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Former Phillies General Manager Pat Gillick was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame on Monday by the 16-member Expansion Era Committee. Gillick, who won 3 World Series as an executive with the Blue Jays (1993-1993) and the Phillies (2008), declared that the announcement was an honor. "It's really on behalf of all the people I worked with over the years. That's who I feel this honor is for," Gillick stated. Gillick received 13 votes, one more than required to be elected. Marvin Miller, a longtime executive director of the Major League Baseball Players Association, fell one vote short of election this year. Candidates must receive 75% of the vote to be elected, thus needing 12 of the 16 votes. By definition, the Expansion Era covered umpires, managers and executives who made their greatest contributions to the game from 1973 to the present. As for players to be considered, that period was 1973-89. Currently employed as a senior advisor to current Phillies gene...

I caught up with Lakewod BlueClaws manager Mark Parent after Thursday night's contest. He provided updates on Jarred Cosart's elbow problems, gave input on the progress of all-star shortstop Jonathan Villar and discussed which players Assistant to the Phillies General Manager Pat Gillick thinks has a shining future with the organization. Check out the media player below for all that. _____________________________________ Follow PhoulBallz.com on Twitter HERE . Share on Facebook

Just touching on some recent noteworthy tidbits... A quiet move that the Phillies' front office made in November is just coming to light. Pat Gillick re-signed with the organization to stay on as senior advisor to team president Dave Montgomery through 2011. To read more about that, click this link . This coming season's Rodrigo Lopez could very well be Oscar Villarreal. The 28-year-old righty is coming off Tommy John surgery and was signed to a minor league contract by the Phillies last week. If you recall, last season Lopez was signed to add depth to the minors. Lopez was used at the Major League level to fill voids left by injured pitchers during the 2009 season. Additional details on the Villarreal deal can be found here . Ryan Howard was in Miami for the Super Bowl over the weekend with a date. TheFightins has all your info and a picture of Howard's lady. Check that out by clicking here . Seats for the May 18th Phillies' Roy Halladay bobblehead give away are sold o...

This is an entry by guest blogger Allen Schatz. Allen may be familiar to some of you as "raschatz" on twitter and Facebook. Allen is a fiction writer and is currently shopping a murder mystery set on a baseball canvas. Those in the business may wish to click here , to find out more about Allen's work. Much has been said and written about how the Phillies have turned a corner in recent years, how they finally seem to "get it." I was reminded of that after another day of Eagles football came and went with a hauntingly familiar result. The Birds have taken over as Philadelphia's -- hell, maybe ALL of professional sport's -- Groundhog Day Team. You know, they do the same thing over and over and expect something different to result. Phil Sheridan of the Philly Inquirer hit on it in his assessment of their latest loss... "The veteran head coach has to take some of the heat for the way some very good drives fizzled..." "The Eagles' inabilit...

Steve Greenberg reported, in the latest issue of The Sporting News, some comments that former Phillies GM and current "Special advisor" Pat Gillick told him regarding the team's head lock on the National League East. Here are some of those remarks.... Our manager never has a bad day. If we lose a tough one, Charlie comes to the park the next day and he's fine: he's ready to play baseball. That's one of his biggest strengths. Even though Charlie comes off to the public sometimes as this simple guy from West Virgina, those players see him for who he really is. They believe in him. They know he's loyal to them, and they're loyal to him. We are a very consistent organization. We won't do things, in my judgment, that stray too much from the game plan. I've always felt the nucleus of a winning club has to come from within the organization- Jimmy Rollins, Chase Utley, Ryan Howard, Cole Hamels. When the Yankees were the best team in the league year aft...

...And we should all feel fine. I know where everyone's heads are. Some phans may be thinking the worst. The Phillies have begun the pre-season with 3 losses and no wins. How can we ever recover? Relax...it's not that bad. I'll tell you method #1 for recovery- release Adam Eaton. Method #1, completed! That is all. Still not feeling better? Just consider that these games mean nothing. And take notice of the fine spring performances so far for Jamie Moyer, Carlos Carrasco, "Jay" Happ, John Mayberry Jr., Raul Ibanez, Pablo Ozuna, Greg Dobbs, Jason Donald, JC Romero and Gary Majewski. Oh also, forget about the awful spring performances so far from Andrew Carpenter, Sergio Escalona and Joe Bisenius. So, back to Eaton. Yes, the Phillies finally bit the proverbial bullet and gulped down hard to eat the $9 million that they owe him. Eaton spoke to reporters after the release and the most intriguing comment he made was this..."I know there's a lot still left in my...

Graefruit League baseball games won't start till tomorrow. However, there are a few Phillies who have already found ways to compete and have fun, after growing tired of drills and practice. Raul Ibanez vs. Pat Gillick- Staring Contest! They are stiilllll going. Stay tuned to your PhoulBallz network to see who blinks first. Over the weekend, the Phillies played dress up. Here, Scott Eyre is seen helping Colbert Hamels with his attire and reminding everyone that the Phillies are #1. ******************** News update- MLB.com reports that Phils reliever Scott Eyre is suffering great financial setbacks because he invested money with scammer Robert Allen Stanford . Federal regulators have frozen assets tied to Stanford, and this includes accounts belonging to Eyre, and other MLB players, while the investigation is ongoing. Happy Baseball Games Eve! Scott Lauber, of The News Journal , reports tomorrow's Grapefruit League opening day starting lineup for our Phillies is as follows.....