Bill Conlin: Chilly reception for night exhibition games in Florida
CLEARWATER, Fla. - When I'm King of the World . . . Spring-training night games will be banned . . . No club in baseball bonds better with its fans than the Phillies. Since the moves to Bright House Field and Citizens Bank Park, attended by the wildly successful Charlie Manuel Era, the once-maligned franch
CLEARWATER, Fla. - When I'm King of the World . . .
Spring-training night games will be banned . . . No club in baseball bonds better with its fans than the Phillies. Since the moves to Bright House Field and Citizens Bank Park, attended by the wildly successful Charlie Manuel Era, the once-maligned franchise has been the Pastime's hottest ticket. I get it that the promotions folks have turned the first exhibition, recently against top college teams like Florida State and Florida, into a FanFest of sorts. But March 3 in this winter of discontent is no time to be playing a night game on a Golden Suncoast transformed into a Frozen Buncoast by a lefthander named El Nino. No matter that a Phanatic promotions campaign will be kicked off in the Bright House tomorrow night, when one of a number of 5-foot, 100-pound statues of the Giddy Green Galapagan will be unveiled before J.A. Happ and an assortment of younger pitchers face the nationally ranked Seminoles.
Here is what the fans - and muttering hitters - will be getting at 7:05: temperature in the low 50s, dropping into the 40s. Brisk wind from the northwest. Realfeel temp in the low 40s. In other words, weather Phillies fans have come to cherish: World Series weather . . .
If every hockey game were played at the level of Sunday's gold-medal final to die for, the sport's popularity would soar. Trouble is, there would only be about 50 healthy players in the NHL by the All-Star Game. What a war. And the officials let them play. When Zach Parise flew from the empty-goal, six-skater swarm to tie Team Canada, 2-2, with 24.4 seconds left in regulation, I hollered while watching hockey for the first time since Associated Press legend Ralph Bernstein spilled hot coffee on my hand during the 1987 Stanley Cup finals.
When I'm King of the World . . .
Every 4 years, "Pitchers and Catchers" will be renamed "Pitchers and Catchers and Skiers and Skaters" . . . This is the first time I've been around for the pitchers-and-catchers phase of spring training since my final year on the Phillies beat, which was 1986. So, it's the first time I've had the twin delights of live baseball practice by day and Winter Olympics in high-def by night. Despite the Vancouver administrative and logistical gaffes, which ranged from annoying to hilarious, I thought the Games were the most watchable ever, thanks in no small part to the daredevils who perform in the Winter X Games events, inserted by the IOC to put a little ratings juice in Games steeped in the tradition of one skier at a time going down the hill against the clock. Side-by-side is tremendous. And the foursomes are even better. Korea's incredibly gifted Kim Yu-Na unfurled the greatest freestyle program in the history of men's or women's figure skating - on the heels of her flawless short program . . . Having covered four Winter Olympics, I know how difficult it can be for journalists coming from the familiar sports they cover in the real world to be suddenly thrust into the dominions of bobsled, luge, Nordic combined, biathlon, curling and now, halfpipe, aerials and short-track skating. Is there anything in sports wilder than the 5,000-meter four-man relay, fanny pushes and all? And I hope you enjoyed the tremendous coverage of all these exotic sports by former Daily News Eagles and Phillies beat man Marcus Hayes as much as I have. Marcus put a human face on every athlete and sport he covered and his piece on the faux outrage stirred by the Canadian women's hockey team celebrating their victory over Team USA with champagne and Molsons in an empty arena was a total hoot. Hayes managed to tell the story within the story in every piece he wrote without sounding as technocratic as the Olympics writers I called "Lords of the Rings," which all the big newspapers used to have back when they could actually afford to cover the grand Olympics stage with platoons of writers.
When I'm King of the World . . .
The NFL will take back control of its predraft combines from prima-donna quarterbacks, most of whom, if drafted, will require multiple years of clipboard-holding while they learn all the things they were clueless about in college . . . Florida's Tim Tebow went through every skill set imaginable Sunday in Indianapolis - 40 yards, vertical leap, standing broad jump, agility course - everything but the one thing that will determine his slot in the draft, throwing the damn football . . . Larry Bowa is telling his Phillies pals that former Dodger Juan Castro has the best hands he has seen in an infielder. "They're going to love him in Philly," Joe Torre's third-base coach told Chris Wheeler . . . Darren Daulton was signing autographs at the Carpenter Complex Sunday and Mickey Morandini also was in the house . . . In another blast from the 1993 past, Dave Hollins, still sporting his trademark crew cut, has been hired by the Phillies as a major league scout . . . Bill James, baseball's most prominent SABRrattler, just released his annual inventory of the most valuable young talent in baseball. I almost spit orange juice all over the keyboard when I had to read down to No. 16 to find the name of American League MVP Joe Mauer, the game's best catcher since Johnny Bench. James must have been drinking decimal points on the rocks. He ranks Mariners power arm Felix Hernandez No. 1 and Brewers wide-body Prince Fielder No. 2. Joe Mauer No. 16? One behind 2009 Mets bust David Wright? Go figure.
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