Phillies ride into Denver wearing black cowboy hats

DENVER - The Phillies boarded their flight west on Wednesday afternoon wearing black cowboy hats. Carlos Ruiz, who lives on a ranch during the offseason in Panama, bought the hats for the players and coaches to wear to Denver for the final road trip before the all-star break.

The team's first half has been filled with ups and downs, but at least it was guaranteed to end in style.

"Everybody was happy wearing the cowboy hats. It was something different," Ruiz said. "I try to keep everyone relaxed. Everybody enjoyed it."

The catcher thought of the idea after buying a cowboy hat when the team was in Arizona and wearing it back to Philadelphia. His teammates liked the hat, so Ruiz asked them if they would like their own. He left the hats at everyone's locker on Sunday and instructed them to wear them on the plane to Colorado.

"It was pretty funny," Freddy Galvis said. "Doing this stuff pulls the team together and on the same page. I think if you want to be a winning team, everyone has to be on the same page. That's something that can bring us together. Everyone was having fun, taking pictures and stuff."

Ruiz spends his offseasons as an actual cowboy. His Panama ranch in his hometown of David is filled with horses and cows, which he can rein in on horseback. The catcher said he has to be careful and mount only the tame horses - Ruiz does not want something "crazy" to happen.

"When I retire, I'm going to have plenty of time to do that every day and enjoy it," Ruiz said.

Ruiz asked Pete Mackanin if he would be OK with the players matching their hats with jeans instead of the usual suits they wear when traveling by plane. The manager obliged. Mackanin made clear that he was not trying to mimic Cubs manager Joe Maddon, who often has his players wear zany outfits on road trips. This idea belonged to Ruiz, Mackanin said.

Mackanin wore his cowboy hat on the team plane and matched it with a pair of boots. He said bench coach Larry Bowa, who wore a cowboy hat during the 1980 World Series parade, did not wear his hat.

"He carried it and said it was too small," Mackanin said. "But I think he was lying. I think he didn't want to wear it."

Andrew Bailey will be activated from the disabled list and join the Phillies on Friday. The righthanded reliever pitched a scoreless inning Wednesday with triple-A Lehigh Valley. The Phillies will add another reliever on Sunday when lefthander Daniel Stumpf returns from his 80-game suspension for performance-enhancing drugs. . . . Aaron Nola, who skipped his start Thursday, will pitch a simulated game Saturday. . . . Vince Velasquez (7-2, 3.34 ERA) will make his final start of the first half Friday against Colorado's Jon Gray (5-4, 4.81).