Phillies news and links - Pete Mackanin fines every Phillies player one dollar

Welcome, one and all, to our new morning news and links roundup!

Pete Mackanin fined every player one whole dollar

Mack is serious when he sets clubhouse rules. If a player breaks one of those rules, everyone’s gotta pay. And Maikel Franco broke one of those rules by staring into the sun. PETE MACKANIN IS A TYRANT. Just kidding. Franco lost a popup in the sun, which wouldn’t have happened if he’d put his sunglasses on his face instead of on the brim of his hat. Undoubtedly the best part of this story is the roleplay that Andres Blanco did with Franco as the reporters came to ask questions. "What happened with the fly ball? Why did you drop it? You had your glasses up here." Adorable, right? These guys are adorable.

Jeremy Hellickson is the Phillies opening day starter again

As I covered yesterday, Hellickson was tapped to start opening day for the second year in a row. While I think he earned it, Meghan Montemurro of The News Journal thinks the Phillies made the “safe” choice, and should have picked Eickhoff instead. I totally understand this point of view, even if I don’t completely agree with it. It should be said that Hellickson himself doesn’t completely agree with the Phillies choice. Well, “agree” might be too strong a word. Hellickson said that he thinks that Eickhoff deserves to start opening day more than he does, but is honored to start all the same.

Tommy Joseph and Brock Stassi are best friends forever

Matt Breen over at Philly.com wrote up a great little profile on the friendship between fellow first baseman Tommy Joseph and Brock Stassi. They’re two players who took very different paths to where they are now, but have used the same philosophy: play so well that the Phillies simply can’t ignore you anymore. Joseph swung his way to the majors last year after a tumultuous early career, and Stassi is trying to do the same to earn a spot on the 40-man roster. I want them to have t-shirts made that say “First Base Club” so they can wear them out in Philadelphia together. I mean, imagine this on social media: a picture of the two of them, with their shirts, posing with a giraffe at the Philly Zoo. “Just here with my giraffe bud and my first base bud, nbd” the post would read. And it wouldn’t matter which one of them said it.

Phillies tweet of the day

Since the Phillies twitter account has been On Point lately, I want to highlight one of their tweets every day. And if they don’t give us a tweet worthy of this spot, I’ll highlight a Phillies tweet from one of our fine, talented writers.

Today’s tweet isn’t so much On Point as it is nice. It’s was Richie Ashburn’s birthday over the weekend, and the Phillies gave us an early look at the newly renovated and refreshed Ashburn Alley.

Note: In the future, I might include a comment of the day as well, from either this daily post or all TGP posts from that day. So start sharpening your witty repartee.

Now friends, I have one task for you. Since this is a brand new daily feature, I’d like for it to have a catchy name. Royals Review does “Royals Rumblings” every morning, and Pinstripe Alley does “Around the Empire.” Can I ask for your help with finding a new title? Please give me your best suggestions below, and if I happen to choose yours, you’ll get a shout out in the next links post and on Twitter. You have my eternal gratitude in advance.