It's official: the Grapefruit League is on. This afternoon, on a day when the Clearwater temperatures were in the low 50's, the Phillies beat the Cincinnati Reds 8-1. The pitching was impressive; starting pitcher Jamie Moyer allowed one hit and struck out three. The Phillies' offense was more than up to the task. They scratched out a run in the 2nd, then blew it open in the 5th. By then most of the regulars had given way to a changing cast. It was a typical, albeit crisp, spring training game. Even the umpires were rotating on the bases.
I listened to most of the game in the car while running errands. Larry Andersen and Scott Franzke, who have an easy rapport, were on board for the entire game, and it was good to hear their knowledgeable banter again. Up here it was in the 30's and a stiff wind was blowing. The farm fields lay still and untouched. But at the Amish one-room schoolhouses I passed along the way, kids and teachers were out running around on the grounds.
The big news yesterday was Brett Myers, named the starting pitcher for opening day. I quite frankly don't give a damn who starts on opening day so long as he wins, but the move makes sense. It's a day game and Cole Hamels seems not to like pitching by day. So he gets the second start, a night game. By the time the schedules shake themselves out after April's inevitable showers or snow, Hamels will no doubt be the #1 starter. In part, the Phillies made this move, and made it public, to reassure Myers that he was indeed, at least for this year, a starter. (He'd rather close, but that's a story for another time.) Besides, Myers got the last out of the exciting last game of last season. It's sort of cool that he starts the opener.
