Grapefruiting 2009: Phillies Reveal … Not Much … When Spoken To

Yesterday Phillies Nation spoke with (read: struggled through a healthy collection of beers) myriad Phillies, and here are some quick hits from those conversations:

• President/CEO Dave Montgomery: “Stick with us,” because he expects another championship or two soon.
• General Manager Ruben Amaro Jr: (smile, smile, smile, nod, smile) “Well, thank you.”
• Brad Lidge: Appreciates that he was the greatest thing since sliced bread to walk into our lives.
• Chase Utley: Claims he prefers Pacifico Beer, but I wasn’t quite buying it (Geoff Jenkins confirmed, however).
• Geoff Jenkins: Yes, he loves Pacifico Beer.
• Chad Durbin: Knows his dad visits Phillies Nation, but he’s OK with it, long as he’s not commenting too much. Understands and respects our place. Then I told him he was my secret 2008 MVP and he laughed.
• John Mayberry Jr.: Became wide eyed when I told him people were looking at him as a potential everyday guy. He just wants to make the team. And he’s huge.
• Greg Dobbs: Appreciative. For some reason we fawned over him. Might’ve been the hair.
• Raul Ibanez: Extremely cool and smooth. Can’t wait to start the season. Knows Philadelphia’s intensity.
• Clay Condrey: Joked about the deception of his fastball (he said it wasn’t that fast).
• Tom McCarthy: Great conversation about his announcing (he loves doing fan spots), the legend of Harry (wants him to stay on forever, if possible) and prospects for 2009 (likes the Phils even more this year).
• Jamie Moyer: Appreciative. We were at his charity auction/event for Camp Erin, which helps grieving children in their most important times.

We’ll have photos from the event posted soon.