Philadelphia nightlife legend and SCUBA expert Todd Zolecki reports that Ryan Howard has won his arbitration hearing against the Phillies, marking the first time the Teflonics (thanks bill1chair) have been defeated at such a proceeding.

I'm a bit surprised; obviously much credit goes to Howard's agent, Casey Close, and to Howard himself for being a charming, personable, lumber-wielding monster for the past two and a half seasons.

I also expect that this will accelerate the team's efforts to sign Howard to some kind of long-term deal.  They likely won't want to lose an arbitration hearing again.