The Phillies played an epic six hour and eleven minute, 19 inning game against the Cincinnati Reds on Wednesday night and hearing the words “that’ll move Chooch from the catcher’s spot to third base” woke me from the half sleep I had fallen into. After running out of pitching options well after midnight, manager Charlie Manuel had no choice but to bring in a position player to pitch for the top of the 19th inning. Selecting second baseman Wilson Valdez as the new pitcher, Placido Polanco moved from third base to second. This was followed by catcher Carlos Ruiz (“Chooch”) moving to third, being replaced by backup catcher Dane Sardinha. Valdez recorded a full inning of work and earned his first Major League win as the Phillies scored in the bottom of the 19th behind his pitching.

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Forget about April Fools posts, it’s kind of a big day for Philadelphia sports. The surprisingly competent 76ers take on the New Jersey Nets tonight at 7PM and can clinch a playoff spot with a win. A Charlotte loss gets them in as well and while I’m not expecting much in the postseason, this team did beat San Antonio, Chicago and Boston this season. They were even able to hang with Miami until the Heat decided they wanted to win that game. That’s just the tip of the Philly Sports iceberg though.

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Our latest distraction gets his first picture with a Phillies icon. Everyone is in costume: Red Phanatic, teddy bear and the Flash's nemesis, Captain Cold.

The 2011 Major League Baseball season is almost upon us. In preparation, my beloved Phillies are holding their “Paint the Town Red” series of events again this year, leading up to the Opening Day game on Friday, April 1st at 1PM. Things kicked off with on Saturday with the Phillies 5K at Citizens Bank Park and MLD was on hand for the event. It was great to be a part of Phillies history by participating in the inaugural race even if we didn’t break any records.

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AP Photo/Gregory Bull

How could anyone not love baseball’s balk? It’s fun to say, I don’t fully understand it (I’ve never seen one and said “that’s clearly a balk”), and there have been three in the past two weeks of Phillies games. Sure, Phillies pitchers have committed all of them, but the balk is still my favorite crazy baseball rule.

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Last weekend, the Phillies”traveled” to Philadelphia for their weekend series “at” Toronto. Prior to the games, we knew the Phillies would bat in the top of the order and the game would follow American League rules using the designated hitter, even though they were playing in their home park. To further sell the idea that these were “away” games, the Phillies even wore their road uniforms, but the teams did not go so far as to switch dugouts nor did the concessions sell typical Canadian baseball fare. Although, that’s probably the same as American baseball fare at this point.

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