what a world

I took this shot of the tallest tree in the Brandywine's lobby, looking down on it from the 3rd floor of the museum. The star on the tree's 'double' top is so beautiful and delicate, yet seems to radiate hope.

There are many reasons for me to love the Phillies. Pitcher Jamie Moyer is a relatively recent one. In this morning's Daily News, Sam Donnellon has a remarkable story about this remarkable man and his remarkable wife and family. Four days after Moyer signed a new contract with the Phillies, he and his wife Karen took their seven children to Guatemala to celebrate Christmas at Hannah's Hope. That's the orphanage where Yenifer, their 2-year-old daughter, and only adopted child, spent the first part of her life. The Moyers also visited Guatemala City's basurero, a 40-acre dump where the city's poorest scavenge and where corpses are dumped daily. Again, it's a remarkable story.

http://www.philly.com/philly/sports/phillies/20081231_Sam_Donnellon__For_Phillies_pitcher_Moyer__season_of_giving_never_ends.html

christmas tree at citizens bank park

After going to the Brandywine yesterday we drove into Philadelphia and dropped by the Majestic Clubhouse store at Citizens Bank Park. Here's a shot of the Christmas tree at the 3rd base entrance. Who else there but HOF 3rd baseman Mike Schmidt? On a day of oddly springlike weather, it was hard not to think of--no, not spring training but--opening day. Luckily, tonight Comcast is rebroadcasting the October 15 clinching game of the NLCS. I'm in just the mood to watch a good one by Cole Hamels.

a brandywine christmas

This fox was my favorite 'critter'. I wish I could have taken him home with me.

Red berries were a perfect foil for these charming 'critters'.

One of many trees throughout the museum, decorated with Brandywine critters, angels, and stars.

The Brandywine River Museum, established by Andrew Wyeth in an beautiful old mill in Chadds Ford, PA.

The Brandywine River Museum was filled with museum goers today, lured in by the 2008 version of a Brandywine Christmas. Each year the museum puts on several exhibits themed to the season. This year's Brandywine Christmas started of course with paintings, drawings, and illustrations by the Wyeth family and others. Once again there were shadowbox displays of exquisite jewelry inspired by the art of Andrew Wyeth and created exclusively for his wife by goldsmith Donald Pywell. There was also a grand Victorian dollhouse.

Children were everywhere but especially in the room with the museum's 0-gauge model railroad. It featured several different trains moving continuously along 2,000 feet of track while Santa circled overhead in his sleigh. There were also some model and toy trains from abroad.

As always there were wonderful trees throughout the museum, each decorated with the museum's famed Brandywine critters, angels, and stars. These whimsical ornaments are made from teasel, acorns, pinecones, seeds, berries and other natural materials by 110 volunteers, who start working on them in March. The variety is seemingly infinite, from simple to elaborate.

nlds clincher redux

Home runs were featured in Game 4 of the NLDS but so was the sterling pitching of Joe Blanton. Jimmy Rollins led things off with a solo homer in the 1st to quiet the Milwaukee fans. Then in the 3rd Pat Burrell drove a ball to deep left for a 3-run homer. Jayson Werth followed with a solo shot to put the Phillies up 5-0. Blanton just kept dealing, giving up just three hits in six innings. In the 7th, Prince Fielder led off with a solo homer. Another hit followed and Blanton gave way to Ryan Madson. I'd forgotten how very good Blanton was in this game. Burrell later hit another homer, this one a solo, and the Brewers tacked on another run as the Phillies won the game 6-2 and the series 3-1.

I was about to leave for a movie when I realized that Comcast was showing this game at noon. There went the movie. It was again a TBS broadcast. John Smoltz and Joe Simpson were pretty good but Brian Anderson (?), the play-by-play guy, was again hard to take. Where did they get this guy?

Two more replays to go, on Tuesday and Friday. Then it will be hibernation time till spring training starts.

baseball on christmas eve

My co-blogger enclosed two paper dolls, of Bill and Hillary, in the Christmas packet she sent here. The two were part of a collection of politically-themed dolls she made for a San Francisco show last month called "Post-Postcards". They were immediate hits here. I had to thread each and hang them in a place of honor on the tree.

Comcast ran Game 4 of the NLCS on Christmas Eve, not exactly traditional holiday fare but the only reason I would be watching TV that night. I'd forgotten the fantastic double play turned by Chase Utley, who snared a line drive for the first out, then made a stumbling dive to second to double off Rafael Furcal. A couple of innings later Andre Ethier returned the favor with a sensational catch in right field. But it was the 8th inning that was pivotal for the game and for the series. That's when Victorino tied the game at 4 on a first-pitch line drive ball into the Phillies' bullpen. After a Carlos Ruiz single, Matt ("I'm just up there trying to hit the ball as far as I can") Stairs sent a ball deep into the night to give the lead back to the Phillies. Brad Lidge made things dicey for the last out in the bottom of the frame, then sailed through the 9th. The Dodgers were done, and Game 5 two nights later finished them.

I remember that after the Phillies had lost the night before, Jimmy Rollins was asked about the series. His serious reply was to the effect that for the Dodgers to take the NLCS they would have to win four games in a row and that he was "sure there was not a person in this locker room who would let that happen." That's when I was pretty sure the Phillies were going to win the World Series. Game 4 was just as exciting the second time around. What a gift!

bobblehead greetings

A Merry Christmas to all.

ruthenian christmas

Another lovely painting by painter and iconographer Mila Mina, on a wall of the social hall at St. Mary's. This one shows a traditional Ruthenian family in Slovakia celebrating Christmas eve.

carols for dancing

A year ago I was in several Ruthenian villages in eastern Slovakia which looked just like this, though I didn't see any horse-drawn sleighs. This mural is one of several in the social hall at St. Mary's. It's a wonderful series, done by a Czech painter named Mila Mina, who now lives in the US. Her son is a priest here.

Driving home from Kingston yesterday I listened to Carols for Dancing, a PRI program put together by WGBH in Boston about the origin of Christmas carols in Renaissance dance tunes. It was hosted by Ellen Kushner (of Sounds and Spirit fame), with music provided by the improvisatory Renaissance band called Renaissonics. I've just ordered the group's CD by the same name through Arkiv records. You can check the program out at www.wgbh.org/carols. It was truly a slice of history brought to vivid life.

painted incandescents

Several years ago on the way to Buffalo, NY, I finally stopped at Olga's Living with Art, a shop I had often noticed while driving Rt. 6 across Pennsylvania. Olga's is in Coudersport and Olga turned out to be a talented Ukrainian woman who makes fantastic knit creations, paints pysanky and glass, holds art classes for local kids, and firmly believes in art as an everyday part of life for everyone. Among the many enticing things at her shop, which takes up the bottom floor of a sprawling old house, were beautifully-painted and -wired light bulbs. Olga had decorated the bulbs in all kinds of colorful, fanciful ways, mostly with paintings of beings and things, then finished them off with sculptural hangers, made from heavy wire embellished with beads and such which she wrapped around the base of each bulb.

I came home and promptly started saving burned-out bulbs, which has become harder to do now that most of the bulbs in the house are compact fluorescents. When I started painting them, I stuck to Christmas red and green because I did not want to end up with lots of jars of half-used glass paint. I used whatever wire was around to make simple hangers for them. Mine are a most primitive version of Olga's, but they were a lot of fun to make and they look festive hanging in the downstairs windows at Christmas. This is the second year I've had them up. They are a great art project for recycling old incandescents.

And when in Coudersport, do not miss Olga's Living with Art shop.

christmas baked goods

At St. Mary Protection, a Greek-Catholic church in Kingston, PA, it was the day to pick up homemade nut, poppyseed, and cheese rolls, bread, fruit cake, and kolacky for Christmas. Joe N. is in charge of the baking, which is done in the social hall kitchen. His wife Jean, shown seated, handles all the other many details. By noon, when I got there, many of the boxed orders had already been picked up, despite the ice that is still everywhere. The raisin bread above was still warm from the oven. Since first writing about the church, I've been buying seasonal goodies there. All are delicious. My trips up north keep me in touch with the good people of the parish and always bring back warm memories of the late, and wonderful, Father Ted.

brad

Animals in Distress, an excellent local animal rescue shelter, sent this sweet Christmas ornament. Brad is the cat I sponsor at the shelter. I was going to visit him today but it's still ice time here. The car doors are again frozen and the day's plans have gone awry. Maybe I'll get to see Brad on Tuesday, the next visiting day, not that we are expecting a thaw anytime soon.

ice

Snow yesterday, then sleet and freezing rain left every twig and branch coated today in ice. Here is the view this morning from my workroom. And it stayed like this all day. It took more than an hour of chopping ice, then pouring hot water just to get the car doors unfrozen. Around 5:20 p.m. when I went to drive into town to pick up the rutabaga strudel (more about that another time), the doors were again freezing shut. That's when I learned that the mail carrier had been here and stuffed mail in the box, but had not picked up the mail I'd put in this morning. He/she had also left the flag up. What is going on!

utley makes tyib and the fcc

Chase Utley has won the This Year in Baseball award for the best moment of the postseason for his brilliant pump-fake to first, followed by a throw home to get Jason Bartlett trying to score the go-ahead run in the 7th inning of Game 5, part 2. The play kept the game tied at three. The Phillies of course went on to take the lead and win the game, win the series.

Utley has also drawn the attention of the FCC for his World F'ing Champions remark at the WS celebration at Citizens Bank Park on 10/31. It seems that 26 people with nothing much to do with themselves were outraged enough by the comment to send complaints to the FCC, which is now investigating the broadcast outlets that carried the comment. Get a life, people, will you?

winter grazing

I saw these horses earlier today in a field just outside of Browersville, making the most of the lull before the storm.

Is it now time for the Phillies' front office too to do some grazing? At least till the New Year? Non-roster invitees have been posted for spring training and minor league staff assignments have been announced. Some things to note among the latter: Dave Huppert is back with the IronPigs and I wish him a better collection of players. Steve Roadcap has taken over at Reading, which desperately needed a change of staff. Only Frank Cacciatore remains there. Ramon Henderson, the popular bullpen coach who gained fame pitching in the Home Run Derby to Bobby Abreu, then Ryan Howard, is now on the Clearwater staff. Henderson left the Phillies mid-season for personal reasons.

In the random awards department: Pat Gillick and Charlie Manuel have won, respectively, GM and Manager of the Year awards and Brad Lidge was voted Closer of the Year. Those awards are courtesy of MLB's This Year in Baseball. Not to be overlooked: Pat Gillick was crowned King of Baseball by Minor League Baseball execs and managers. That is pretty cool. I didn't know there was a King of Baseball.

ibanez in philadelphia

At a press conference at the ballpark this afternoon, Raul Ibanez (#29) was introduced as the Phillies' new left fielder. "Polished professional" is what someone in the Philly media later called him. "Boring" is what he called himself. (He said his kids also call him that.) With attractive almond eyes and smooth skin, the man looks incredibly fit and sounds totally dedicated to his craft. From how he talks about hitting, you'd have to think Charlie Manuel will enjoy having him on board. Fans should, too. Maybe, a la his friend Jamie Moyer with the pitching staff, Ibanez will end up being a hitting mentor.

Among the many things Ibanez said at the conference, then later in an interview on Comcast, was that he turned down more money from other clubs to come to the Phillies, that the chance to play for a team that had just won the World Series and was pretty much intact and committed to winning was too good to pass up. Watching the WS on TV, he had got 'goosebumps' from the great energy--from both players and fans--that came across during broadcasts. As a professional, he said, that doesn't happen much while watching TV. At the time he had no idea that Pat Burrell would be a free agent and was not thinking about the Phillies as a possible team. He was however rooting for Moyer and his family, and for Greg Dobbs and Pat Gillick.

Ibanez also said he had been thinking about his late friend, former Mariner catcher John Marzano, who died earlier this year. A South Philadelphia native, Marzano was proud of his roots and often talked about Philly. When you played poorly, said Ibanez, he'd say that you couldn't get away with that kind of thing in Philadelphia, that the fans there would be all over you.

One of the better-known Marzano stories involved the rookie Ibanez, who got hurt shortly after being called up to the big club. When pay day came in the clubhouse, the injured rookie felt bad about accepting his first big league check. Marzano picked up on that and lectured Ibanez, telling him that he deserved the check as much as anyone else, that it represented the result of all the hard work he had put into making it to the majors. Ibanez thanked Marzano for the words and started to walk away. At which point, Marzano pointed at the rookie and yelled out to everyone, "Pay check bandit! That guy's stealing salary!"

First impressions: Ibanez will be an easy guy to root for. And he isn't boring. Of course, it will all depend on what he does on the field. Speaking of which, it is now less than two months till pitchers and catchers.

wintry mix

Yesterday it was 60F. Today it's sleet with snow.

Some pitching stats we don't want to hear. According to pitching coach Rick Peterson, formerly with the A's and Mets, last year MLB spent $1.2 billion on pitching. Of that, $330 million was for injured pitchers. What is wrong here?

busy monday

It started with a radio interview caught by chance with Cole Hamels, again saying the kinds of things that make a fan feel merry and bright. The Phillies really do seem to have a character clubhouse.

Also this morning: Chan Ho Park is reported to have reached a tentative one-year $2.5 million deal with the Phillies, worth $7.5 million with incentives. According to the Korea Times, Park was leery of pitching in Citizens Bank Park but decided on the Phillies when offered a chance to compete for the 5th starter's role. This sounds like a good bullpen signing, not so much for the rotation. Park did pretty well last year coming out of the 'pen for the Dodgers, the only team that has provided him a comfort zone during his MLB career.

At a press conference this afternoon, Chase Utley showed that he was up and about---and talking about being ready by the middle of spring training. Good news just so long as he's all recovered.

Ruben Amaro, Jr., then took over to announce that Jamie Moyer had been signed to a two-year contract. OK, the Phillies are not getting younger but Moyer is an invaluable asset. This morning Hamels even called him the biggest influence on his career and spoke in specifics about why that was so.

Only one question, Mr. Amaro, about that "younger and more athletic" thing.... Were you referring to yourself?

you're the tops

Comcast last night replayed Game 2 of the NLDS. Who knew that Brett Myers at the plate would trump Brett Myers on the mound? Against CC Sabathia no less? The Myers' at-bats were as giddying the second time around. The TBS commentary, though, was mystifying. I was at the park that night and know what was going on. The first time Myers came to the plate, everyone wanted to see him run up Sabathia's pitch count even a little bit. When he started to do that and more, the crescendo built as the parkwent crazy with each pitch. TBS, though, never even showed Sabathia's pitch count till Rollins came up. Instead, play-by-play guy Brian Anderson prattled about Philly fans being tough but appreciating effort. By Myers' second at-bat, which ultimately set up Victorino's grand slam, the park was a party. Talk about homefield advantage. If it hadn't already been clear to all, that game sealed it. The Phillies knew they had it and so did their opponents.

All in all, the TBS coverage was much better than that of ESPN or FOX. Joe Simpson and John Smoltz did color and worked well with Anderson. Because Simpson and Smoltz are both with the Braves, they know the Phillies well, which enabled them to do a far better job than the national people ever do. And it's flatout interesting to hear John Smoltz on pitching.

mo cheeks fired

Earlier today, in a move that for weeks looked to be inevitable, the Sixers fired coach Mo Cheeks. Projected to contend, the team's been a bust so far, playing a brand of betwixt and between basketball that's been just about unwatchable. Love Mo Cheeks but someone had to take the fall for this. The last time it was GM Billy King. This time GM Ed Stefanski gets a pass of sorts. Assistant-GM Tony DiLeo, formerly in charge of scouting and drafting, is the new coach. I'm not down on Iguadala the way many Sixer fans seem to be but I hope DiLeo can get these guys to work together. Making shots and playing solid defense would help. Too much to ask?

In DiLeo's debut as head coach, the Sixers handily beat the visiting Wizards, a team that fired its coach a couple of weeks ago. Five coaches have been fired so far this season. Attendance is awful.

contracts for bruntlett and condrey

I wonder if Tom Gordon will be back in April to pick up his World Series ring or if he'll be pitching somewhere. Wish you well, Flash, wish you health.

Last night was the deadline for tendering contracts. The Phillies signed utility guy Eric Bruntlett, who had a fair share of key moments in the playoffs, and yeoman righty Clay Condrey to new contracts and non-tendered RHP Scott Mathiesson, then signed him to a minor league deal as he continues rehabbing from his second arm surgery. Now on the arbitration clock: Joe Blanton, Gregg Dobbs, Chad Durbin, Cole Hamels, Ryan Howard, Ryan Madson, Shane Victorino, and Jayson Werth. Should be fun.

I wonder how many of the fans screaming about the Ibanez signing were booing Pat Burrell a couple of years ago. Or how they endured Burrell's half-season slump this year without wanting to jump off a bridge. Many also seem to be the ones who speak blithely about trading Ryan Howard right now for some fantasy package of young studs. Like Pat Burrell is irreplaceable offense and Ryan Howard is not. Or is it that they want to be Pat Burrell more than they want to be Ryan Howard? I don't know how Raul Ibanez will work out as a Phillie for three years but he seems at the least to be the kind of hitter that the Phillies need, if not the age we'd like. Burrell reportedly wanted more time and money than the Phillies wanted to give him, but I think it was his half-season slump that that pretty much decided his fate in Philadelphia. The sabermetrics crowd will continue howling about stats but they should look at it this way: Burrell, unlike lots of other players, gets to leave on a high note.

How amusing to hear talk of Abreu or Burrell in the Mets' outfield. Wouldn't that get a lot of panties in a twist?