A while back, I wondered out loud what the press would do if it didn’t have Ottawa as it’s “whipping boy” in the IL. What I’m discovering is that while Ottawa consistently gets the short end of the stick, there exists a general bias against minor league baseball among the media.

“In the end, though, that’s all there is to Durham, N.C. When there is no college basketball being played, it is just another minor league tank town. The Durham Bulls. Oh. Lovely… And I’d rather be watching Red Sox-Yankees on a steamy August night than Bulls-Mud Hens.”

Steve Buckley, The Boston Herald

MLNSportszone responds:

“As to his contention that he’d rather be watching the Red Sox take on the Yanks in August, I can go with that: August is about the time that either of those clubs really start playing… You’re going to see some pretty slow games in April, May and June though, before Buckley and the boys start ballyhooing pennant fever.

Meanwhile in the minors it is balls-out baseball from opening day until the 40 man roster opens up at the major league level. In a world with far fewer millionaire players, the game gets played at 110% most days because there is no MLB pay-day on the fat-cat superstar teams unless you get there by stepping over a lot of other guys trying to get there. That makes minor league baseball exciting and dynamic the whole season long.” (emphasis added)

The Durham Bulls people refuse to turn the other cheek - in a classic “throw down”, they’ve invited Buckley to participate in the “Complete Durham Bulls experience“. (I wonder if that includes a stint as Delmon Young’s bat boy? Probably not.) For his part, Buckley doesn’t seem content to have insulted the people of Durham once. More proof of the adage that you should “quit when you’re still only slightly behind” can be found in his acceptance of their invitation. His parting shot:

“That any media outlet in North Carolina would even touch this thing only hammers home the original point: With Duke having gone up in flames in the first round of the NCAA tourney, there really isn’t anything going on in Durham these days.”

And long. But still… Spring is in the air now. Just today I got mud all over my sneakers while walking home from work. I sniffed the wet earth and remembered what the end of winter smells like. Remember that? Remember last spring? A very good stink. When it warms up outside in March it gets me to thinking about all the activity that will be taking place at the yard in April. Over there at the baseball stadium where it smells not only like dirt and wet grass but of french fries and popcorn too. Oh boy. Such good news.

And less than three weeks away.

I have been diligently following the line scores in the paper. I am trying to follow the team while they are away down south in Spring Training. I enjoy the statistics. And I can hardly wait to watch my Lynx again. Baseball gets the old heart a thumpin’. Please enjoy the following quotations that might just get your heart a thumpin’ again too, eh? This is a good thing. A fun thing.

People ask me what I do in winter when there’s no baseball. I’ll tell you what I do. I stare out the window and wait for spring. - Rogers Hornsby

That’s the true harbinger of spring, not crocuses or swallows returning to Capistrano, but the sound of a bat on a ball. - Bill Veeck

Don’t tell me about the world. Not today. It’s springtime and they’re knocking a baseball around fields where the grass is damp and green in the morning and the kids are trying to hit the curve ball. - Pete Hamill

With those who don’t give a damn about baseball, I can only sympathize. I do not resent them. I am even willing to concede that many of them are physically clean, good to their mothers and in favor of world peace. But while the game is on, I can’t think of anything to say to them. - Art Hill

Back then, my idol was Bugs Bunny, because I saw a cartoon of him playing ball - you know, the one where he plays every position himself with nobody else on the field but him? Now that I think of it, Bugs is still my idol. You have to love a ballplayer like that. - Nomar Garciaparra

And one of my favourites,

Love is the most important thing in the world, but baseball is pretty good too. - Greg, age 8

Again, it is less than three weeks until we meet at the baseball park. I am crazy with anticipation. I cannot wait to see you all there. Wow!

CBS Sportsline has come out with their first set of “Power Rankings” for 2007. Philadelphia holds down the 5th spot in the rankings, with Toronto in #6.

“This is paying the top of the NL East a lot of respect, but Ryan Howard, Chase Utley, Jimmy Rollins and the emerging Cole Hamels will combine to put a serious threat into the Mets.“

“If Roy Halladay (forearm) and A.J. Burnett (elbow) stay healthy, the AL East could become one serious three-horse race. That has been too big of an “if.”“

I think that Toronto playing well should help things out here in Ottawa, primarily due to the increased media exposure that will be given to baseball; a rising tide lifts all boats. Interestingly, we’ve got an interleague match-up with the Phillies to look forward to in May (18-20) when the Jays visit CBP. Unfortunately, the Chiefs (formerly “Sky Chiefs”) don’t roll into Ottawa until the long weekend in August (!). I’m going to go out on a limb and guess that historically, Syracuse has been the best “draw” for Ottawa - would it have killed the schedule maker to have given us an OD matchup with the Chiefs? For our part, we might get a jump on the season and commit to our first “roadie” - Ottawa plays in Syracuse, April 14-16 with a double header on the Sunday.

Where has the time gone?

The last out in a spring game in Clearwater is now history. At one point, this day seemed so far in the distance.

Reporting time for the players was 11 a.m., rather than the normal 9:30 routine they’ve been following for the last six weeks.

Some players will be boarding a 9:15 bus tomorrow morning for the last Florida game in Bradenton. The team will fly out of Sarasota tomorrow evening and play the Red Sox on Friday and Saturday in the traditional On-Deck Series at Citizens Bank Park.

Some players will not be on the charter as they are remaining in Clearwater to rehab their injuries.

Some players left the Bright House Networks Field clubhouse today, no longer Phillies.

Some players on tomorrow’s charter will return to the minors after this weekend.

So, the end has come to another spring training in Clearwater, the final one for me in this PR capacity. As a rookie in 1964, I was able to put on about 25 pounds thanks to expense accounts and endless restaurant dinners and deserts. I’m proud to say, I haven’t shed one pound since.

Six weeks or 43 springs. Where has the time gone?

(The Baron’s Corner)

Is going on?

Karim Garcia - gone.
Jim Ed Warden - gone.

What does this mean? I think we can forget about seeing Michael Bourn in Ottawa - at least in the near term. Rats. The same is probably true for Zack Segovia. Fortunately, it would appear that the Garcia move should leave enough space for Chris Coste.

More later.

This, according to the Phillies MLB.com website:

Bench shaping up: With Chris Coste’s strained right hamstring hurting and Greg Dobbs hitting, the two available bench spots appear clear as well.

Should Ruiz not be able to play, the Phillies could opt for catcher Jason Jaramillo as the backup, leaving Bourn in the Minors.

And the pitching situation?

The plan takes a different turn if Garcia doesn’t feel right Wednesday, and the Phillies are preparing Zack Segovia for a start just in case. Regardless, the Phillies remain encouraged Garcia will make his first turn in the rotation.

“He’s feeling better, which is good,” Dubee said.

Phuture Phillies opinion?

So, are these the right decisions? First, I think keeping Condrey over Segovia might be a mistake (edit: if Freddy Garcia is ready to go, the Phillies.com piece contends that they’ll keep Condrey and Warden). However, if Condrey is going to just be a mop-up guy, then I guess it’s understandable. Segovia is still young and still has some promise, Condrey is your typical AAAA pitcher who is easily replaceable. Warden, because he’s a Rule 5 guy, is a bit of a different case. He’s had some rough outings and some solid outings this spring. Again, my hope is that the Phillies work out a trade with Cleveland where they get to keep Warden and option him to the minors so he can get comfortable before being thrust into the majors. The Phillies should contend for the division from Day 1, they can’t afford to use a 24 man roster and just hide Warden for the season like they did with Fabio Castro last year. As for the outfield, I’d prefer they kept Bourn over Garcia, mainly because I don’t think Garcia is going to sustain any type of success in the majors over the course of the season. Then again, if Aaron Rowand is traded, which has been a rumor basically since the winter meetings, then Bourn will almost assuredly get a spot in the OF. Dobbs has performed well this spring and has almost been the 2007 version of Chris Coste. Hopefully the Phillies can catch lightning in a bottle for the second year in a row.

With “the fever”. According to Larry Shenk at The Baron’s Corner, everybody’s itching to get this thing going:

With another road game today, things were pretty quiet again at Bright House Networks Field.

Another year of spring training in sparkling Clearwater is rounding third base.

I’ve figured it out - what’s causing this funk that I’m in. I was listening to TGOR this morning (that’s “Three Guys on the Radio” for the uninitiated) during the segment with TSN hockey analyst, (and genuinely nice guy) Pierre McGuire. The discussion had turned to players and how they lose focus this time of year; every one just wants the playoffs to get started. And that’s pretty much how I feel - I’m tired of posting about future possibilities and events passed. I’m not burned out - I just want to get going with new material, about new games, new stats, new stories.

I was also out at the park to pick up my tickets today. I caught a glimpse of the field - almost all of the snow was gone (I’m sure by the end of tomorrow it should be finished). For those of you not in Ottawa, it turned into a nice, sunny, warm (60ish Farenheit) afternoon. The music was playing over the PA system and I assumed the grounds crew were hard at work. It really isn’t far off now.

I found (HT: Balls, Sticks, & Stuff) a little bit of Youtube footage of Jim Ed Warden, a Rule V draft pick-up who were unlikely to see here in Ottawa, and some of Chris Coste, who I hope we don’t see in Ottawa for reasons I blogged ad nauseum.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WvgCea34bwA">

You’ve just got to bear with me until this weekend. 20 days until OD!

I see that the roster on the Lynx website has undergone some revision - I’ve got profiles to do on Eude Brito, Danny Sandoval, Jesus Merchan…. maybe I’ll just wait until the roster is finalized this weekend.

Stay tuned, I should have something meaningful up later today.

Hmmm…

“Monday is cut day in Clearwater and seven more Phillies hopefuls have been sent to Minor League camp.

Outfielder Ron Calloway, infielder Brent Abernathy and righthander Joe Bisenius were informed that they would not make the Opening Day roster, but will accompany the club to Philadelphia for the weekend On-Deck Series against the Red Sox. Pitchers Eude Brito and Fabio Castro were optioned to Minor League camp; third baseman Brennan King and catcher Dusty Wathan, both non-roster invitees, were re-assigned to Minor League camp.” (full story is here)

What does this mean for us here in Ottawa? For starters (no pun intended), J.A. Happ’s hopes are still alive, and if Carlos Ruiz’s shoulder and Chris Coste’s hamstring don’t improve, Jason Jaramillo’s going to stick around in Philly for a while too. For some real analysis, we have to steal, er… cut and paste from Phuture Phillies:

So, let’s take a look at how this latest purge affects the bullpen. If we do a tally, we have 8 starting position players, 5 starting pitchers, that’s 13 spots. The norm is a 5 man bench, so we’re up to 18 spots, which means a 7 man bullpen. Here are the “locks”

You almost have to assume that Alfonseca is going to get a spot, simply because he’s dripping with veteranacity, even though he isn’t a very good pitcher. On merit, Segovia probably deserves the last spot, but with Warden being a Rule 5 guy, he’s probably going to end up sticking unless he implodes in the final week and Segovia dazzles. Keep an eye on today’s game, as Segovia is starting against the Yankees.

Early result from the aforementioned Yankees game: 7-7 tie. No word yet on how Zack Segovia fared.

*** UPDATE ***

(Phillies pitching coach Rich Dubee tells Zach Segovia he’s being taken out of the Yankees game after he gave up five runs, as catcher Rod Barajas (left) and first baseman Ryan Howard listen to the news. )

The word is in, and its not really good: 4 2/3 innings, 5 runs (4 of them earned) on 3 hits, 2 BB, 2 Ks, 1 HR.