The back of one of Ryan Howard's baseball cards says that when he was three Ryan pulled a soap dish out of the wall in his house. Years later he's still flexing his muscles, this time with a demand for a salary of $18 million. The Phillies have offered $14 million. Either one, Howard's worth it; either way, he'll be a richer man than he now is. Ruben Amaro, Jr. would be a wizard if he could pull off some kind of longterm contract through Howard's arbitration years. But it seems that the Howard camp wants either a multi-year megadeal or yearly arbitration. The only thing that bothers me in all this is that Howard's father is reportedly part of the conversation; when family members meddle, things tend to get messy. I don't care how Howard's contract is resolved. I just know that Ryan Howard is with the Phillies and should be on the team for the next three years.
Consider this: Eight years ago the Phillies had a budget of about $42 million. This year it will be around $130 million.
Last night's Winter Caravan here in the Lehigh Valley reportedly garnered between $45,000 and $50,000 for IronPigs charities. Impressive.
Some 500 fans also turned out to see the World Series trophy up close and personal yesterday afternoon at Starters Riverport, a sports bar on the south side of Bethlehem. I drove by shortly before the event was to start, but got back too late to stop.
