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Remember this guy?
That's Brian Wilson. He was the Giants' closer for a number years before blowing out his elbow in 2012. You may also remember him as having an obnoxious beard AND personality. He always seemed very self satisfied with his ridiculous, attention grabbing antics, though most people had long since grown tired of them. Chances are, if you're reading this, you remember him from the still-painful 2010 postseason. (I will not be posting clips of that, since I assume most of it is seared into your memory.)
Well, Brian Wilson had Tommy John surgery and now he's trying to mount a comeback. Todd Zolecki reports that the Phillies will watch him throw on Thursday, along with a number of other teams. Wilson could certainly help out the Phillies' bullpen, which is been rather putrid this season. Actually, putrid may be putting it nicely.
I have bad, bad memories of Brian Wilson, and I think his schtick is beyond stupid, but if this makes Ruben Amaro any more likely to trade Jonathan Papelbon, who is expensive in addition to being a giant horse's patoot (not to mention his diminishing velocity), then I'm all for it. Comb the creatures out of Wilson's beard, shove him in a Phillies uniform, and send him out there. (Though it should be said that Papelbon's contract is so bad that it may not be a question of whether the Phillies *want* to trade him, but whether they *can* trade him. This article by Jayson Stark has more about that.)
Me from November 2010 is looking at what I just wrote and sobbing uncontrollably.
(A tip of the hat to Bill Baer of Hardball Talk and Crashburn Alley for hipping me to the recent Brian Wilson news in this piece.)