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Left-handed hurler Jay Johnson has proven to be quite the nice gamble for the Phillies since he was signed as a minor league free agent in 2011.  The New Brunswick, Canada native had previously been drafted by the Orioles and Blue Jays, but failed physical examinations which prevented him from signing with those clubs.  After some work to prove himself, Johnson earned a pro contract and has developed into a quality lefty reliever. Due to concerns raised with his throwing elbow during team exams, both Baltimore and Toronto backed out after having come to terms on financial agreements with Johnson.  The offers were rescinded following the discovery of bone spurs and loose chips in his joint.  Johnson never lost focus and was confident he would get an opportunity to be a professional pitcher at some point. There was a third opportunity with the Mariners, but they backed down too and it took a phone call from Johnson's college coach Brian Kubicek to the Phil...

Phillies outfield prospect Tyson Gillies is a very skilled player that has had some well documented ups and downs in recent years.  Being traded, bouncing back from several injuries and a return from a suspension have induced plenty of emotion from the lefty batter, but an opportunity to play for his home country of Canada in the World Baseball Classic has the Vancouver native more excited about the game than he's been in some time. "It's always a dream come true to represent your country, doing something you love," Gillies said from Team Canada's training facility this week.  "The excitement level has been through the roof for everyone out here in Arizona."   The 24-year-old, who plays with a hearing impairment, has experienced some considerable injury issues since the Phillies acquired him in the 2009 trade that sent Cliff Lee to Seattle.  A recurring left hamstring ailment, a troublesome foot problem and a concussion that forced Gillies to...

The tournament held every four years to crown the world champions of baseball is back. In the World Baseball Classic, a combined 16 national teams play in four separate pools to earn bids in future rounds, all with hopes of vying against the most elite teams in order to earn the top title in the sport. Team Japan has won the first two titles, with the inaugural WBC being held back in 2006. By local time standards, the worldwide tournament kicked off on Saturday, with Australia taking on Chinese Taipei in Taichung, Taiwan in Pool B action. Other teams in Pool B include Korea and the Netherlands.  Games will continue through March 19th, when the finals are slated to be held in San Francisco, CA. Pool A also begins on Saturday and features China, Brazil, Cuba and Japan. Those games are set to be played in Fukuoka, Japan. Pool C, set to be played in San Juan, Puerto Rico beginning on Thursday, features, Spain, the Dominican Republic, Venezuela and, of course, Puerto Rico. ...

A failed attempt by Team Israel to qualify for next year’s World Baseball Classic was disappointing for former Phillies prospect Josh Zeid , but the experience is one that he is proud of and the Tulane University product is confident that the sport is headed in the right direction for the country that has limited experiences with America’s national pastime. The righty hurler, Zeid, described his time representing Israel as a true highlight, not only in his career but in his life as a whole. Additionally, he stressed his level of enjoyment playing along side players with such similar backgrounds. “Playing with 27 teammates, who all are very similar to myself, religiously and socially, was a tremendous and very unique experience," Zeid said.  "I’ve had Jewish teammates before, but to have a whole team of Jewish men, really brought a cohesiveness that I’ve never quite felt in the locker room before. It was as if we had been teammates for a whole year or years. It was ...

It's bad enough that Team USA lost in the semi-finals of the WBC, but it's also Monday. Jimmy Rollins had four hits and got on base all five times at the plate in the semi-final match up with Japan on Sunday, but that wasn't enough to help the team advance as Roy Oswalt surrendered 6 runs in 3 2/3 innings, and the Americans could not catch up...losing 9-4. The rest of Team USA, not nicknamed J-Roll, went 5-for-32 (.156 avg.), in the loss. And if the USA loss and the arrival of Monday don't have you feeling badly enough, former #1 Phillies draft pick Gavin Floyd has signed a 4-year, $15.5 million contract with the White Sox. The deal includes a 5th year team option worth $9.5 million. A change of scenery has surely proved positive for young Floyd. It's just a shame that Gavin couldn't achieve greater things in Philadelphia. We may never be sure why Gavin never developed well as a Phillie, and only time will tell if he can steadily be the 17-win/Sub-4 ERA pitcher ...

Jimmy: "A'ight, JC, dog. So, look...Shane and I wanted to apologize for getting those hits off you and beating you and your boys in da WBC. Like, I'm just sayin', ya know. You gotta do whatcha gotta go." JC: "Nah, it's cool, man." Shane: "Oh, no questions asked, it's cool!" Jimmy: "Yeah, and just make sure you don't give up any more hits to David Wright from here on out. Scott Eyre and dat kid Happ might lock down the lefty spot in the 'pen, while you out servin' dat suspension. A'ight then...we gotta go fly to Cali now, 'cause Team USA is the team to beat in this World Baseball Thang."

Team USA won their elimination game last night in dramatic fashion to advance into the semi-final round of the World Baseball Classic. With injuries still plaguing the Americans, expect Davey Johnson to manage the next game conservatively, like he did in the opening round. That next game in the 2nd round, tonight, will finalize the seeds in the semi-finals. Seeding doesn't matter to Johnson, advancing does. Phillies phans who stayed tuned for the walk-off win got to see Shane Victorino and Jimmy Rollins spark a 9th inning rally against Puerto Rico's JC Romero. While David Wright smashing a game winning hit against Romero ( video here ) is not something I ever thought I'd want to see, I think when the game is played in March, and there is national pride at stake, I'll be inclined to cheer that occurance. As if the walk off win wasn't a remarkable enough story, a Dolphins Stadium security officer should be praised for his quick role in making the night very special f...

As injuries set in, Team USA has its sites set on redeeming themselves for the mercy rule loss suffered at the hands of Puerto Rico on Saturday night. PR then lost their next match up on Monday, when they got shut out by Venezuela, 2-0. The injury bug is spreading throughout the Team USA club house. Chipper Jones is out of the tournament. Dustin Pedroia is out, and was replaced by Brian Roberts. Outfielder Ryan Braun and pitcher Matt Lindstrom are also suffering ailments right now. Tournament rules prohibit USA from replacing Jones, Braun and Lindstrom till the current round is complete. Things got so bad during Sunday's game that catcher Brian McCann played left field in the 9th inning. Team USA manager Davey Johnson has suggested a rule change for the WBC that would allow managers to reinsert a player into a game, should an injury occur. Such a change could not take effect until future WBC tournaments. He would also like to see more exhibition games prior to the tournament, to h...

Once again, in conjunction with IronPig Pen and Swing and a Long Drive , it's a World Baseball Classic feature! This week, we're each announcing our picks to win the entire tournament, while making some points against the others' choices. My choice to be the Champions of the World (Baseball Classic) is Team USA. This year's American squad is plenty different than the 2006 team. With only 2 offensive players on this year's team that played on the 2006 team (Chipper Jones, Derek Jeter), the face of the team is brand new. Speed on this version of Team USA is much improved also. In 2006, USA only had 2 stolen base attempts and just one of those were successful. In the first round of 2009, stolen bases have not yet come into play for the Americans, but as the tournament moves on, and competition is tougher, speed will be a factor. Jimmy Rollins, Shane Victorino, David Wright, Curtis Granderson and Dustin Pedroia are all stolen base threats, not to mention solid overall ...

The World Baseball Classic begins tomorrow, when Pool A gets things popping at 4:30AM Eastern. In conjunction this week, and next, with Swing and a Long Drive and The IronPigPen , we're going to glance over our picks for who will advance to the 2nd round of the WBC. The easiest pick in the bunch, to win their pool is Japan in Pool A. The defending WBC champs easily have the best roster in this bracket. Also, Japan may very well have the best starting pitching duo in the entire Classic. Yu Darvish and Daisuke Matsuzaka are likely to be a knockout 1-2 punch on the mound, especially in Pool A. Most of you should be familiar with "Dice-K", but if you haven't heard of Darvish...you should be watching Japan closely. The 6'5" fireballer is just 22 years old and already is winning awards in Japan. He also has completed back-to-back seasons with both double digit complete games and an ERA under 2. Other major leaguers on Team Japan are Kenji Johjima, Ichiro Suzuki, K...

With the World Baseball Classic less than 24 hours away, here is a little something to get you in a patriotic mood. USA! USA! USA! ***** Colbert Hamels made his 2009 spring debut today. He pitched 2 scoreless innings against Team Canada, allowing 2 hits and a walk. John Mayberry Jr., Jeremy Slayden and Raul Ibanez led the offense, as our Phils won 9-2, scoring runs off all 5 Canadian pitchers faced.

...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...

Tim McClelland, the Major League umpire famous from the George Brett pine tar incident, was the guest speaker at an Iowa baseball dinner last week and he had some interesting things to say about the steroids issue, in his sport. Here are some gems, from McClelland... "I'd like to see people kind of get over it. It was part of that era. In 2004, baseball instituted the ban on steroids. The previous 15 years, you just have to realize there were a lot of people taking steroids." "They used it to make themselves better. I can't fault a player for doing that." The Brett/pine tar incident was during a 1983 game with Brett's Royals visiting Yankee Stadium. While trailing in the 9th inning, Brett smacked a homer off closer Goose Gossage, and gave the Royals a lead. The Yankees knew of Brett's habits of adding too much pine tar (a legal substance used on bats for grip), too far up his bat. The Yanks chose a crucial time to point it out, and Tim McClelland rev...

The Chinese Taipei team is out of the World Baseball Classic. Chinese Taipei was voted out of the WBC this week by confused phans who didn't grasp why Taiwan, just couldn't go by the name Taiwan in the world of sports. To avoid confusion and fan unrest, WBC officials and Phillies blog magnates have found a new team to play in The Classic. Lost Island will field a team for the first time in organized sports. Lost's head coach Jacob will rely on slick fielding Korean import Jin-Soo Kwon, veteran pitcher John Locke, slugging thirdbaseman James "Sawyer" Ford and slugging outfielder Sayid Jarrah to compete with the likes of China, Korea and Japan in the Group A bracket. Lost Island's Department of Heuristics And Research on Material Applications is said to have played a major role it getting this team its place in the WBC line up. Lost Island will make history in multiple ways, other than being the first replacement team. Speedy infielder Kate Austen is slated to ...

The baseball world is buzzing this week with arbitration talk and World Baseball Classic roster announcements. Firstly, Tuesday was the day when players and teams exchange dollar numbers for arbitration. Reportedly, Ryan Howard is asking for $18 million, while the Phillies offered $14 million. So, if the two sides reach an arbitration hearing again this year, Howard would, at least, get a 40% raise. Wouldn't we all like to be guaranteed a 40% pay increase this year? While MVP-runner up Howard stayed headed toward arbitration, Ryan Madson , Joe Blanton and Shane Victorino have all come to terms with the Phillies on new contracts. Madson's deal is worth $12 million, with incentives, over 3 years. Shane's deal is for one year, and is for $3.125 million. Big Joe's contract is also a 1-year deal, worth $5.4 million. The remaining Phillies still up for arbitration, aside from Howard, are Jayson Werth and Chad Durbin . Werth is said to have requested $4 million, while...