, please don’t hesitate to email or comment. I’ll be blogging frequently through spring training and the season, so please keep checking.

This is a fascinating time for baseball, and for the Phils: drug scandals have forced us to confront uncomfortable moral questions about the stars of our era, small-market teams like the Rays have figured out how to run with wealthy behemoths like the Yankees and Red Sox, the economic downturn/crisis/depression has already dramatically altered the business of the game, and the Phillies, of course, are set to defend a championship for only the second time. We’ll have it all covered, and will probably slip into some weird digressions along the way (oh, the infinite space of the Internet).
 
I’ll be blogging from the exhibition against Toronto in Dunedin, Fla. tomorrow, but for now will leave you with two items that dampened the weekend for two of the Phillies’ division rivals: Johan Santana was supposed to get an M.R.I. on his elbow, and though he then felt good enough after throwing to cancel the exam, the fact that the words “Santana” and “elbow”-- not to mention “M.R.I.” -- have appeared together in the same sentence in March must be scary for the Mets, who last year awarded the lefty a six-year, $137.5 million dollar contract. And New York's chance to avoid another collapse this season—or even be in a position to collapse in the first place—will obviously take a gigantic hit if their ace misses any time.
 
And not that anyone was particularly worried about the Nationals, but an embarrassing situation worsened in Washington, when GM Jim Bowden resigned in scandal. Between this mess and the one that led to the firing of Bowden's special assistant Jose Rijo last week, this is an organization in serious disarray, not only on the field but in the ethics department as well.
 
That’s all for now. Please make this blog a part of your daily procrastination/slacking/baseball obsession-feeding routine.  

 
Posted by Andy Martino @ 8:41 PM  Permalink | 53 comments
53
Comments   
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 7:06 PM, 03/01/2009
    Welcome, looking forward to your input. Should be interesting with you coming from NY. I hope you're not a Mets fan lol!
    — ronin32
  • Comment removed.
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 7:15 PM, 03/01/2009
    Andy, there are two kinds of sports people who write on the web: sportswriters, and bloggers. Hope you are the former, and hope you recognize the difference. Your profession has been watered to the point where you're almost irrelevant. Be intelligent and surprise us all.
    — YodelInTheVlly
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 7:20 PM, 03/01/2009
    Yodel - why don't you explain what you mean? What is the difference, oh wise one?
    — pringleschief
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 7:44 PM, 03/01/2009
    what happened to Todd Zolecki?
    — tothehouse
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 7:56 PM, 03/01/2009
    Thanks, but I was hoping for Kevin Roberts, Mike Rodano or Kevin Cooney.
    — FCRIPLEY
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 7:56 PM, 03/01/2009
    Well I hope you made a Good career Move!... because local carrier told me he hasn't gotten paid! They were talking about up to 4 months! Funny How the daily news (Philly) saturday had the AP report on Flyers and sixers games! Oops!
    — Philly-d-kidder
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 8:02 PM, 03/01/2009
    Sportswriter: someone with an excellent grasp of the English language; someone who digs for actual news and reports it honestly; someone who does not try to become the story Blogger: self-aggrandizing, smart-assed, untalented, no writing credentials, no knowledge of sports beyond that of the average 14-yr-old baseball card collector, someone who twists rumors into actual news stories so they can claim a "scoop" if it comes true; if the rumor doesn't come true, no harm done because journalistic standards don't apply in their pathetic world. I hope that was clear enough.
    — YodelInTheVlly
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 8:08 PM, 03/01/2009
    What happened to Todd Zolecki? He did a great job. And we get some retread from NY? First Gonzo, and now this guy? Will have to start reading the Courier Post again.
    — bjps1353
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 8:12 PM, 03/01/2009
    Here's the deal with Zolecki - he either jumped or was pushed: http://www.baseballthinkfactory.org/files/newsstand/discussion/how_todd_zolecki_ended_up_at_mlbcom_a_qa/
    — bjps1353
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 8:13 PM, 03/01/2009
    Todd Zolecki is the Phillies beat writer for MLB.com now. And why be a jerk to Andy already? Let him do his job and give him a hard time once he's up and running.
    — Nutburgers
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 8:16 PM, 03/01/2009
    tothehouse- Looks like Todd left for Mlb.com http://sportscomplex.blogs.citypaper.net/blogs/mu/2009/02/09/how-todd-zolecki-ended-up-at-mlbcom-a-qa/
    — pbk
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 8:18 PM, 03/01/2009
    Welcome aboard. I think this is a good thing. We've grown accustomed to some pretty tame sports writing from Todd, not that I didn't like what he gave us, but he was a little too much in the Phillies and their players pocket. A newspaper writer is supposed to be more objective and hard hitting, maybe we'll get some of that now. We need a little more objectivity in this department and I think we've got some.
    — phillywebcast
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 8:25 PM, 03/01/2009
    Welcome, it can get pretty brutal in the comments section of the website. Lots of frustrated sports experts out here. I have feeling it ain't just in Philly either.
    — sillybilly
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 8:46 PM, 03/01/2009
    I knew Todd was in trouble when they changed the name of the blog from the Zo Zone to the Phillies Zone while he was still writing it.
    — MD20202020


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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.
To submit a question for Matt Gelb's Phillies mailbag, click here.

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