Skip to main content

Frosty Phillies Favorites: 2012 Christmas Survey

It's that time of year that gets you in the mood to be jolly. The biggest of all holidays is loved by all, for many reasons. Baseball players don't feel any differently.  In recent weeks, I have checked in with several Phillies players, from the bottom to the top of the system, to find out what stands out for them as reasons to get excited for Christmas.

Players that took part include Phillies rookie OF/1B Darin Ruf (pictured), lefty pitching prospect Austin Wright, former supplemental 1st round draft pick, outfielder Zach Collier, right-handed minor league pitcher David Buchanan, third base prospect Cody Asche, former top draft pick, outfielder Kelly Dugan, whose father Dennis Dugan is a film director, and, lastly, catcher Josh Ludy, who was drafted by the Phils in the 8th round this year.

Questions and answers detailing each player's holly jolly holiday favorites are ahead...


What's your favorite Christmas movie or TV special?

Darin Ruf- Elf with Will Ferrell is my favorite.

Austin Wright- The Grinch Who Stole Christmas- always liked that movie.

Zach Collier- A Charlie Brown Christmas is my favorite one.

David Buchanan-  Favorite Christmas movie is Elf. My family watches it every year!

Cody Asche- I always spend holidays watching all of the college football bowl games. It's my favorite thing to watch on TV.

Kelly Dugan- I like Love Actually.  That's a good one.  And It's a Wonderful Life is a good movie too.

Josh Ludy- I really like A Christmas Story.


What is your favorite Christmas song?

Collier- Luther Vandross, Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.

Buchanan- Joy to the World by Chris Tomlin. I see him sing at church a lot and he's also my favorite Christian artist. His version of the song is amazing!

Asche- I don't really have a concrete favorite, but I do enjoy listening to Christmas music with the family.

Dugan- I like Little Drummer Boy.  

Ludy- Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer, because it's pretty darn funny.


What food do you enjoy most at the holidays?

Wright- My aunt makes a killer Christmas cookie platter that I always look forward to.

Collier- Sweet and simple- milk and cookies.

Buchanan- Vanilla yogurt frosted pretzels! They're delicious!

Asche- My Grandma's chocolate chip cookies and oatmeal raisin cookies.

Dugan- I gotta go with mashed potatoes and turkey.  We double down on Christmas with the Thanksgiving food.

Ludy- Sugar cream pie. Depends on the year, who makes it.  But I love it.


What is your favorite Christmas gift from childhood?

Ruf- My favorite was definitely my Nintendo 64!

Wright- My dog- I got her when I was 10.

Collier- A baseball bat that was hard to afford and batting gloves!

Buchanan- Favorite gift as a toddler was a cardboard cut out of Ken Griffey Jr.

Asche- One year, I got a remote control monster truck from my grandpa. I loved that thing until I drove it down some wooden steps. It was a great gift though.

Dugan- I loved when my dad, I think he built a batting cage when I was like 12.  He built me a batting cage in the back yard.  That was a great Christmas present.

Ludy- I got a Red Ryder BB gun when I was six years old.


What is your favorite holiday tradition?


Ruf- Having dinner with my entire family is an annual event that means a lot to me.

Wright- Going to the Christmas tree lighting in the city with my family.

Collier- Going to the aunt's house with the fam and watching basketball.

Buchanan- Every year after we open presents at my Dad's we go eat breakfast at Waffle House. And at my Mom's she always has hot chocolate in the morning along with a Santa hat for me to wear, to pass out presents.

Asche- Going back to Nebraska to see all of my family that I don't see very often. 

Ludy- Getting together with all the family and enjoying the time together.


Dugan- When I was a kid, my dad's friend Michael Keaton (yes, that Michael Keaton...Batman and Beetlejuice) would come over and, on Christmas Eve, he would pretend he was Santa Claus and he used to climb up on the (roof), him and his son, and they used to bang hockey sticks on the roof with bells and pretend they were landing on the roof.  And my dad did it for his son and he did it for us and now we're planning on doing it for his kids' kids.  So, that's a tradition that we have.  We gotta keep it alive. 


From PhoulBallz.com, PhilliesNation.com and all the players that took part in this survey, we wish you all the best this holiday season.

Also, check out the 2011 holiday survey and the 2010 version.  Image editing by Eric Floyd.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

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...

Lidge Shaky, T-Mac Honored in Trenton

TRENTON, NJ- Brad Lidge made his second rehab appearance for the Double A Reading Phillies on Thursday night and it didn't go as well as the veteran reliever or the team had hoped. Lidge struggled with his command and turned in a rather poor outing for the club that entered the night in a playoff race, 1 game behind division rival Trenton for the Wild Card spot in the Eastern Division. On the disabled list since spring training with a strained right rotator cuff, Lidge experienced an elbow strain when he was working back from that issue in late May. In his outing against the Yankees affiliate in Trenton, Lidge displayed difficulty with his control as he threw three wild pitches, hit two batters, walked another and gave up a single, all while letting up two earned runs on 28 pitches in 2/3 of an inning. After the disappointing performance, Lidge was composed and focused on some positive aspects, having reached 89 and 90 MPH on scouts' radar guns, according to some reports. ...

Drabek Preparing For Next Step

The transition has been easy for Kyle Drabek. In December, he was part of a package of young prospects that was traded to the Toronto Blue Jays for ace pitcher Roy Halladay. Now, as though nothing has changed, he's right back where he was last season...the star prospect on the pitching staff of a team in the Double A Eastern League. Drabek has often stated that he wanted to stay in the Philadelphia organization, who drafted him in the first round of the 2006 amateur draft. The 22-year-old thought after the midseason trade rumors, that surrounded him possibly going to Toronto last year, passed with no action that all the turmoil was over and that he could simply relax and focus on getting to the big leagues with the Phillies. That wasn't the case, as the deal eventually came to fruition over the off-season. In the Blue Jays system this season, Drabek doesn't have to worry about being dealt. He only has to concern himself with opposing batters and working on his secondary pit...