Fun Practical Joke for Kids

One thing I know is that kid’s like it when you play tricks on them. For example, I was going to take my nephew to see a baseball game, but instead I drove to an old burned down warehouse.

“Oh No!” I exclaimed, “it looks like the ballpark burned down. I bet all of the players are dead.”

On the way home he cried and he cried, but deep down I’m pretty sure he thought it was a good joke.

Rays Nix Threshers Pat Burrell Bobblehead

UPDATE: WOW! I first broke this story on Thursday night, and it has really taken off. All of the local media outlets have picked up on it, and so has the Associated Press. I’ve seen the articled cloned on at least a dozen other websites, and seen it referenced on many others. Thanks for spreading the word people. BOO RAYS!

IN OTHER NEWS: The Tampa Bay Rays have appearantly chosen to execute a rarely used agreement between Major League Baseball and Minor League Baseball that allows any MLB club to prohibit a minor league franchise within 60 miles of their club to give away bobblehead dolls at any game (plus other prohibited promotional activities).

On Friday the Threshers are scheduled to give away a Pat Burrell bobblehead as part of a Friday night bobblehead series which has already included Chase Utley and Jimmy Rollins on two previous Friday night games. The Threshers’ intention was to give away a bobblehead of every starting player in the Phillies 2008 World Series lineup.

2009 Phillies Minor League Workout Groups

UPDATED:  3/24/09

Here is a look at the current workout groups for the Phillies minor league teams.  Keep in mind that there will be MANY changes before the season actually gets underway.  Players are still going to get sent down from the Phillies ST roster to the minors.  That will create a ripple effect of players on this list moving down.  Also (and unfortunately) many of these players will be cut before the season starts and may not end up on any roster despite where they are listed now.  There was a small first round of cuts this week with 11 guys getting their walking papers.

This is updated weekly, so I will try to get the new groups up ASAP again next week.

Threshers in the World Baseball Classic

There are quite a few former Clearwater Threshers who will be playing in the WBC representing various countries around the world. Italy leads the way with three ex-Threshers on their roster. Mike Costanzo, who was once the Phillies up and coming 3rd base prospect, will represent Italy, along with Mike Spidale a Phillies minor league journeyman, and Jack Santora who played for the 2004 squad under manager Mike Schmidt. Santora has one of the greatest plays ever in Threshers history, a behind the back toss to start a double play vs the Dunedin Bluejays and plays professional baseball in Italy. Meanwhile, Costanzo and Spidale each have names that sound sort of Italian and they know someone who visited Italy once, so under Italy’s loose rules they managed to qualify as eligible for the team.

A Threshers Fan’s Life Changing Christmas Gift

Torhild Niellsson,  a local man who is a long-time Threshers and Phillies fan, said his life was changed this Christmas when his wife presented him with a gift he will never forget. “When I saw the package under the tree I couldn’t figure out what the heck it was, “ he said. “Sometimes when my wife was gone and I was home alone I would pick up the package and shake it, or feel around the thing to try to figure it out. There was this curly metal thing on one edge of the package. I thought it was a spiral notebook or something, but it didn’t have very many pages and that was confusing.”