Six points to brighten up your Monday

Beerleaguer hates Mondays, but loves the Phillies and the rest of his teams. Here are six thoughts to chase away your Monday morning blues.

No. 1: No sport is seeing a greater boost from the Internet and technology than Major League Baseball.

The Web sites associated with Major League Baseball, including Phillies.com, are very well done, organized and accessible. Buying tickets is a snap, especially using the e-ticket feature which allows users purchase and print tickets from their home computer.

Besides the company sites, ESPN.com has done a remarkable job baiting readers to subscribe to their pay product, getting the largest push (I’m sure) from exclusive trade rumors and the hot stove. With a staff that includes some of the best writers in the business, baseball is ESPN’s forte (excluding Joe Morgan) and has certainly helped revive the game.

In addition, baseball has capitalized on the satellite radio boom, selling exclusive rights to XM Radio for $650 million.

Here’s the dilemma: For all this exposure and renewed interest, including the explosion of sites like this one, I don’t see any evidence to indicate it’s driving more people to fill seats down at the ballpark.

In this information age, does a capacity crowd matter as much as we think it should when the baseball experience is being achieved through other avenues?

No. 2: Close your eyes and think: Which area of the Phillies roster scares you the most? If you said "bullpen," you’re not alone.

The latest rumor should calm your anxiety. According the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Phils are discussing a deal that would send David Bell to the Dodgers for 26-year-old reliever Duaner Sanchez. Happy Holidays if it happens; Sanchez is exactly what the bullpen needs. (Trivia: Name the last Phillies player who wore glasses.)

No. 3: If Philadelphia is a football town, it sure doesn’t feel like it this morning after the Eagles’ 26-23 overtime loss to New York. Suddenly, tonight’s game between the Timberwolves and Sixers (7 p.m. at the Wachovia Center) could blaze a new trail where sports interest is headed.

No. 4: Now that Washington has traded for Alfonso Soriano, where does he play? The displaced second-baseman said he refuses to play in the outfield. Standing in his way is veteran Expo/National Jose Vidro, who could be on the market.

Soriano is an awful second baseman, always has been, always will be. The best move for Alfonso would be to move to the outfield while he’s still relatively young.

Don’t be such a pouty-face, Alfonso. Grab your glove and trot out to right, and while you're at it, try working those big hacks into nice, level line drives to the gaps of vast RFK.

No. 5: Phillies radio broadcaster Tom McCarthy has a new gig calling games for New York Mets. T-Mac will be missed for his modern approach, enthusiasm and knowledge of the rest of teams in baseball. He was a refreshing change because he thought outside the Phillies broadcast box. A little peppier, too.

No. 6: Last but not least, congratulations to Penn State linebacker Paul Posluszny for winning the Butkus Award for top linebacker in the country. The honor gives "Linebacker U" its second Butkus Award in six years. LaVar Arrington won it in 1999.

Comments

[Ken m]

T-MAC will be more than missed...i don't think i can bear any more of Scott Graham..

i'm sorry but i really cant stand his calls of the game..

next yr if you're in the car listening..think of me when you hear late in the 8th inning the following...

the pitch.....outside..............
..................................
.................................
corner for a strike

unbearable

[Tom Goodman]

The Nats are justifiably worried about Vidro's health. He has had knee problems for several years now. Too bad because he is a terrific player.

Soriano is an awful second baseman as you point out. I cannot imagine he'd be any better in the outfield or that the Nats traded for him in order to play out there. My guess is they believe Vidro will not hold up physically. That, plus the Nats are desperate for offense. I was surprised to see them give up on Wilkerson. True, he struck out far too much for a leadoff guy, but last year may have been something of an aberration.

As for the departure of McCarthy and retention of Scott Graham, I can only say I have taken to listening to televised games with the sound off depending on who is calling the game at any given moment. I tried subsituting the radio but found Graham more grating than Wheels. So, I simply turn the sound on the TV down when Wheels is at the mike. Graham is one of those ernest enthusiasts whose accent is straight out of Broadcast School. He would fit in nicely with the national broadcasters like Joe Buck. Come to think of it, maybe they freely substitute for each other when no one is paying any attention.

[Tom G]

Last player to wear glasses....Kent Tekulve?

[J. Weitzel]

At the height of his career playing up in Montreal, Vidro was one of the most underrated players in baseball.

As for the Nats' offense, I went to one of the Nats games around the middle of the season, back when they were in first place, and said to my stepdad "This team has Carlos Baerga batting clean-up. They're going nowhere." After that, they started to fall.

[ae]

bell for sanchez would be a heckuva deal. my fingers are crossed on that one.

i think it's a safe bet that wilkerson will put up great numbers in texas next year. even when he only hits .248 he's productive. soriano, on the other hand...he looks an awful lot like juan samuel to me.

[Joe Siegler]

Hey, I run a Rangers site, and we've had Soriano for the last two years. He's not as bad as his reputation goes. Yeah, he makes a few boneheaded plays in the field, but most guys do. I'm more worried about his tendency to stare at his home run balls. There were several times over the last two years where doing that cost him some bases on balls that didn't go out.

Yeah, if you look up his error numbers, they're not great (21 in 05, 23 in 04, 19 in 03), but they're not obscenely awful. I don't buy into the "he's a terrible 2B, always will be" matra. I watched him day in and day out for the last two years. I've seen an awful lot worse.

I'm quite happy with what we got for Soriano. Although I am puzzled as to why they'd give so much up for him, given he's likely going to go back to New York after 2006.

[MPN]

Vicente was just dealt to the Rangers for a player(s) to be named.

[pat]

speaking of the rangers, according to espn.com the phils just traded padilla there for a PTBNL...i think this is the first move of the pat gillick era i emphatically hate.

[Ed]

But aren't most observers (not that national media ppl are smart) puzzled at that trade from the Rangers' point of view? For a "premier" 2b (I don't like him all that much, b/c of his low low OBP, but ppl love his SLG), they got Wilkerson and 2 bodies... most notably NOT an MLB ready starting pitcher... I think they could have gotten more.

That said, I think Soriano is still a bad 2b, esp since that position is one in which defense actually matters a lot more than the offense you bring in (unlike LF or 1b to an extent). Plus, like I said before, his OBP is atrocious.

[Ed]

Wow.
I really hope they got a good player back for Padilla. He's inconsistent, and I definitely think we're better off without him, but he had value, like a poor man's Matt Clement or something.

[kuff6]

any info/rumors on who the ptbnl will be?

[kuff6]

Isn't Padilla at about $4 million a big bargain compared to what a lot of joker pitchers are getting these days?

[Oisin]

Jason, meant to comment briefly on the attendence thing, because it's a good question, and attendence at baseball games is an intriguing case. My only real comparison would be football (both club and national games). the television deals between the premiership (england's serie A/primera liga) and sky haven't led to a huge fall off in numbers attending until this year, the exception being the earlier rounds of club tournaments like the champions league where supporters of more successful teams showed a lack of interest.

The drop off in the attendence this year at the start of the season scared the meeja and FA witless. Overpriced tickets were blamed(true - I go to an ireland game for 25 euro or about £15 pounds - you don't go to a premiership game that cheap anymore), oversaturation of footie on TV, the quality of football played by the current champions deemed too 'boring'. Whatever the cause, it was clear demonstration that even if park attendence is not principle - even major - income stream anymore, the home crowd is an important touchstone for a club nonetheless - a barometer of feeling of the wider fanbase. I think this holds for baseball too - nothing gives a club confidence more than knowing that the supporters are desperate to see them play, and a run of sellout games must bouy all but the most blase teams.

Personally, the size of crowd matters less than their enthusiasm. When it comes to Ireland games, I despise the silent fan who comes to watch their country play and says nothing, or worse, moans throughout the game. (Likewise during playoffs - I think as a fan you have a duty to cheer a team onto the last - if you want to boo them at a crucial time like that, you better have an excellent reason, else just stay in the bar and gripe into your drink.)