The Phillies finished up Grapefruit League play with a 7-6 win over the Astros. Ben Francisco hit a homer, Ibanez doubled and had two walks, Castillo doubled and walked, and Victorino added two hits and two RBIs. Benign Bump got the start and pitched five innings of 1-run ball. The team will head home for a pair exhibition games on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Don't forget to VOTE VOTE VOTE for The Good Phight in the Final Four of The Phield.
Phillies:
Utley Talks About His Progress
Most encouraging news of spring training, I'd say. That probably says more about how discouraging the news has been to this point, but still.
On Mathieson and Stutes
Apropos of today's discussion.
Chipper says Phillies' rotation compares with old Atlanta staffs
So CLASSY.
Woba! Once all the rage, complicated stats may be taking a backseat to old-fashioned instincts.
I don't know what to make of this. I guess it doesn't really reveal anything I didn't already suspect. What do you think?
Hey, where have we seen this Jayson Werth card before?
OUTRAGE!
League-Adjusting Halladay
Interesting stuff from Eric Seidman. I urge you to check out the Seidman brothers' great new blog, Brotherly Glove.
SI baseball preview issue... Guess who's on the cover?
Base Ba'al will not be pleased by this.
Elsewhere in Baseball:
Men of Honor
Hot damn, Joe Po. If you are a baseball fan and you don't read Posnanski, you are messing up.
Jose Canseco's twin brother Ozzie shows up in his place for scheduled celebrity boxing match
Foiling every middle-schooler's fantasy of sending a clone to class in their place while they stay home all day playing video games and eating junk food.
Royals Release Pedro Feliz; Marlins Interested?
Remember that guy? Remember how much I hated him?
AK-47 rifle among items stolen from Evan Longoria’s house
Why the hell does Longoria have a house in caves of Tora Bora?
Stupid thing written about sports of the day:
The Top 25 Busts in Philadelphia Sports History
Idea for a slideshow: the top 100,000 worst slideshows in Bleacher Report history.