Christmas on the Farm

On behalf of PhilliesNation.com, I’d like to wish a happy Christmas to all of our readers that celebrate the holiday.

In recent weeks I’ve checked in with a several Phillies minor leaguers from various levels of the organization, as holiday spirit was building, to inquire about some of the players’ favorite Christmas things. Check out the list of answers from the players I spoke with below.

FAVORITE CHRISTMAS FOOD-

RHP Jarred Cosart…”Favorite food during Christmas is chicken, ham, turkey, mashed potatoes, okra, salad. Ha ha…you name it, I’ll eat it.”

RHP Justin De Fratus…”My favorite holiday food would have to be tamales. I don’t know how many Phillies fans would know what those are, but if you are ever in Southern California during Christmas time, you have to have some.”

RHP Jake Borup…”Father-in-law makes red chile enchiladas!”

LHP Nick Hernandez…”My favorite food, or dessert I should say, now when it comes to Christmas time are Oreo Balls. It’s Oreos blended up into little bite size balls with some cream cheese that are dipped in white chocolate.”

First baseman Matt Rizzotti…”All we really do at my house is eat turkey, so I guess that’s my favorite Christmas food.”

FAVORITE CHRISTMAS SONG-

Third baseman “Moose” Mattair…”My favorite holiday song has to be The Christmas Song/Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire. That’s a new favorite, by the way, last year’s was Winter Song by Sarah McLachlan.”

Cosart…”I like the song ‘Can I Buy These Shoes’ because it makes me remember to be thankful for everything we have because it can be taken away at any time.”

De Fratus…”My favorite holiday song…O Holy Night. I really like Celine Dion’s Christmas CD called “These Are Special Times”. You can thank my Mom for that. She listened to that CD a lot when I was younger.”

Borup…”O Holy Night and Feliz Navidad.”

RHP Mike McGuire…”I’m gonna have to go with the Mariah Carey, All I Want For Christmas is You. It’s sexy.”

Rizzotti…”That’s simple- Nat King Cole, The Christmas Song. You can’t get better than the song titled ‘The Christmas Song’.”

FAVORITE CHRISTMAS MOVIE-

Mattair…”I have two favorite movies. It’s a toss up between Elf and National Lampoons Christmas Vacation! Some people have related me to Buddy the Elf, from Elf, at times and I take it as a complement!”

De Fratus…”Probably The Muppet’s Christmas Carol. It’s so funny.”

Borup…”Dumb and Dumber (not Christmas, but I watch it more than any other movie during Christmas time), Christmas Vacation and Home Alone.”

Hernandez…”I have a couple favorite Christmas movies which include the entire Home Alone series and Elf.”

McGuire…”Without a doubt, it’s Christmas Vacation! Cousin Eddie is the best.”

Rizzotti…”The Santa Clause is one, Scrooged is another, It’s a Wonderful Life is another and then obviously, A Christmas Story, so I have four favorites.”

FAVORITE CHRISTMAS TRADITION-

Mattair…”We have an awesome family tradition of getting all the aunts uncles and cousins together on Christmas Eve for a big feast and a gift exchange. Something I look forward to every year! The family just keeps growing, so it’s entertaining every year. I have the best family ever!”

Cosart…”Christmas is a time of giving and that is the most fun thing, to see my cousins’ and brothers’ eyes light up when they open their gifts. It’s also an awesome time to spend with family, friends, and my girlfriend.”

Borup…”I’m a salty over sweet kinda guy, so Christmas morning, opening stockings, my brothers would always get candy and I would get a can of Black Olives and a jar of hot peppers (jalapenos). There are a lot of cousins, nieces, nephews in the fam, so every year our aunt and uncle would have all the little kids reenact the nativity scene, with wisemen and the whole deal. Cool to see how the little kids played parts and got into the acting it out.”

Hernandez…”Since I grew up in Miami, we never had a cold Christmas so after we would open presents, it was straight to the park with the family to race the remote control cars we got. We would stay at the park for hours, play a couple of games and just play with all of our presents. We always got to open one present on Christmas Eve which was always pretty cool because my sister and I would go for the box that was the biggest.”

McGuire…”I’d have to say family breakfast. After we all open up presents early, it’s one of the few times we get to actually be together as a family. It’s just the immediate family, just the five of us.”

Rizzotti…”We go out to dinner as a family, ’cause it’s my birthday, so we always go out Christmas Eve, and we come home and open presents (with the immediate family). The next day we have the rest of the family over. (As for having my birthday on Christmas Eve) if you ask my parents it’s fantastic, ’cause they only get me one gift, but if you ask me, I kinda get jipped, but that’s alright.”

FAVORITE CHRISTMAS GIFT FROM CHILDHOOD-

Borup…”First gift I loved was a tetherball pole in 4th grade that lead me to be the Ishikawa elementary tetherball champion. Next gift was my first CD player, then when I was 14, I got a pitbull named Jasmine that is still at my parents’ house in Mesa.”

McGuire…”My first bike. I was like 9 or 10 years old. Dyno VFR!”

De Fratus…”I usually got the same thing every Christmas. I only asked for one thing…..A Rawlings Pro Preferred Glove. I couldn’t stand using the same glove 2 years in a row so all I wanted was a new glove each year. I also remember being pretty excited about getting my first electric guitar too. I love to play the guitar and make music.”

Jay Floyd is PhilliesNation’s minor league contributor. You can read more from Jay by visiting his site, PhoulBallz.com.