Ed Barkowitz: Madson keeps Phillies teammates loose
CINCINNATI - The Phillies are trying to become the first club to win three consecutive National League pennants since the mid-1940s. With such a daunting challenge, you'd think the club would be a little tight.
CINCINNATI - The Phillies are trying to become the first club to win three consecutive National League pennants since the mid-1940s. With such a daunting challenge, you'd think the club would be a little tight.
You'd think wrong.
Ryan Madson walked into a Halloween store a few days ago and purchased a mask. It's not a scary mask, but one with a bunch of wrinkles, sort of like you might see of a caricature of Ronald Reagan.
"It's Miguel Cairo," joked Chad Durbin.
Baseball players being extreme creatures of habit, Madson takes it everywhere he goes.
Everywhere.
"Hot tub is where it debuted. That was cool," he said. "But the first guy that walked in was Charlie Manuel, and he shook his head. But I kept with it. The guys encouraged me, and I guess my favorite place to wear it would be probably the shower."
The thing has become sort of a good-luck charm and pretty popular, despite obvious conflicts with personal hygiene.
"I saw Chooch with it on, too," Manuel laughed.
Cin city
It was a full day at the sports complex with a Reds playoff game and a Bengals game taking place in Cincinnati for the first time ever. The teams shared Riverfront Stadium for most of the Bengals' existence until 2002, so logistically it wasn't possible. The two current stadiums, plus the U.S. Bank indoor arena, are all within walking distance of one another.
"And there's even people going to Disney on Ice over here," Reds manager Dusty Baker pointed out. "It's a big, big day in Cincinnati. And I'm hoping all the teams involved can win today."
Naturally, the Bungals lost when Tampa Bay, a healthy nine-point underdog, kicked a field goal with 1 second to go.
The Reds concluded the misery by getting swept. Fortunately, Mickey Mouse came out of his event unscathed.
What's in a name?
While the name of the Reds stadium sounds a bit pretentious, Great American Ball Park is named for a Cincinnati-based insurance and investment company.
Chuck: Bring him on
Manuel's eyes grew wide when the subject of Reds 22-year-old fireballer Aroldis Chapman came up. Even though he was a career .198 hitter, Manuel would have loved the challenge of facing a guy who throws as hard as Chapman, who hit 105 mph in a game this season.
"I always look at guys like that [and think], 'That's a feather in my hat if I can get to that 100-mile-an-hour fastball,' " he said. "And that can motivate you. But also, believe me, he's got a lot of equipment there. He's going to be good."
Voice of reason
Jim Jackson was sitting in the press box in St. Louis on Saturday night counting his blessings. The versatile announcer really piled up the frequent flier miles in the past week and loved every minute of it.
He does pre- and postgame work for the Phillies and, of course, is the lead TV voice for the Flyers. His itinerary has been both hectic and historic.
On Wednesday, he got to see Roy Halladay's no-hitter. The following night, he was in Pittsburgh as the Flyers opened up the Penguins' new arena with a win. Then, he was back in Philly for the Phils' win in Game 2 on Friday. On Saturday, he was in St. Louis for a Flyers loss to the Blues. He arrived in Cincinnati early yesterday for last night's Phils game and was headed back to Philadelphia this morning for tonight's Flyers home opener against Colorado.
Whew.
"Another day, another city," he shrugged yesterday shortly after arriving at Great American Ball Park. "At one point last night, I was sitting in St. Louis saying, 'How lucky am I?' "
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