Odds And Ends: Tickets, Photo, Durbin, Park, Glanville

Did you get your tickets? More than 2.5 million tickets have already been sold for the 2009 Phillies season, which means not too many remain.

I suppose this year I’ll try my hand the old-fashioned way — through picking up deals when friends can’t attend games. Par for the course when you’re world champions.

The Phillies took a team photo with the World Series trophy yesterday.

Let that be the final reminder of 2008 for the boys on the field. Now time to focus on a repeat.

David Murphy checks in with Chad Durbin, who is now locked in as a reliever.

To me, Durbin was the single most important piece of the 2008 Phillies. He needs to see less time on the mound, or else the bullpen will be badly exposed and beaten.

For Chan Ho Park, pitching is life. And he’s making a point to win the fifth starter spot.

I hope Park gives it a good run. But if he doesn’t win the spot, I hope Park realizes his role quickly and doesn’t dwell over what could’ve been. Park will be crucial to the ‘pen’s success.

Great little piece by Doug Glanville about how difficult it is for players to handle the media, immediate fan reaction and instant opinion.

I’ve raved about Glanville’s writing before, and I continue today. Anytime his name is in the New York Times, it’s a worthy read.

Tim Malcolm

Tim first found the Phillies as a little infant at Veteran’s Stadium, cheering on a Juan Samuel game-winning home run in his very first game. With the pinstripes in his blood, he witnessed Terry Mulholland’s 1990 no-hitter, “Steve Carlton Night” at the Vet, game three of the 1993 World Series, countless games during the charmed 2008 championship season and various road excursions. Since November 2007 Tim’s been writing about them daily at Phillies Nation, becoming one of the world’s most popular Phillies scribes. You can catch him on Twitter and Facebook, as well. When he’s not talking about the Phils he’s relaxing with a St. Bernardus ABT 12 or one of his many favored brews.