All I Want For "the Holidays" is the MLB Network

Ladies and gentlemen, there are 5 days left till Hannukah, 9 days left till Christmas and 16 days left till the premiere of the MLB Network. It's about time. Those of you that enjoy MLB.com's original programming, it may be a while till your favorite hosts appear on The MLB Network. The announced TV schedule is not similar to MLB.com's online schedule. MLB.com's studios are in NYC, and the MLB Network's studios will be in Secaucus NJ...so that's another bump in the road. Cross overs, while possible, might be less likely.

The great internet programming on MLB.com includes morning and afternoon talk shows, a midday fantasy advice call-in show, a lunch time talk show and variety half hour formatted show, and of course the nightly wrap up, as well as other original programming that focuses more on the history of the game. MLB.com's programming started as streaming radio shows, then upgraded to a visual medium when video feeds were provided for the same shows. Podcasts have steadily been available for most programming in recent years also. It remains to be seen if MLB Network will launch any of their internet shows onto television.

The aforementioned Network studios will include a replica baseball field that analysts will use for demonstration purposes. The infield will be half-scale, and the outfield wall will feature an out-of-town scoreboard modeled after the one at Citizens Bank Park.

Phormer Phillie Dan Plesac will be a studio analyst for MLB Network. Plesac, a 3 time all star was the last Phillies pitcher to appear in a game at Veterans Stadium.

For those of you with cable, the MLB Network is slated to be part of the NBA TV and NFL Network package. Satellite customers will have the MLB Network available also.

To touch on some other news from recent posts here....
-Raul Ibanez's deal is actually for 3 years, $31.5 million.
-In last week's Rule 5 draft, the Phillies selected RHP Robert Mosebach from the Angels, OF Javis Diaz from the Padres, and IF Kyle Haines from the Giants. Diaz and Haines were selected in the minor league portion of the draft, which means they are not required to stay on the Phillies' ML roster, or be offered back. Brett Harker, Ronald Hill and John Suomi, all Reading Phillies, were taken by other teams during the Rule 5 draft.
-Jamie Moyer's 2 year deal is worth $13 million total, with incentives. $6.5 million each year, with bonuses that could add $1.25 million each year for innings pitched totals and starts made.

Rappers in Phillies Caps

Weekend greetings to you phine pholks out there. Today's post features pictures of rappers wearing Phillies caps. Why rappers in Phillies caps, you ask? Because... Any other questions? We will start things off properly by going with a highly recognizable hip hop star. 50 Cent stays constantly relavant by consistantly creating radio friendly material to help sell (G) units, while he "keeps it real" by still rapping about the thug life he lived before becoming the 2nd highest earning black entertainer in America. 50 is seen here in a recent interview rocking a throw-back Phillies cap. Next up we'll use a throw-back screen cap from what may be the very first major appearance by a rapper wearing Phillies gear. Chuck D, of legendary rap group Public Enemy, wore a Phillies cap in the music video for rap anthem Fight The Power in 1989. The song was the lead single from the soundtrack for Spike Lee's film Do The Right Thing . Next up we'll go with some home grown tal...

Michael Taylor Q&A

Michael Taylor is currently leading the Reading Phillies' offense and is near the top of the Eastern League in most stat categories (3rd in batting avg- .342, 3rd in HR- 14, tied for second in RBI- 55, 2nd in OPS.- .994, tied for 1st in runs scored- 49, tied for 1st in hits...). The 23 year old Taylor is 6 feet 6 inches tall and has quickly grabbed the attention of phans and media alike as a top prospect to watch. I spoke with Mike Taylor over the weekend, and here is that interview. With all the big stats and being among the league leaders in so many categories, do you think you're ready for the next step? It's kind of a difficult question. Do you have anything left to prove here? There's always something to prove. There's stuff to prove every game. I mean that's one thing that's very interesting about this game. It's such a numbers oriented game. You're only as good as your last "whatever statistical category that someone's valuing". ...

PhoulBallz Interview: Off-season check in with 1B Kyle Martin

Kyle Martin, image- Jay Floyd First base prospect Kyle Martin grew up in South Carolina as a Phillies fan, admiring slugger Jim Thome , so it was a dream come true for his entire family when the organization made him their 4th round draft choice this year. A lefty batting power threat, Martin quickly made his professional debut with Class A Lakewood. The transition to the minors seemed easy, as the 23-year-old tallied a .279 average with five home runs and 37 RBI in 65 games for the BlueClaws. I recently spoke with the University of South Carolina product about his remarkable 2015 as a whole and he ranked how playing in the Phillies organization ranks against playing for Team USA in this year's Premiere 12 tournament. Read ahead for that interview and click here for my previous feature on the six-foot-two 240-pounder. -Are you still enjoying downtime right now or have you reached the stage of your off-season where you are back to baseball activities and knocking the ru...

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