The Philadelphia Phillies Winter Tour, formerly known as the Phillies Caravan, will be returning to Reading in its traditional form for the first time since 1996.
Guests will include General Manager Pat Gillick, manager Charlie Manuel and a slate of players, including center fielder Aaron Rowand, new closer Tom Gordon and Rookie of the Year winner Ryan Howard, among others.
The event will be held Wednesday, Jan. 25 at the Sheraton in Reading. Tickets are $50. For ticket information, click here.
The event will have a dual purpose, also serving as Baseballtown Charities annual fund raiser and King of Baseballtown banquet. This year, Baseballtown Charities honors Rocky Santilli, local fast-pitch softball manager and owner of more than 2,000 career wins.
Beerleaguer take
Not only am I excited to rub elbows with the people I obsess over every morning, it's noteworthy for another reason.
The Phillies have two goals this winter, not one. The first is what we discuss most often: ways to improve the club and win a championship. The second may be just as important, and that’s reconnecting with fans.
Having grown up in the Reading area, I can tell you there’s no bigger pound-for-pound concentration of Phillies fans than here in Berks County. The Reading Phillies have been a tremendous success, setting attendance marks year after year. By virtue of having such talent as Ryan Howard, Pat Burrell and Jimmy Rollins pass through town, fans here have a special connection to these players. They're like our children in a way, and we're very proud. We’re well informed, too. Mike Drago, the Reading Eagle beat writer for the R-Phils, does a tremendous job, as do the R-Phils themselves, considered the standard by which other minor league teams are measured.
Dang it. I should be getting a check for this stuff.
Anyway, the revival of the Winter Tour / Caravan is a positive step, and it’s great to finally see some Phillies out and about somewhere other than Old City at 2 a.m. It's part of the duty of being a ballplayer. Otherwise, they should compete in a less dignified sport, like NASCAR.
Kindly ask Pat how we couldn't spin The Iguana for Vasquez? I know Javy wanted to be closer to Puerto Rico and I guess we haven't been informed that there must be some sort of new continental drift taking place to move CHicago closer to PR.
Posted by: That Dude | Wednesday, December 14, 2005 at 11:39 AM
I think I remember the Phils being on Vazquez's no-trade list. I don't know if Chicago was on that list.
Posted by: tc | Wednesday, December 14, 2005 at 12:59 PM
I agree, connecting with the fans is just as important as fielding a winner.
"Anyway, the revival of the Winter Tour / Caravan is a positive step, and it’s great to finally see some Phillies out and about somewhere other than Old City at 2 a.m. It's part of the duty of being a ballplayer. Otherwise, they should compete in a less dignified sport, like NASCAR."
-outstanding, can't stop laughing!
Posted by: Double E | Wednesday, December 14, 2005 at 01:39 PM
Update: Harry the K will MC the event.
Posted by: J. Weitzel | Wednesday, December 14, 2005 at 02:50 PM
Jason: Last paragraph puts you right up there with funnyman BS&S. Had me laughing out loud.
Posted by: Tom Goodman | Wednesday, December 14, 2005 at 03:06 PM
OK the Dodgers just got Bill Mueller - who can we get to pitch from the Pirates for Bell?
Posted by: Verdeforce | Wednesday, December 14, 2005 at 03:39 PM
The Phillies Caravan is a fun time though only a few B list players usually show up. A few years back I got to ride the bus with the contingent to and from Reading. On the way back, Harry, Whitey, Morandini, and Dutch Daulton, we're taking shots of beer cans and playing poker on the bus. Then Bill Giles bought us all cheeseburgers from a rest stop Mickey D's. When I was that young and saw a man walk into a McDonalds and 200 cheeseburgers, it really left an impression on me. I want to own a baseball team one day and so I can buy a bus full of people cheeseburgers and not think twice. Too bad that's where all the payroll money went to in the '90s.
Posted by: Brian Michael | Wednesday, December 14, 2005 at 03:47 PM
i'm sure the pirates would love to unload the phillykiller, kip wells. brian, how'd you swing that?
Posted by: gr | Wednesday, December 14, 2005 at 04:25 PM
per espn page 2, here are the unis that reading will were on tuesdays next year:
http://www.readingphillies.com/trout/2006/12_01_forbes.jpg
Posted by: gr | Thursday, December 15, 2005 at 05:27 PM
Nice sun-burned picture of Gillick, Jason. Or were you showing us your PhotoShop skills?
Posted by: Tom Goodman | Thursday, December 15, 2005 at 05:37 PM
Great Site. You are now my main source to keep up with the Phillies. I especially enjoy your player evaluations. I moved down to New Orleans in 1978. I am now a Hurricane Katrina evacuee working & living in exile in Houston, Texas. It really burns me that there was a World Series in Houston because the Phillies let the Astro's sweep them during crunch time. To top things off, my wife decided to wash my Phillies cap. Now the stitching of the "P" is unravelling. I went to Walmart here in Houston the other day. If I were a Red Sox or Yankees fan, they had plenty of caps to buy. It's hard to be a Phillies fan so far away. Thanks for your work.
Posted by: Lake Fred | Thursday, December 15, 2005 at 10:30 PM
Lake Fred: Comments like that keep my creative juices flowing. Thank you!
Posted by: J. Weitzel | Friday, December 16, 2005 at 11:21 PM