More wine from Schmidt

Mike Schmidt is launching his own wine label. The mind boggles. I don't know about you, but when I'm looking for a robust cabernet sauvignon, I usually turn to something from the vineyard of a Hall of Fame third baseman as opposed to some astringent merlot from a backup outfielder. What is the Phillies legend going to call his wine? Going, Going Gewurztraminer? Merlot and Outside? Round the Horn Riesling? We'll find out on May 2, when the line is launched before a Phillies game at Citizens Bank Park.

So which is it?

There's a recent book out on what was probably one of the baseball highlights for baby boomers everywhere. The Best Game Ever chronicles the Pirates' dramatic Game 7 triumph over the Yankees in the 1960 World Series. The problem is the title isn't going to lend the book any distinction. A new book soon to be released on the 1958 NFL title game between the Giants and Colts by Inquirer columnist Mark Bowden is also called The Best Game Ever. A year ago, a book on North Carolina's triple-overtime win over Wilt Chamberlain's Kansas in 1957's NCAA title game was entitled, curiously, The Best Game Ever. And according to what Dave Hirshey of HarperCollins told the New York Times, a search of amazon.com revealed 17,000 books with Best Game or Greatest Game in their titles.

Russell's grand plan

There are numerous reasons the Pirates might be the most consistently lousy team this side of Temple football. They have no money, no brains, no market, and darn few fans. But none of that matters to new manager John Russell. By God, he's going to turn things around. You can bet your soot-seared Bill Mazeroski rookie cards on it. So after the Bucs were hammered, 13-1, by the Cubs on Saturday, Russell called a meeting with his coaches. "It was good. It was really good," he said of the 45-minute session. Thus inspired, the Pirates went out Sunday and were beaten, 13-6. It was bad. It was really bad.

Holliday the homer king

Baseball Web sites are like kudzu. They pop up everywhere, and you can never get rid of them. One of the best Web sites is called HitTracker, and it's been monitoring home runs since 2005. It provides more realistic measurements than teams' public-relations departments, and contends that the longest homer in the major leagues since 2005 was hit by the Rockies' Matt Holliday - 496 feet on Sept. 19, 2006. Giants pitcher Matt Cain, who surrendered it, had hit Holliday his last time up. Holliday barked at Cain as he ran to first. Later in the game, Holliday was drilled again.

 

Notable

On The 'Ropolitans, a Mets fan blog, visitors were asked to name their least-favorite NL East rival. Not surprisingly, the Phillies were crushing the competition, with 66 percent of the votes. . . . The Braves' Chipper Jones, a master aggravator - at least to Phillies fans - aggravated something else, his injured right quadriceps, and had to leave Sunday's game.

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Contact staff writer Frank Fitzpatrick at 215-854-5068

or ffitzpatrick@phillynews.com.