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Happy second night of The Festival of Lights, everyone! Tonight, I bring you clip #7 in this year's annual PhoulBallz list of top Phillies videos of the year. Check out the media player below. This video, while actually just audio with a slide show visual, is my exclusive interview with Carlos Ruiz from July of this year. Ruiz was in Lakewood playing with the Phils' Class A affiliate, the BlueClaws, on an injury rehab assignment. Highlights of the interview include Ruiz speaking about his teammates and revealing the way he likes his ice cream best in his insanely lovable accent. Happy holidays! ___________________________________________________________________ You can follow PhoulBallz.com on Twitter by clicking HERE . Connect with PhoulBallz.com on Facebook by clicking HERE .

As I do each year around this time, the multi-cultural phamily of PhoulBallz celebrates Hanukkah by counting down the top 8 Phillies videos of the year. Worth noting is that due to MLB being tight with video availability and embedding restrictions, this normally comes down to the top 8 Phillies videos that are available on YouTube. So, light the menorah and check out the media player below to begin counting down with us. In this video brought to you by the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce , Ryan Howard, Raul Ibanez and Roy Halladay take part in a lengthy question and answer session with Phillies phans. Highlights include Howard talking about Subway sandwiches, Ibanez talking about the support of the Philadelphia crowds, Halladay mentioning how close he was to playing college basketball and Howard reminding us about how superior Davey Lopes was as a first base coach for the Phillies. Happy hanukkah, everyone. Stay hot. ________________________________________________________ You...

On Tuesday, I took part in a roundtable discussion with PhilliesNation.com. The subject at hand was "Of the currently available free agent relief pitchers, who should the Phillies attempt to sign?" While some folks feel that names like Scott Downs, Dan Meyer and others are suitable fits for the Phillies bullpen, I disagree. Read what I had to say below, and click HERE to check out what the other PhilliesNation contributors had to say about this matter. Which free agent relievers should the Phillies target? NONE OF THEM. Free agent relievers are too hit or miss, as the Phillies and their phans saw last season when Jose Contreras and his statistics were a pleasant surprise, while Danys Baez and his weak production proved to be money virtually wasted. With the Phillies’ current crop of solid pitching prospects, I don’t feel it is necessary to sign a potentially costly free agent. Sure, there seems to be a need for an additional lefty reliever, but is Scott Downs and the draft p...

Right-handed pitcher Justin De Fratus has been a fast mover up the Phillies prospect rankings over the past couple of years, thanks to a deep determination and a goal-oriented outlook. As a player in his youth, Justin wanted to be the best pitcher he could be, so he worked countless hours under the watchful eye of his father, Terry. The focus was always on throwing strikes, which helped De Fratus stand out and continue pitching beyond high school. While pitching for Ventura College, De Fratus set his sites on becoming a professional pitcher. He signed his first pro contract after being drafted by the Phillies in the 11th round of the 2007 amateur draft. As he spent the 2008 season with the short-season Williamsport Crosscutters, De Fratus set out to reach Class A ball in 2009 and did so by helping the Lakewood BlueClaws lock down their first of two consecutive South Atlantic League championships. In 2010, De Fratus focused on three more potential accomplishments to strive for. Certainl...

Jimmy Ring was a righty hurler with the Phillies from 1921-1925 and then again in 1928. Ring debuted in the Majors with the Cincinatti Reds in 1917, where his manager was pitching great Christy Mathewson. In his rookie season, Ring posted a 3-7 record and a 4.40 ERA. After having a look at Ring's disappointing "stuff", Mathewson taught Ring a curveball that helped him improve and continue on in the Majors for 11 more seasons. In 1918, Ring improved his numbers, going 9-5 with a 2.85 ERA. The following season, Ring helped the Reds win the National League pennant, winning 10 games and improved his ERA a considerable amount, rocking a 2.26 mark. In the famed "Black Sox" World Series against Chicago, Ring went 1-1, while allowing just 1 earned run in 14 innings. Following another season with the Reds, Ring was traded to the Phillies in a deal for pitcher Eppa Rixey . Unfortunately for the Phils, Ring would only produce one winning season, while Rixey went on to win ...

With many individuals from the Phillies' organization playing in the Caribbean "Winter" leagues, there is still plenty of baseball action to keep tabs on. Below is a run down of all the key players spending time trying to sharpen their skills and gain some extra experience during the North American offseason. Dominican Winter Baseball League- David Herndon , a 2010 rookie that spent the entire season on the Phillies' big league roster, is pitching for the Cibao Gigantes. In 2 relief outings, Herndon has pitched 2 1/3 scoreless innings. He hasn't walked or struck out a batter in his limited game time, to this point. Herndon, 25, was a Rule 5 draft pick by the Phillies last off-season. In 47 games in the Majors this season, Herndon posted a 1-3 record with a 4.30 ERA, while allowing just 2 HR in 52 1/3 innings pitched. Antonio Bastardo , a teammate of Herndon with the Phillies this season, continues to occupy the same bullpen as Herndon. In 5 relief outings with the...

Happy Thanksgiving Day to all of you. As you celebrate this national holiday and stuff yourselves full of food, consider these things and thank the baseball gods for them. 5- Ozzie Guillen's bilingual Twitter account . I mean, yeah, he speaks two languages, but judging by the tweet pictured below, as well as plenty others, Ozzie may not really type any languages. 4- The history of the sport. Thanks to the lengthy past of baseball, fans are not stuck looking toward the steroid era's deceitful record breakers to find men who should never be regarded as icons of this great sport. Instead, they can simply reflect back to the very first induction class of the National Baseball Hall of Fame for players to despise . 3- One another. Yeah, fans...you make the whole experience just a little bit better. Whether you dress up like a team-supporting Humpty Dumpty, storm the playing field, dye/paint yourself to match the team's colors, or rattle your own team's most popular player wi...

Four of the Phillies' six minor league clubs will officially have new managers in 2011 after the Phillies announced on Monday that they have given promotions to Mark Parent and Chris Truby. Parent, a former Major League catcher who played with the Phillies, among other clubs, will move up to Double A Reading. Parent, 49, managed the Class A Lakewood BlueClaws to a second consecutive South Atlantic League title in 2010 and then spent time as hitting coach with the Arizona Fall League's Mesa Solar Sox. The Autumn assignment could be more than busy work for Parent, who seems to be a likely candidate for the role of hitting coach at the Major League level in the coming years. Speaking in an exclusive interview following Lakewood's title clincher in September, Parent seemed to be considerably focused on acquiring a big league spot. Replying to an inquiry about the potential realignment among the Phillies' minor league management positions, Parent stated, "The higher you...

Only five men in Phillies history have brought home a National League batting title. Francis "Lefty" O'Doul, a converted pitcher, was one of those men, along with Sherry Magee, Chuck Klein, Harry Walker and Richie Ashburn. O'Doul worked out of the bullpen for the Red Sox and Yankees, into the early 1920's before experiencing a setback with an arm injury that landed him back in the minors in 1923. Once it was clear his pitching days were done, O'Doul converted himself into a slugging outfielder and returned to the Majors with the Giants, where he contributed as a back up player. Despite posting a .318 average for the Giants in 1928, he was traded to Philadelphia with cash for outfielder Freddy Leach. The Giants would quickly regret the move. In his first season with the Phillies, O'Doul set the National League single season record for hits in a season, with 254, that still stands today (tied, Bill Terry- 1930). His .398 batting average that year also remain...

The month long Arizona Fall League has come and gone for individuals from the Phillies organization assigned to play on the Mesa Solar Sox. The six-team league's regular season wrapped up on Thursday, with just two teams advancing to a winner-takes-all championship game on Saturday afternoon. Each roster in the AFL features 7 players from 5 different organizations. Mesa served as the Autumn home to Phillies prospects Justin De Fratus , Matt Rizzotti , Tyson Brummett , Jacob Diekman , Tim Kennelly , Josh Zeid , BJ Rosenberg and Chris Kissock . John Mayberry Jr. was also assigned to spend some time with the Solar Sox, but he injured his calf in his debut on October 12th and spent the subsequent weeks at the Phils' spring training home in Clearwater to receive treatment. With Mayberry & Zeid both leaving early, the Phils avoided overlapping and exceeding the 7 man roster rule. De Fratus, a 23-year-old righty hurler, continued to show why I predicted that he would be a big mo...

MESA, AZ- Matt Rizzotti , who enjoyed an outstanding season in the minor leagues at three levels of the Phillies organization, brought his hot bat to the Arizona Fall League last month. As a member of the Mesa Solar Sox, the lefty batting first baseman from Floral Park, NY has continued his impressive 2010 into the Autumn. The 6'5" Rizzotti has made himself a prospect to be reckoned with by blazing through the minors throughout the Spring and Summer, posting a .343 batting average and a .985 OPS in 125 games. He was also one of just two Phils minor leaguers who moved up two levels to stay, during the season. The other was pitcher Vance Worley. Among Arizona Fall League batters that include top prospects from several Major League organizations, like Seattle's second overall draft choice from 2009 Dustin Ackley, the Angels' Brandon Wood who has played at the Major League level, the Blue Jays' Eric Thames who was an Eastern League MVP candidate this year and Braves...

On Tuesday, Phillies ace Roy Halladay became just the fifth pitcher ever to win a Cy Young Award in both leagues. Halladay, who also won the American League Cy Young Award in 2003, joins Gaylord Perry, Roger Clemens, Pedro Martines and Randy Johnson as the only players to win the award in both the National and American Leagues. Halladay was acquired by the Phillies last off-season in a trade that sent three prospects (Kyle Drabek, Michael Taylor and Travis D'Arnaud) to Toronto. In his first season with Philadelphia, Halladay posted a 21-10 record with a 2.44 ERA, while striking out 219 batters and walking just 30 in 250 2/3 innings. Halladay's win total was tied for the Major League lead, while his strike out total was second in the NL and his ERA ranked third in the league. According to the Baseball Writers Association of America, Halladay was the 13th unanimous choice in National League voting, as he received all 32 first-place votes. Voting is done in a format that includes...