I really didn't think that ESPN would tab a replacement for Steve Phillips, following his firing this offseason, but alas....I was wrong. Orel Hershiser will be joining Jon Miller and Joe Morgan this season for Sunday Night Baseball. Via ESPN PR....

Jon Miller, the recently announced winner of the Baseball Hall of Fame’s 2010 Ford C. Frick Award, and Hall of Famer Joe Morgan will be joined by ESPN analyst and former Major League Baseball Cy Young Award winner Orel Hershiser in the Sunday Night Baseball booth this season. Miller and Morgan are entering their 21st consecutive season on Sunday Night Baseball.

“Sunday Night Baseball distinctly offers Jon’s Hall of Fame voice and the combination of Joe’s Hall of Fame approach to hitting and Orel’s profound pitching knowledge,” said Norby Williamson, ESPN executive vice president, production. “Collectively, they will provide compelling analysis and debate during our national game of the week.”

In addition to his Sunday Night responsibilities, Hershiser will continue to serve as analyst during ESPN’s College World Series and Little League World Series coverage. He will also provide analysis for Baseball Tonight. Hershiser most recently provided analysis for Monday Night Baseball in 2009, and has contributed to Wednesday Night Baseball.

I've always enjoyed Orel in the booth, and now he'll get a chance to showcase it with ESPN's "A-Team". Some find him bland, but his knowledge of game situations will help out a pair that has basically forgotten everything they've ever learned about the game.

The Baseball HOF recently announced that ESPN's Jon Miller has been selected as the 2010 recipient of the Ford C. Frick broadcasting award. The Ford C. Frick Award. awarded annually, and is based on the following criteria: longevity; continuity with a club; honors, including national assignments such as the World Series and All-Star Games; and popularity with fans....

The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum announced today that Jon Miller, who has spent parts of four decades as the voice of five Major League Baseball teams and has been the voice of ESPN’s national Sunday Night Baseball telecasts for 20 years, has been selected as the 2010 recipient of the Ford C. Frick Award, presented annually for major contributions to baseball broadcasting. Miller will be honored during Hall of Fame Induction Ceremonies on Sunday, July 25, 2010 in Cooperstown, N.Y.

"Jon Miller is one of baseball's most recognizable voices and is extremely deserving of this prestigious honor," said Jeff Idelson, President of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum. "With a national audience on Sunday nights for the last 20 years, an entire country has been able to enjoy on a weekly basis what fans in San Francisco, Baltimore, Boston, Texas and Oakland have known with Miller as their home team's broadcaster for varied points over the last four decades. His soothing play-by-play, his affable and welcoming personality and his relaxed nature on-air give every baseball fan a personal invitation to enjoy the game, as if each were sitting in the front row."

Surprisingly it was not given to Miller because he's carried Joe Morgan for years. Who would have thunk it? Everyone knows the Miller has lost some of his luster over the past few years, but I would still take him over anyone else in the business. Obviously this is because I grew up with him broadcasting Orioles games, and I'm biased, but that aside I definitely think he deserves this award.

It's hard to believe it, but the Baseball season gets underway in just a little over two months. Which is why ESPN has just released their early season Sunday Night Baseball schedule. This year will kick off with the Opening Night matchup between the Yankees and Red Sox, and will feature multiple games with the Atlanta Braves, Boston Red Sox, Chicago Cubs, Milwaukee Brewers, New York Mets and St. Louis Cardinals. Here's the schedule (all games start at 8pm, and are on ESPN, unless otherwise noted)....

April 4 - Opening Night: NY Yankees at Boston (ESPN2)
April 11 - St. Louis Cardinals at Milwaukee Brewers
April 18 - NY Mets at St. Louis Cardinals
April 25 - Atlanta Braves at NY Mets
May 2 - NY Mets at Philadelphia Phillies
May 9 - NY Yankees at Boston Red Sox
May 16 - Philadelphia Phillies at Milwaukee Brewers
May 23 - NY Yankees at NY Mets
May 30 - Texas Rangers at Minnesota Twins (ESPN2)
June 6-27 - TBD
July 4 - Kansas City Royals at LA Angels
July 11 - Chicago Cubs at LA Dodgers
July 18 - Philadelphia Phillies at Chicago Cubs (6pm)

Saturday, September 19th:

Chicago Cubs at St. Louis Cardinals (FOX, 4:10, 59%) - Josh Lewin, Tim McCarver and Ken Rosenthal

Markets: Atlanta, Austin, Baltimore, Birmingham, Buffalo, Charlotte, Chicago, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus, Dayton, Fort Myers, Greensboro, Greenville, Houston, Indianapolis, Jacksonville, Kansas City, Knoxville, Louisville, Memphis, Miami, Milwaukee, Nashville, New Orleans, Norfolk, Oklahoma City, Orlando, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Raleigh, Richmond, San Antonio, St. Louis, Tampa, Tulsa, Washington, West Palm Beach

San Francisco Giants at Los Angeles Dodgers(FOX, 4:10, 21%) - Chris Rose, Eric Karros

Markets: Albuquerque, Denver, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Phoenix, Portland, Sacramento, Salt Lake City, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle

Detroit Tigers at Minnesota Twins(FOX, 4:10, 19%) - Dick Bremer, Mark Grace

Markets: Boston, Dallas, Detroit, Hartford, Minneapolis, New York, Providence

Sunday, September 20th:

LA Angels of Anaheim at Texas Rangers (TBS, 1pm) - Chip Caray, Buck Martinez
Chicago Cubs at St. Louis Cardinals (ESPN, 8pm)- Jon Miller, Joe Morgan and Steve Phillips

Saturday, September 5th:

Boston Red Sox at Chicago White Sox (FOX, 4:10, 64%) - Kenny Albert, Tim McCarver and Ken Rosenthal

San Francisco Giants at Milwaukee Brewers(FOX, 4:10, 23%) - Dick Stockton, Eric Karros

Texas Rangers at Baltimore Orioles(FOX, 4:10, 13%) - Josh Lewin, Mark Grace

Sunday, September 6th:

Boston Red Sox at Chicago White Sox (TBS, 2pm) - Chip Caray, Dennis Eckersley
San Diego Padres at Los Angeles Dodgers (ESPN, 8pm)- Jon Miller, Joe Morgan and Steve Phillips

Saturday, August 29th:

New York Mets at Chicago Cubs (FOX, 4:10, 63%) - Joe Buck, Tim McCarver and Ken Rosenthal

Markets Include: Atlanta, Austin, Baltimore, Birmingham, Buffalo, Charlotte, Chicago, Cleveland, Greensboro, Greenville, Hartford, Houston, Indianapolis, Kansas City, Knoxville, Louisville, Memphis, Miami, Milwaukee, Nashville, New Orleans, New York, Norfolk, Oklahoma City, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Pittsburgh, Raleigh, Richmond, San Antonio, San Diego, St. Louis, Tulsa, Washington, West Palm Beach

Los Angeles Dodgers at Cincinnati Reds(FOX, 4:10, 21%) - Thom Brennaman, Eric Karros

Markets Include: Albuquerque, Cincinnati, Columbus, Dayton, Denver, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Portland, Sacramento, Salt Lake City, San Francisco, Seattle

Tampa Bay Rays at Detroit Tigers(FOX, 4:10, 15%) - Kenny Albert, Mark Grace

Markets Include: Boston, Dallas, Detroit, Fort Myers, Jacksonville, Minneapolis, Orlando, Providence, Tampa

Sunday, August 30th:

Chicago White Sox at New York Yankees (TBS, 1pm) - Chip Caray, Ron Darling
Atlanta Braves at Philadelphia Phillies (ESPN, 8pm)- Jon Miller, Joe Morgan and Steve Phillips

Saturday, August 22nd:

New York Yankees at Boston Red Sox (FOX, 4:10, 63%) - Kenny Albert, Tim McCarver and Ken Rosenthal

Markets Include: Atlanta, Austin, Baltimore, Birmingham, Boston, Buffalo, Charlotte, Cleveland, Columbus, Dallas, Detroit, Fort Myers, Greensboro, Greenville, Hartford, Jacksonville, Knoxville, Miami, Minneapolis, New Orleans, New York, Norfolk, Orlando, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Portland, Providence, Raleigh, Richmond, Salt Lake City, San Antonio, Seattle, Tampa, Washington, West Palm Beach

Chicago Cubs at Los Angeles Dodgers(FOX, 4:10, 36%) - Dick Stockton, Eric Karros

Markets Include: Albuquerque, Chicago, Cincinnati, Dayton, Denver, Houston, Indianapolis, Kansas City, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Louisville, Memphis, Milwaukee, Nashville, Oklahoma City, Phoenix, Sacramento, San Diego, San Francisco, St. Louis, Tulsa

Sunday, August 23rd:

Texas Rangers at Tampa Bay Rays (TBS, 1:30pm) - Chip Caray, Buck Martinez
New York Yankees at Boston Red Sox (ESPN, 8pm)- Jon Miller, Joe Morgan and Steve Phillips

Monday, August 24th:

Detroit Tigers at Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (ESPN, 10pm)- Jon Sciambi, Steve Phillips

Saturday, August 15th:

Philadelphia Phillies at Atlanta Braves (FOX, 4:10, 60%) - Kenny Albert, Eric Karros and Ken Rosenthal

Markets Include: Albuquerque, Atlanta, Austin, Baltimore, Birmingham, Boston, Charlotte, Cincinnati, Dallas, Fort Myers, Greensboro, Greenville, Houston, Indianapolis, Jacksonville, Kansas City, Knoxville, Las Vegas, Louisville, Memphis, Miami, Milwaukee, Nashville, New Orleans, Norfolk, Oklahoma City, Orlando, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Pittsburgh, Providence, Raleigh, Richmond, Salt Lake City, San Antonio, St. Louis, Tampa, Tulsa, Washington, West Palm Beach

New York Mets at San Francisco Giants (FOX, 4:10, 26%) - Thom Brennaman and Mark Grace

Markets Include: Buffalo, Denver, Hartford, Los Angeles, New York, Portland, Sacramento, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle

Cleveland Indians at Minnesota Twins(FOX, 4:10, 13%) - Dick Stockton and Bert Blyleven

Markets Include: Chicago, Cleveland, Columbus, Dayton, Detroit, Minneapolis

Boston Red Sox at Texas Rangers (MLB-N, 8pm)- Local Announcers

Sunday, August 16th:

Boston Red Sox at Texas Rangers (TBS, 2pm) - Chip Caray, Ron Darling and David Wells
Philadelphia Phillies at Atlanta Braves (ESPN, 8pm)- Jon Miller, Joe Morgan and Steve Phillips

Monday, August 10th:

St. Louis Cardinals at Los Angeles Dodgers (ESPN, 1opm)- Dave O'Brien, Orel Hershiser and Steve Phillips

Saturday, August 8th:

Boston Red Sox at New York Yankees (FOX, 4:10, 88%) - Joe Buck, Tim McCarver and Ken Rosenthal

Markets Include: Albuquerque, Atlanta, Baltimore, Birmingham, Boston, Buffalo, Charlotte, Chicago, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus, Dayton, Denver, Detroit, Fort Myers, Greensboro, Greenville, Hartford, Houston, Indianapolis, Jacksonville, Kansas City, Knoxville, Las Vegas, Louisville, Memphis, Miami, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, Nashville, New Orleans, New York, Norfolk, Oklahoma City, Orlando, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Pittsburgh, Portland, Providence, Raleigh, Richmond, Sacramento, Salt Lake City, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, St. Louis, Tampa, Tulsa, Washington, West Palm Beach

Texas Rangers at Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (FOX, 4:10, 11%) - Thom Brennaman and Eric Karros

Markets Include: Austin, Dallas, Los Angeles, San Antonio

Sunday, August 9th:

Minnesota Twins at Detroit Tigers (TBS, 1pm) - Chip Caray and Dennis Eckersley
Boston Red Sox at New York Yankees (ESPN, 8pm)- Jon Miller, Joe Morgan and Steve Phillips

Monday, August 10th:

Detroit Tigers at Boston Red Sox (ESPN, 8pm)- Dan Shulman, Orel Hershiser and Steve Phillips
___________________

Also a quick FYI to all you fantasy heads out there. You may have noticed the number of posts has gone down a bit in recent weeks. This is because I've been working on a bit of a side project involving Fantasy Football. The site is called 12 Step Drop, and even though it's still in the early stages of development, you should still check it out. It's a twist on the standard sites that are all stats and injuries, and I think you'll get a kick out of it.

Myself and a few friends will be live-blogging the Hall of Fame Game over there this Sunday, so please stop by and comment if you have a second.

12 Step Drop

Saturday, July 25th:

St. Louis Cardinals at Philadelphia Phillies (FOX, 4:10, 73%) - Dick Stockton, Tim McCarver and Ken Rosenthal

Markets Include: Albuquerque, Atlanta, Austin, Baltimore, Birmingham, Boston, Buffalo, Charlotte, Cincinnati, Columbus, Dayton, Denver, Fort Myers, Greensboro, Greenville, Hartford, Houston, Jacksonville, Kansas City, Knoxville, Las Vegas, Louisville, Memphis, Miami, Milwaukee, Nashville, New Orleans, New York, Norfolk, Oklahoma City, Orlando, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Pittsburgh, Providence, Raleigh, Richmond, Sacramento, Salt Lake City, San Antonio, San Diego, San Francisco, St. Louis, Tampa, Tulsa, Washington, West Palm Beach

Minnesota Twins at Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (FOX, 4:10, 16%) - Kenny Albert and Eric Karros

Markets Include: Dallas, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, Portland, Seattle

Chicago White Sox at Detroit Tigers (FOX, 4:10, 10%) - Chris Rose and Mark Grace

Markets Include: Chicago, Cleveland, Detroit, Indianapolis

Sunday, July 26th:

St. Louis Cardinals at Philadelphia Phillies (TBS, 1:30pm) - Chip Caray, Ron Darling and David Wells
Chicago White Sox at Detroit Tiger (ESPN, 8pm)- Jon Miller, Joe Morgan and Steve Phillips

Monday, July 27th:

Los Angeles Dodgers at St. Louis Cardinals (ESPN, 8pm)- Dan Shulman, Orel Hershiser and Steve Phillips

I'm heading out for the rest of the week, for a small vacation, but wanted to get your weekend Baseball schedule up for the holiday weekend. Everyone have a great 4th, enjoy the return of Manny, stay safe and I'll see you next week.

Saturday, July 4th:

New York Mets at Philadelphia Phillies (FOX, 4:10) - Kenny Albert & Tim McCarver
Detroit Tigers at Minnesota Twins (FOX, 4:10) - Dick Bremer & Mark Grace
Los Angeles Dodgers at San Diego Padres (FOX, 4:10) - Dick Stockton & Eric Karros

Sunday, July 5th:

Milwaukee Brewers at Chicago Cubs (TBS, 2:00pm) - Chip Caray & Buck Martinez
Tampa Bay Rays at Texas Rangers (ESPN, 8pm)- Jon Miller, Joe Morgan & Steve Phillips

Monday, July 6th:

Atlanta Braves at Chicago Cubs (ESPN, 8pm) - Dan Shulman, Orel Hershiser & Steve Phillips

Joe Morgan was called out last week about a tale he told during Sunday Night Baseball, and last night he decided to clarify the whole thing. Well per Morgan's usual "misremberings" of his Baseball career, he dug himself into an even bigger hole. From Deadspin via Larry Brown Sports....

Morgan: "Jon [Miller], I want to correct something that I said last week — you weren’t here so you weren’t involved — but last week we were talking about Don Wilson pitching a no-hitter and I remember talking to him about Hank Aaron and saying it wouldn’t be the worst thing if he walked him. And he said ‘get away’ and he went out and struck him out. Well it happened in the dugout, not on the field. I got it mixed up with an incident I had with Al Hollins, who in a similar situation was pitching with me at the Giants, so I had the two confused."

Joe claims he mixed up the Wilson and Holland stories — that Holland was pitching "in a similar situation" in 1981 or 1982, meaning, presumably, that he had a no-hitter going late in the game, and that Joe sauntered over from second and suggested he walk a big bat, etc. Let's have a look at the record, shall we? Surely there are some computer numbers out there that might help us.

Holland was a relief pitcher, a decent one for a time, and he recorded only 11 starts over his 10-year career, 10 of them with the Giants. Only once did he throw more than four innings of no-hit ball. That would've been Sept. 29, 1981, against Cincinnati; Johnny Bench hit a solo shot in the fifth to break it up. Now, I suppose it's conceivable that Joe would've proposed walking Bench at that point, even if his old teammate was then in the winter of his years. But consider: Holland didn't just have a no-no through four-and-a-third. He had a perfect game.

It's obviously a tad bit nit-picky to call out an announcer for not getting a story, that happened thirty plus years ago, exactly right. But Dr. Morgan doesn't even come close when it comes to recapping certain moments during his playing days. Everyone is always up in arms when blogs pick on Joe, but maybe now you have a little insight into why we do so.

Oh and I would also like to refer you to Major League Jerk, for Exhibit B....

Adam (Joplin, MO): What is the hardest thing to deal with throughout a MLB season?

Joe: I don’t know if there’s one, but two things that are very difficult are physical and mental fatigue. A lot of times you’ll play a night game and fly some place for a day game. There aren’t as many days off. For every day players, the grind of playing every day. Facing tough pitching. The grind works on you mentally. I used to get more mentally tired than physically tired. I would think it’s the same with the players today.

Adam: What’s the hardest part about the baseball season?

Joe: I don’t know if it’s one thing so I’m going to narrow it down to every single possible thing ever: the mental and the physical. I’m not sure if that includes the ether that the world floats in or the space between our cells but I would say that everything in the entire universe that could serve as a reason is my answer. But mostly it’s everything.

Joe Morgan Lies Again When Clarifying Previous Lie on Sunday Night Baseball (Larry Brown Sports)
Joe Morgan Clarifies One Fib, Possibly Tells Another (Deadspin)
Fire Joe Morgan Already (Major League Jerk)

Dan Steinberg, now of the Sporting Blog, sat down with Jon Miller recently and specifically asked him about the criticism that both he and Joe Morgan receive(d). Not only did Miller discuss blogs and the internet as a whole, but he specifically addressed the whole Fire Joe Morgan issue as well....

Hey, speaking of Joe, do you get irritated with some of the criticism?

Well, I figure for any of us in this business, the fact that there are critics, radio/TV sports critics, it’s all a positive for us. Because if you go back years ago, really before my time, Walter Winchell had the big column. In San Francisco, it was Herb Caen. I know here in Washington, in the Style section they’ve always had columnists. PR people are trying to get showbiz people and clients in those columns, so that they’re around town, getting their name in the paper. And now the sportscasters have these critics, and we get talked about.

What about the Internet stuff, do you read blogs?

Oh no, I don’t even understand what the point of it is. I mean, I know people are communicating, but it’s not interesting to me. I like the blogs that the beat writers have now. Henry Schulman with the Chronicle, in addition to whatever he’s writing for the paper, he’s got other stuff on his blog. And Bruce Jenkins is a great columnist for the Chronicle, he’s got other columns on the blog.

But for the rest of it, I don’t really care about it. I mean, for me, if there’s criticism, and it’s about something that I could do something about, or at least something that I could say that’s a good point, or no I disagree with that for this reason, well, that’s good. I mean, we all need feedback, and maybe somebody makes a good point. You know, I was a terrible English student in high school. I couldn’t probably diagram a sentence today. I mean, if somebody uses the phrase dangling participle, I’m going 'Huh?' I don’t have a clue what that is.

But over the years, people would send me letters, saying you said such and such, and that’s really improper usage, the proper way to say that would be this way. I'd say Eddie Murray awaits on deck, and the guy wrote me and said it would be awaits his turn on deck. You couldn’t say "'awaits' without 'his turn;' you have to say what he’s awaiting. So that was good, so I learned from that. A lot of stuff, that’s how I learned it. I thought that was very instructive.

But if somebody just says, this guy sucks, or he stinks? Well, that’s not interesting to me. You know, there’s nothing I can do with it. With Joe, you know, Joe knows a LOT about the game. Whether occasionally he mangles the language or says something that maybe comes out different from what he meant to say, like a million other ballplayers, that all could be. But they told me that there’s a Web site called FireJoeMorgan.com or something. Well, what’s the point of that? That’s just mean, mean-spirited. I mean, what is the actual point?

I guess Miller has a point. If someone doesn't "get" blogs, then there's really no point in trying to convince them over their validity or entertainment value. It's taken me awhile myself to understand the difference between an opinion, and something that is just "mean spirited" as Jon says, but I can understand how maddening it can get listening to certain people. Especially Dr. Joe Morgan.

Jon Miller on 300 Wins, Spanish Accents and FJM (The Sporting Blog)

Saturday, May 30th:

Los Angeles Dodgers at Chicago Cubs - Joe Buck, Tim McCarver & Ken Rosenthal (FOX, 4:10, 70%)

MARKETS INCLUDE: Albuquerque, Austin, Baltimore, Buffalo, Chicago,
Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus, Dallas, Dayton, Denver, Hartford,
Houston, Indianapolis, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Louisville, Memphis,
Miami, Milwaukee, New Orleans, New York, Norfolk, Oklahoma City,
Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Portland, Richmond, Sacramento, Salt Lake
City, San Antonio, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, St. Louis,
Tulsa, Washington, West Palm Beach

Atlanta Braves at Arizona Diamondbacks - Kenny Albert & Mark Grace (FOX, 4:10, 15%)

MARKETS INCLUDE: Atlanta, Birmingham, Charlotte, Greensboro,
Greenville, Jacksonville, Knoxville, Nashville, Phoenix, Raleigh

Minnesota Twins at Tampa Bay Rays - DeWayne Staats & Eric Karros (FOX, 4:10, 14%)

MARKETS INCLUDE: Boston, Detroit, Fort Myers, Kansas City,
Minneapolis, Orlando, Providence, Tampa

St.Louis Cardinals @San Francisco Giants - Local Broadcast (MLB-N, 9pm)

Sunday, May 31st:

New York Mets at Cleveland Indians (TBS, 12:30pm) - Chip Caray, Dennis Eckersley
LA Dodgers at Chicago Cubs(ESPN, 8pm)- Jon Miller, Joe Morgan, Steve Phillips

Saturday, May 23rd:

Philadelphia Phillies at New York Yankees (FOX, 4:10pm)- Joe Buck, Tim McCarver & Ken Rosenthal

MARKETS INCLUDE: Albuquerque, Atlanta, Baltimore, Birmingham, Boston, Buffalo, Charlotte, Chicago, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus, Dayton, Denver, Detroit, Fort Myers, Greensboro, Greenville, Hartford, Indianapolis, Jacksonville, Kansas City, Knoxville, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Louisville, Memphis, Miami, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, Nashville, New Orleans, New York, Norfolk, Orlando, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Pittsburgh, Portland, Providence, Raleigh, Richmond, Sacramento, Salt Lake City, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, St. Louis, Tampa, Washington, West Palm Beach

Texas Rangers at Houston Astros (FOX, 4:10pm)- Josh Lewin & Mark Grace

MARKETS INCLUDE: Austin, Dallas, Houston, Oklahoma City, San Antonio, Tulsa

Sunday, May 24th:

New York Mets at Boston Red Sox (TBS, 1:30pm) - Chip Caray, Buck Martinez and Dennis Eckersley
Milwaukee Brewers at Minnesota Twins (ESPN, 8pM)- Jon Miller, Joe Morgan, Steve Phillips

Steve Phillips has only been on Sunday Night Baseball for two short months, and already he's causing Sports writers around the country conniptions. Both SI and the NY Daily News to umbrage with a recent Phillips exchange with Joe Morgan on Carlos Beltran, and both writers of the pieces (Joe Posnanski and Bob Raissman) took Steve to task....

Posnanski: My point is not to say that Carlos Beltran is above criticism. My point is to say that ... well, yeah, at the moment, Carlos Beltran is above criticism. Are you kidding me? A brilliant defensive center fielder who hits, hits with power, steals bases, runs the bases, draws walks ... and this year, so far, he's hitting .367. Is he perfect? Of course not. But if you want to judge him by certain criteria ... well, hey, wait a minute, here's some criteria right here, courtesy of Steve Phillips himself (quotes from this insightful article from the typically insightful Ted Berg):

"That guy who's a good base runner, a good defender, doesn't give up at-bats, gets the hit when you need the hit, drives in a run when you need the run, always seems to be in the right position. I think the good teams have that guy ... that singular flawless player that in every aspect of the game, lead."

Raismann: "After Phillips said Reyes and David Wright are part of the Mets long-term solution, he suggested that GM Omar Minaya (he referred to Minaya as "they") might want to start thinking if Carlos Beltran has a future with the Mets. For "the $17-plus million they have invested in him," Phillips wondered if the Mets were getting enough "game-winning plays" in return.

"I definitely would disagree," Morgan said. "You want more from Beltran, but you can't deny he's put up the numbers."

In all this back-and-forth, Phillips showed no spine. No one is suggesting that these debates should be taken to an extreme. Nonetheless, every time Morgan shot down Phillips there was little response. Phillips needs to counter-punch. That would make the television more compelling.

This has always been the case with Steve Phillips. He never seems to think about what he's said in the past, then just shoots off at the mouth and contradicts himself. That being said, trying to slide into a spot in between a duo that has been together for 20 years, can't be easy. Hopefully Phillips can find his way, but it's not looking good for the trio.

Defending Carlos Beltran from the Steve Phillips screwdriver (SI)
Steve Phillips Leaves Bat On Shoulder In ESPN's Sunday Night Baseball Booth (NY Daily News)

Another weekend of Baseball action is coming, and to prepare for it, you absolutely HAVE to head to the MLB on FOX's Twitter Page! Where else would you learn that Joe Buck's daughters will be in the new George Clooney movie?!?!

Saturday, April 18th:

Cleveland Indians at New York Yankees- Joe Buck, Tim McCarver, Ken Rosenthal (FOX, 3:30pm, 65%)

MARKETS INCLUDE: Albuquerque, Atlanta, Austin, Baltimore, Birmingham, Boston, Buffalo, Charlotte, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus, Dallas, Dayton, Detroit, Fort Myers, Greensboro, Greenville, Hartford, Jacksonville, Las Vegas, Miami, Minneapolis, Nashville, New Orleans, New York, Norfolk, Oklahoma City, Orlando, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Portland, Providence, Raleigh, Richmond, Sacramento, Salt Lake City, San Antonio, San Francisco, Seattle, Tampa, Washington, West Palm Beach

St. Louis Cardinals at Chicago Cubs- Thom Brennaman, Mark Grace (FOX, 3:55pm, 24%)

MARKETS INCLUDE: Chicago, Houston, Indianapolis, Kansas City, Knoxville, Louisville, Memphis, Milwaukee, Phoenix, San Diego, St. Louis, Tulsa

Colorado Rockies at Los Angeles Dodgers- Dick Stockton, Eric Karros (FOX, 3:55pm, 10%)

MARKETS INCLUDE: Denver, Los Angeles

Los Angeles Dodgers @ Arizona Diamondbacks (MLB-N, 8pm)- TBD

Sunday, April 19th:

Cleveland Indians at New York Yankees (TBS, 1pm) - Chip Caray, Ron Darling
St. Louis Cardinals at Chicago Cubs (ESPN, 8pM)- Jon Miller, Joe Morgan, Steve Phillips

Steve Phillips recently shared a bit of criticism on the Cubs, which Manager Lou Pinella didn't take kindly to, and the ESPN analyst sought out the coach before last night's ESPN Sunday Night Baseball game. Phillips had questioned Pinella's patience when dealing with Kosuke Fukudome, and apologized for his comments yesterday. Via the Chicago Tribune....

In an interview on WMVP-AM 1000 this spring, Phillips told Chet Coppock: "My view is Lou doesn't have a great deal of patience for assimilation into culture, assimilation into the team. He is just not the most patient guy around, and he also tends to verbalize his frustrations in an angry way. I think that may have affected Fukudome a little bit."

That comment upset Piniella, who later told the Tribune: "I don't have much respect for Steve Phillips. Let him be around a little more and see what transpires before he makes assumptions. I've lost total respect for this guy. If he had something to say, let him say it to me."

Phillips had not spoken to Piniella about the comments until Sunday night. Piniella appeared to accept his explanation.

But Phillips was not the only one on ESPN critiquing Piniella. The manager was watching "Baseball Tonight" in the clubhouse with several players after Saturday's game when he heard that he was already showing impatience by changing closers one week into the season.

"If that's the worst thing they say about me on ESPN, I'm happy," Piniella said.

I think it's pretty apparent that Lou doesn't have much patience, so I found it a bit odd when he got that upset about the original comment. I really don't think Phillips should have apologized, but alls well that ends well I guess.

ESPN's Steve Phillips apolozies to Lou Piniella (Chicago Tribune)

Well the first full weekend of Baseball is upon us, which means your first weekend announcing schedule is going up. Fox's pregame show will be at the Red Sox-Angels game, and the majority of the country gets a Buck-McCarver reprieve for the first game of the season. Here's the rest of the schedule...

Saturday, April 11th:

Boston Red Sox at Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim - Kenny Albert, Eric Karros, Ken Rosenthal, Chris Rose (FOX, 3:55pm, 66%)

MARKETS INCLUDE: Albuquerque, Atlanta, Baltimore, Birmingham, Boston, Buffalo, Charlotte, Columbus, Dallas, Dayton, Denver, Fort Myers, Greensboro, Greenville, Hartford, Jacksonville, Knoxville, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami, Nashville, New Orleans, New York, Norfolk, Orlando, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Portland, Providence, Raleigh, Richmond, Sacramento, Salt Lake City, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, Tampa, Washington, West Palm Beach

Minnesota Twins at Chicago White Sox - Joe Buck, Tim McCarver (FOX, 3:55pm, 19%)

MARKETS INCLUDE: Austin, Cincinnati, Houston, Louisville, Memphis, Milwaukee, Oklahoma City, Pittsburgh, San Antonio, St. Louis, Tulsa

Houston Astros at St. Louis Cardinals - Thom Brennaman, Mark Grace (FOX, 3:55pm, 14%)

MARKETS INCLUDE: Chicago, Cleveland, Detroit, Indianapolis, Kansas City, Minneapolis

Los Angeles Dodgers @ Arizona Diamondbacks (MLB-N, 8pm)- TBD

Sunday, April 12th:

New York Mets at Florida Marlins (TBS, 1pm) - Chip Caray, Ron Darling
Chicago Cubs at Milwaukee Brewers (ESPN, 8pM)- Jon Miller, Joe Morgan, Steve Phillips

Steve Phillips took a spin "On The DL" today, and while there are interesting discussions about his time as a GM and his new gig on Sunday Night Baseball, he finally addresses those annoying fake press conferences he and ESPN put together.

"I’m kind of used to people throwing stones. It doesn’t bother me even a little bit. And so when that happened I thought, ‘what a creative, unique way to talk about issues and topics and teams and needs and strengths and weaknesses in a way that’s different. You could sit in front of a camera and do it as a talking head and it would work and people would get something out of it. But I thought it was a creative way to do it.

“I actually thought they should do it again. Even though people criticized it, it was creative and different and why not take those kinds of chances when, you know, what’s the risk, really? I guess for some people it’s credibility but I didn’t look at it that way from my perspective or from the reporter’s perspective either.”

I guess he does have a point there. We complain about the same old boring segments all the time, and ESPN should get credit for trying something different. With that said, that was by far the stupidest segment ever created, and should never be tried again....ever.

Steve Phillips Talks About Being the GM of both the Mets and ESPN On the DL (On The DL)

(Photo via the funniest post ever at The Sports Hernia)