PHILADELPHIA (AP) – Ruben Amaro Jr. isn’t ready to talk about possibly replacing Pat Gillick as Phillies general manager after the World Series.
“What I can say is that we’re pretty much focused on winning the World Series and trying to do what we can to bring home a championship to Philadelphia,” Amaro said before Game 5 against Tampa Bay on Monday. “As far as the GM situation is concerned, that’s a decision that’s not mine to make. I think most people in the organization are thinking on what their job is today.”
The 71-year-old Gillick said last year he wants to retire after this season, and he hasn’t backed off that plan. Gillick has a home in Seattle and his wife lives there throughout the year.
Amaro, in his 10th season as assistant GM, has long been considered the front-runner to replace Gillick. Mike Arbuckle, an assistant GM since Oct. 2001, also would have to be considered.
Phillies immediately after his playing career ended in 1998. He worked under former GM Ed Wade for seven seasons and the last three with Gillick.
Arbuckle was promoted to his current position after seven seasons as the team’s director of scouting.
Whoever gets the job has big shoes to fill. Gillick turned an underachieving team into a winner. He’s also taken four different teams to the league championship series.
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FAN BEHAVIOR: Joe Maddon has enjoyed some good-natured ribbing about beer and baseball with fans behind the Rays’ dugout.
The Tampa Bay manager, though, was angered when some of that notorious bad behavior by the Philadelphia fans surfaced during Games 3 and 4. Maddon said family members of players and other members of Tampa Bay’s organization have been verbally harassed by Phillies fans. He said some Phillies fans even threw mustard packets from the concession stands at his granddaughter.
“I know it’s been well documented. I’ve attended events here as a fan myself,” said Maddon, raised about 100 miles outside Philly. “But when it strikes home at your family, then you have to say something. I think somebody has make a stand at some point.”
Rays officials have been in touch with the Phillies about tightening security. Maddon said before Game 5 he was hopeful that would improve the hostile situation.
” Maddon said. “The other part about it I’m good with. If you want to be vociferous with us, I am fine with that. If you want to have arguments about Coors Light versus Rolling Rock, I’m good with that, but leave the families alone.”
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FLY, PHILLIES, FLY: Andy Reid is ready to trade some Eagles green for Phillies red.
The Eagles coach is doing more than pulling for the Phillies to win the World Series. The mild-mannered coach is doing something he would never do before a big NFC East showdown: guaranteeing victory.
“You know what, they are going to win,” Reid said on Monday. “I’m going to take the ‘if’ out of that for you. They are going to win, and the city will love every minute of it. It will be great for the city.”
Reid and Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb attended the Game 4 victory. McNabb wore a red Phillies cap while he visited with players outside the clubhouse.
“I’m going to be pulling hard for the Phillies, baby, and for Charlie (Manuel),” Reid said. “I had a chance to go to the game yesterday and that place was electric over there. They have a great thing going, and I’ll have the red on today.”
Reid should know that playing Tampa Bay in Philadelphia with a championship at stake doesn’t guarantee a victory. The Buccaneers stunned the Eagles 27-10 in frigid temperatures to win the NFC championship in 2003.
Reid said he’d watch.
“I will just open my curtains and it will go right past me right there, so I’ll be there,” he said.
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BALLGIRLS VS. RAY TEAM: Here’s an idea for some pregame entertainment: Have the Phillies ballgirls play the Ray Team in a softball showdown.
“If it were logistically possible, we’d love to have our own friendly version of the World Series,” said Michele DeVicaris, supervisor for the Phillies ballgirls.
The Philly gals are confident they’d win, even though the Ray Team has two guys on their squad.
“Play them in softball? A real game? Maybe we should play them in MLB 2K8. It might be more fair,” said Lindsay Brown, a two-year member of the ballgirls. “Maybe they at least have athletic hands. Even with their team being coed, we’d still make them look silly. Well, sillier than they already look.”
Now, that sounds like a challenge.
The group of 17 Phillies ballgirls were selected among 600 candidates. They work the foul lines during games and participate in various charity events, including softball games. They won a summer tournament that included the 76ers dance team and Flyers ice team and other girls.
The Ray Team was put together in 2006. You won’t find these ladies – and two men – catching foul balls, though. Their duties include greeting fans, giving away prizes and sometimes dancing on the dugout.
e we actually play softball,” said Jocelyn Brown, a second-year ballgirl and team blogger. “To be fair, if there happens to be a ‘Dance on the Dugout while Wearing Sarah Palin Glasses,’ or ‘Pretend You’re Sweaty and Pose for a Calendar Contest,’ they’d probably win, because they have more experience.”
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GOVERNOR’S PROMISE: Jake Lancianese is a 10-year-old who knows the two things you need when calling in a promise from a politician: a good memory and rock-solid documentation.
That’s how the fifth-grader from Aston, Pa., got to attend Game 4 of the World Series with Gov. Ed Rendell on Sunday.
Rendell visited Hilltop Elementary School in 2004, when Jake was in first grade, and asked students why early childhood education was important. What would happen, he asked, if a strong building was built on a weak foundation?
Jake raised his hand. “It would fall down.”
Rendell told the boy he was right, and added that the next time the Phillies made it to the World Series he would get him a ticket.
The governor promptly forgot. Not Jake.
When the Phillies took a two-game lead on the Los Angeles Dodgers in the National Division Championship Series earlier this month, Jake composed a letter to Rendell.
“Well, it took us four years, but we’re almost there,” he wrote. “I was hoping you’d still be the governor when they made it and lucky for me you are.”
baseball card from last summer at the Phillies Baseball Academy and a copy of an article in the Delaware County Daily Times about Rendell’s visit to his school.
Jake highlighted the lines about the Phillies ticket.
After receiving the boy’s letter – sent by certified mail – Rendell told his wife, Midge, an appellate court judge, that they’d be attending the game with a guest.
From their seats 23 rows behind the visitor’s dugout, the Rendells, Jake and his father, Pat, a third-shift Amtrak maintenance foreman, watched the Phillies rout the Rays 10-2.
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AP Baseball Writers Mike Fitzpatrick and Ben Walker and AP Sports Writer Rob Maaddi contributed to this report.
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