It was one of those surreal “How did we get here?” moments.

Halloween, 2009. Sect. 421. My Dad and I were still buried under our ponchos even though the rain was pretty much gone. Cole Hamels was walking off the mound in the top of the fifth inning after squandering an early 3-0 Phils’ lead in Game 3 of the World Series.

Before Charlie Manuel had taken the ball from Cole, you knew what was coming. Hamels ambled his way off the mound – dejected, and a healthy round of booing acted as the soundtrack for his long walk back to the dugout.

This was just one year after the parade. Is there any precedent for a Philly athlete going from the hero of a championship team to heel in one years’ time?

Hamels, for his part, laid pretty low after the Series was over. After his ill-advised postgame remarks from Game 3 about looking forward to the end of the season, Hamels essentially vanished. All that was left was plenty of ink to burn through on speculating about what 2009 would mean for Hamels’ 2010 and beyond. Talk of secondary pitches was popular, as 2009 clearly demonstrated that Cole could not dominate based on a plus fastball, killer change and subpar curveball.

By all accounts, Hamels has come to spring training with a renewed focus. He showed up early, has demonstrated a desire to master not just one, but 2 additional pitches and he’s saying all the right things to the scribes. I think that the appropriate stance for even the most cynical among us is to see how it goes – give Cole a chance in April to…

Today, Lopes’ counterpart at third, Sam Perlozzo, was featured in an Inquirer article by Andy Martino that explained all the work that the Phillies’ second year coach is doing with all 4 infielders to addressed aspects of their fieldwork.

Lopes’ contributions to the Phillies are numerous, but Todd Zolecki broke down the team’s baserunning prowess with Lopes as the first base coach:

His presence in Philadelphia has been invaluable. The Phils have an 84.5 stolen-base percentage the past three seasons, which easily leads baseball. (The Rangers are second at 78.7 percent). The Phillies set a Major League record with an 87.9 stolen base percentage in 2007. Their 84.5 percent mark in ‘08 ranks second in baseball history.

Players like Werth, Shane Victorino, Jimmy Rollins and Chase Utley talk about Lopes like he is the Jedi Master of basestealing. One wonders what would happen to the team’s basestealing fortunes when he leaves.

Perlozzo has taken on the task of working on the infielders’ defense. What struck me most about Martino’s article on Perlozzo was this nugget about Ryan Howard:

For the second consecutive year, Howard contacted Perlozzo in January, and the two worked at Bright House Field five times before spring training.

“It’s something we made strides on last year, and now we want to take it to another level,” Perlozzo said. “You’re always looking for more consistency. When we started with him, it was like he hadn’t forgotten anything, so he’s in a good place to build on that.”

…

Jimmy Rollins

Is it really necessary for Jimmy Rollins to show up for everything at the last minute? I know that Jayson Werth and Greg Dobbs showed up today also, but neither are generally considered leaders of the ball club. I’ll bet that Jimmy really wanted to show up 4 days ago, but couldn’t possibly succumb to the notion of being early for anything in his life.

I love Rollins, and certainly think that he should be a Phillie forever, but I find his cavalier attitude about things like this to be really grating. Perhaps I am overreaching, but I don’t think so.

Chan Ho Park

So Chan Ho is now a Yankee, taking a one year contract with no guarantee to start for significantly less than he could have signed with the Phillies earlier in the offseason.

Well, that didn’t exactly work out so well, did it?

With Danys Baez and Jose Contreras already in the fold, Chan Ho was running out of options, and his contract terms indicate as much.

All things being equal, I’d rather have Park than Contreras.

Werth

Jayson Werth showed up at camp after auditioning for Castaway 2, and had more to say about his future with the Phillies than he did his new facial hair.

Like many of the players who have worn the red pinstripes over the past few years, Werth seems to genuinely want to remain a Phillie, but hoping for the lanky rightfielder to stick around beyond this year seems like wishful thinking. If Werth’s 2010 resembles his 2009 campaign in any way, shape or form, he will be due a big payday.

I think that you have to figure…

Ok, a brief aside regarding luge in the wake of the tragic death of Georgian slider Nodar Kumaritashvili. It is embarrassing and shameful that the Olympic community at large and the luge folks in particular are so quick to write off his death as human error, but then see fit to erect a wall covering exposed steel beams and shortening the track by 176 yards. Had that wall been up before Kumaritashvili’s deadly training run, perhaps he’d be alive today. The fall itself didn’t kill him. Hurtling from his sled and flying into a steel beam killed him. Completely senseless and unnecessary.

So, we’re getting whacked by Old Man Winter every 4 days and the Winter Olympics are in full swing. But, the best news of the week came courtesy of the simple act of loading a truck bound for Florida carrying balls, gum, equipment and the promise of better weather and a season of great hope for Phillies fans.

Now that the Phillies are almost through with their winter hibernation, so will The Shibe Times. I’ve been slammed at my day job and just too busy to mine the google machine for Phillies nuggets or Baseball Reference for stats and more. But the gods are shining on me, as work will start to slow down just in time for the Phils to heat up. Life is good.

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If you missed it, David Murphy wrote the definitive breakdown of Jayson Werth’s future with the Phillies. These types of posts by Murphy are part…

But I did want to point folks to a really hard to watch video of Roy Halladay and his wife being interviewed at a horse show. Apparently Mrs. Halladay is a big horse lover.

Watch this at your own peril. The fact that our new ace sits through this and does his best to look mildly interested is a testament to his character.

Among the revelations in Costas’ interview with “Crash” is that Allen thinks Robin Robert, not Mike Schmidt, is the greatest Phillie ever.

You can’t find the interview online, so you;ll have to keep your eye out on MLB Network’s schedule. Here is an unrelated Allen vid:

Speaking of Robin Roberts, with any luck he will drop to Number 2 all-time in home runs surrendered by a pitcher. Jamie Moyer is just 15 long balls away from passing Roberts.

Listening to Cliff Lee talk about leaving the Phillies literally makes my head hurt.

Exactly what alternate universe have Phillies fans been transported to where their favorite team is the pretty girl that everyone wants to take to the prom?

Former Cy Young Roy Halladay takes a well below market deal to come to Philly and calls it a “dream come true”. Former Cy Young Cliff Lee was in the midst of what he thought was typical back and forth negotiating with a team he hoped to retire with.

As Phillies fans, we should be conditioned to know that both Lee and Halladay wouldn’t come out of this happy with the Phillies.

Listen to Cliff Lee with Mike Missanelli and his conference call with Mariner’s beat writers at your own peril.

Lee with Missanelli:

Lee’s Mariner’s Conference Call:

He had that quirky phantom throw before innings. His hat looks like it had been run through a pig pen. He doesn’t ice his arm after starts, and speaking of ice, it runs through his veins in October. Unfortunately for Indians fans, they never knew this.

Losing Cliff Lee as part of the 4 team blockbuster that was completed this week is a bitter, bitter pill to swallow. It boils down to October. As fans, we connect with those moments where it really mattered. That’s why a guy like Matt Stairs still got massive ovations in 2009 despite doing very little IN 2009 to deserve it. Oh, but that homer in Game 4 of the 2008 NLCS? It may have saved the Phils season. In October, Cliff Lee left behind a shaky string of starts to end the regular season and took his game to the next level. His 4-0 postseason record and 1.56 ERA had as much to do with the Phils repeating as National League champs as Cole Hamels’ 2008 postseason dominance impacted the Phils’ World Championship in 2008. Lee’s World Series Game 1 will be remembered for years and years as one of the most dominant games pitched in a World Series.

So, when we see Cliff Lee jettisoned to Seattle for 3 prospects in order to replenish a decimated top end of the farm system, feelings of loss are expected. Little did we know that Game 5 of the World Series would be our last chance to see Clifton Phifer Lee take the ball for the Phils.

But it’s over, folks. Cliff is gone. It’s time to revel in what we’ve got.

A guy that wanted to be here – he called it…

At this point, reading every beat writer’s tweets or blog updates is a waste of time. And frankly it is annoying. How can so many of these guys be so far off from one another in terms of which prospects are/are not included? Until it is on the Phillies website, I am taking it with a massive grain of salt, even if it is coming from someone as in the know as Jim Salisbury or Todd Zolecki.

I know that many Phillies fans will not like the notion of giving up Cliff Lee when the Phillies control him for one more year and could receive 2 picks for him when/if he leaves after 2010. But it seems clear that:

a. Cliff Lee wants to hit the free agent market and see what the market bears after the 2010 season.

b. Roy Halladay wants to be a Phillie and is willing to sign now.

I would prefer Lee over Halladay on a long-term deal: he has a rubber arm, obviously can pitch in the big game, and is one of the more deliberate, thinking pitchers the Phils have had take the mound in a long time. But, it’s hard to begrudge Lee in this case. He is going to be next offseason’s Tickle Me Elmo. He won a Cy Young 2 years…

Eric Bruntlett – no one made the unassisted triple play look less deserved than you. Kudos, sir.

Bako, Cairo etal. We hardly knew ya. Best wishes this holiday season.

Ruben Amaro Jr. made no bones about his desire the upgrade the Phillies bench during the 2009 offseason. And while it is debatable as to exactly how much he did improve the bench, there is little argument that glaring weaknesses have been addressed with suitable upgrades.

Juan Castro, Brian Schneider and Ross Gload now comprise 60% of the Phillies bench and with Ben Francisco and Greg Dobbs rounding out the fivesome, there is some hope that a pinch hitting opportunity will actually be more worthwhile in 2010 than simply leaving the pitcher in to hit for himself.

Castro will be able to spell three quarters of the Phillies infield from time to time, Schneider is a solid backup catcher who has never had an opportunity to produce for a winning team and Ross Gload improved his offensive metrics as a bench player for the Marlins last year and can play 1st base or the outfield.

Are any of these pickups earth shattering? No, but if there were sexy options for the bench, they’d be starting elsewhere.

But if the last few years of Phillies playoff baseball have taught us anything, it is that the signings that can’t crack the front page of the Inqy still have a chance to score the winning run in a World Series game.

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Ruben Amaro Jr. does his best to throw water on the continued Roy Halladay rumors that the Phillies are still in the mix for the Blue Jays’ ace righthander. With the public knowledge that Halladay wants to…