Phillies Nation

Lot of questions this week to check out, not a lot of time – let’s get to it!

From willcorr91 via Twitter: Now that Hamilton is off the market, who’s next on the short list of free agents?

Let’s address the title of this mailbag first: the Mega Powers Explode was the subtitle of Wrestlemania V, the Wrestlemania where the Mega Powers, Hulk Hogan and Randy Savage, reached a boiling point and fought each other over the WWF title, and more importantly, the love of Elizabeth. How it relates to this mailbag and this question? Eric Seidman and I have vastly different opinions to this question.

Eric is like Hulk Hogan when it comes to talking baseball – he’s stable, his actions are reasonable, he’s got a tremendous Twitter following, and he’s generally right on the money. I see myself as “Macho Man” Randy Savage – I sometimes have wild, reactionary opinions to Phillies news (“Get Excited About Chad Qualls“), wear sequined robes, and depending on the article, I’m either with or against Eric. Eric’s piece about Scott Hairston or Laynce Nix being a cheaper and possibly as effective solution to the Phillies’ outfield situation was way too rational for my tastes. This was the equivalent of the Macho Man being completely befuddled by Hulk Hogan’s completely rational helping the lovely Miss Elizabeth up after she was knocked to the mat by the giant Akeem on the Main Event in February 1989.

I’m not going to doctor footage like the Macho Man did and maniacally attempt to discredit Eric – I agree with him and the premise of his article, which I read as this: a combination of Hairston, Nix, and John Mayberry would likely produce the same result as the Phillies signing Cody Ross. But, that’s not the move I would make. I’d make the Macho Man move, much like he made in 1989 with his world title: I’m taking my ball and going into battle with the guys I have.

But, if you’re wondering who’s next on the Phillies list, it’s Ross, with a hint of interest in Rick Porcello per Danny Knobler of CBS Sports and Vernon Wells per Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports. Yuck.

Continue reading PN Mailbag #5: Mega Powers Explode

I love the Phillies because it is common conversation in my family growing up. One more thing to build a stronger family around. They also provided me with a topic for soda tab chain mail that I made. Which can be seen if you goggle “3000 soda tab Phillies jersey“.

- Andrew

Read more “Why I Love the Phillies” stories from Phillies Nation readers here.

Ten: Young's number and the number of months he'll be on the team starting today.

While holiday shopping today, I was taken aback – a leading Philadelphia-area retailer already had no less than six stacks of Michael Young t-shirt jerseys, affectionately known by fans in the Twittersphere and Facebook world as shirseys. Consider for a minute the implications of what buying said shirt has, listed in order of likeliness:

- You are made of money – i.e. you can afford buying a t-shirt of a player that you know for absolute certain is only playing one season with the team whose logo appears on the front

- You like the novelty of having a shirt that will only be factually accurate in real time for approximately ten months

- You anticipate liking the novelty of having a shirt that will only have been factually accurate in real time for approximately ten months

- You like the number ten

- You are a Michael Young fan

- You are an overzealous Sixers fan who saw “Young” and a “1″ and mistook it for a “Swaggy P”, aka Nick Young shirsey

Admittedly, we rarely cover or talk about Phillies merchandise. They likely do not need our help in selling merchandise. As much as I am a member of the media now, I frequently purchase Phillies merchandise as gifts, particularly for my brother Bill who is a die-hard Phillies fan living in Orlando, FL. The Michael Young shirseys got me thinking: with a lot of folks looking to buy gifts for Phillies fans for the holiday season, it might be helpful to narrow it down for the non-fan gift giver. After the jump is an info graph listing the Top 10 followed by a person-specific list. Click to make much, much bigger.

Continue reading Shirsey Power Rankings and Holiday Buyer’s Guide

The story of the Phillies and my fandom is called Phifty Shades of Red. I’m 44, and have been following the Phillies since I could talk.

I recall many summers with my radio listenening to games from the West Coast when staying with my grandfather into the wee hours. This was in the 70s, and I kept a log of all the games with highlights, and computed my own statistics long before the Internet came along. I was a prodigy to my grandfather’s buddies, as we would discuss Lefty, Michael Jack, and my all-time favorite player, the fiery Larry Bowa, who I had the fortune to meet several times, notably when he broke his thumb and we spotted him at the old King of Prussia Mall.

Why do I love them? I love baseball, the smell of the old Vet, the majesty of Citizens Bank Park, and the Phillies because they have a swagger and personality no other team has. I am a Philly girl at heart,even though I grew up in the suburbs. There are times they make me crazy, like early this year, but fifty shades of red…they are turning it around.

They have fire, spunk, and a real love of the game that transcends the teams built just for profit. My husband often threatens to pull the cable plug….but he knows from April to October, I rule the television. He is amazed that I DVR afternoon games.

In the end, like all great relationships, love is the answer!

- Laura

Read more “Why I Love the Phillies” stories from Phillies Nation readers here.

Hey all, come join me this Sunday evening at 6:30 p.m. for Sports Quizzo at the Fieldhouse Sports Bar in Center City Philadelphia. I’ll be hosting alongside Johnny Goodtimes, one of the most well-known quizmasters in the Philly area.

We’ll have some great food and drink specials, plus awesome prizes. The grand prize is 4 tickets to a Phillies game in 2013 with limo service to and from the ballpark. All for knowing your sports!

So bring your team of up to four players and join us for some fun during football Sunday, this Sunday.

I began following the Phillies in 1948. My best pal, my Uncle Joe introduced me to them and I was hooked. If Uncle Joe liked them they must be good…turns out they weren’t. But I didn’t care. I was 6 and had never seen a game, just heard Joe’s stories. He saw the Babe and Lou play, yet this Johnstown-born man wasn’t a Yankee fan, nor a Pirate follower. He moved to Harrisburg area in the late ’30s and followed the Phils from then until he passed away in 1959. So over 65 seasons I’ve agonized over the Phils but I do it because I know Uncle Joe is looking down on me and smiling because all these years and two World Series winners…and I still follow them. This was a thank you letter to my Uncle Joe.

- Jim

Read more “Why I Love the Phillies” stories from Phillies Nation readers here.

This post has been a collaboration with Daniel Smith, a fellow baseball and poker fan.

While baseball has been the American pastime for over 100 years, there is another game that has been growing in popularity over the last decade. Much like baseball, it is simple to learn but also very difficult to master. This game is poker.

Anyone that has been a fan of baseball for more than 20 years or anyone that follows the Los Angeles Dodgers knows pitching great and Cherry Hill High School East grad Orel Hersheiser. Hersheiser was as well known for his friendly demeanor away from the field as he was for his pitching dominance on the field.

Upon retirement, Hersheiser took up the game of poker but many were no aware of this fact. That changed in 2008 when Hersheiser was invited to be a celebrity participant in the NBC National Heads-Up Championship. Celebrity players are really a gimmick that the event used to boost ratings, but Hersheiser didn’t come to be a gimmick player, but instead he came to win.

Hersheiser took the skills that he learned in baseball and applied them to the game of poker. Those skills include keen focus, attention to details, the ability to change your strategy based on your opponent and even the situation, and stamina to withstand the long hours at the table.

Hersheiser surprised everyone by not just winning his first round match-up, but then he proceeded to navigate his way through the field of 64 players to reach the Elite Eight of the event. Hersheiser just narrowly missed making the final four of the tournament and finished the event in 5th place.

After a long career that included a victory in the 1988 World Series, Orel Hersheiser proved that he had the ability to hang with the big boys of poker. Hersheiser is not the only baseball player to try their hand at poker. New York Yankees shortstop Alex Rodriguez is a known poker player as is retired Oakland A’s slugger Jose Canseco.

The World Series of Poker broadcasts in 2003 began a poker boom in this country that has caught the attention of many Americans, and that includes Major League Baseball players. Both baseball and poker have amazing similarities that not only include those mentioned earlier, but both games are considered a bit of a grind. Baseball games and poker games can go for long periods of time without any activity to speak of and then explode into moments of action and drama that gets the fans on their feet and cheering for their favorite players.

With the growing popularity of the game of poker, there is little surprise that baseball players are taking up the game. It is a great way to keep competitive in-between games and for those that have retired, it is a way to take the skills they learned on the diamond and apply them to another game and remain competitive. While poker will likely not surpass baseball as the national pastime, it very well could become the preferred alternative to baseball.

Join us at The Grey Lodge in NE Philly (map) next Wednesday, December 5th at 8pm for an evening of Phillies Quizzo to raise money for Philabundance. Show off your Phillies knowledge with a team of 4 (or fewer) and you can win prizes like t-shirts, posters, DVDs, bar tabs and more!

We’ll also have raffles featuring a Roy Halladay autograph and cash prizes.

The event is sponsored by Holy Family University Athletics.

RSVP here on our Facebook page and show up early to be sure you get a seat upstairs.

I grew up in New England, where I was exposed to the Red Sox growing up. Unfortunately, I could never get excited about the team.

One day, back around 2004 or so, I was watching the Phillies on television and instantly fell in love with the team. They showed a great deal of heart and struck me as a team full of true winners, regardless of their win-loss record at the end of the season. Ever since that year, I’ve been following the team religiously.

When I started dating my boyfriend (now fiance) five and a half years ago, he began to love the team just as much as I do. Although it’s hard to take trips to Philadelphia, we’ve been to see the Phillies play at home two separate times and have seen them play five times in all (between the two of us). On top of everything, my fiance proposed to me at Citizens Bank Park this past week when he took me to a game for my birthday! It was one of the best moments of my life and made the Phillies and the park that much more special!

I don’t think I could ever love any other team as much as the Phillies!

- Amber

Read more “Why I Love the Phillies” stories from Phillies Nation readers here.

This holiday season, we’re offering a special deal on some of our best selling Phillies merchandise. The Phillies Nation Holiday Package includes an amazing Phillies print by local artist Dan Duffy, one of our cool t-shirts and 4 PHILS stickers – all for $45. That includes shipping, too. This is a perfect gift for any Phillies fan on your list – so get a few!