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Mandy says Cole Hamels has a renewed sense of optimism and looks to be in the best shape of his career heading into the 2010 season, which is obviously great news. She also says he will be working diligently on that curveball, something everyone wants to see. As for the new man in town, Roy Halladay, he’s so big and such a rock star, that the media room runs out of food every time he speaks. Amazing.
Mandy is originally from the Wilkes-Barre area and started writing for The Times Leader in Wilkes-Barre when she was 16. She had played four sports, but was diagnosed with HCM, the same heart disease that killed college basketball star Hank Gathers, the summer going into her junior year of high school. Following that news, she started writing about sports instead of playing them. She’s a graduate of Syracuse University with a degree in Newspaper.
The Morning Call is the third full-time job she’s had. Mandy has been there for six years and is in her second year covering the Phillies. Prior to that, Many covered high school and college sports at TMC and was the backup Phillies writer. She traveled in the playoffs last season and covered every home playoff game in 2008.