A beer on the wall

Observations from Wednesday's Phillies Winter Tour media session in Reading. Guests include Phillies GM Pat Gillick, manager Charlie Manuel, veteran closer Tom Gordon, center fielder Aaron Rowand, homecoming king Ryan Howard, and a dizzy blogger.

It's 4 p.m. Thursday and my head is still spinning.

The media session, my first crack at access to the men I write essays about five times a week, was everything I expected and more, amazing in both scope of the questions being asked by reporters and the incredible depth in the answers provided by players.

About 15 reporters from newspaper, radio and television were in attendance, so access was pretty wide open. My strategy was to stay out of the way of the papers and television crews and try to ask my kinds of questions if time permitted. Making the rounds, I heard very few questions about starting pitching, Arthur Rhodes or Mike Piazza. Instead, these were fundamental baseball questions designed to bring readers closer to what they can actually expect next season.

A fly on the wall for the first few minutes, I eventually found enough guts to start asking questions. Mike Drago from the Reading Eagle and another reporter had Gordon's ear first and I stepped in and turned on my recorder. There was already a quiet, intense discussion about the nuances of relief pitching; Drago was asking all the right questions, and Gordon's answers were honest, clear and confident. Seeing my chance, I piped in with my own question, which rated about a 2 on a scale of 1 to 10 for smoothness.

"What about the other 40 percent, the physical side of pitching. How do you feel?"

To set this up, Gordon had earlier revealed to Drago that the closer position was 65-70 percent mental toughness, the rest physical. For some reason, I quipped "40 percent." Besides being 5-10 percent off, what a stupid question in the first place.

"I feel fine," he responded, and that was basically it.

A true beer leaguer among professionals, I thought. I got the impression the question had been asked before, but I was off in la-la land and had missed it. The next reporter asked his next question, approaching it the way I should have approached it. He asked Flash to explain whether concerns over his age were justified, and Flash gave a long, detailed answer. After that, I didn’t ask another question from Flash.

As the session progressed, I got my confidence back. I moved on to Aaron Rowand next, who was answering questions about defense to a guy in a goatee from KYW-1060 radio. These were the types of questions I wanted to ask – defense – because it’s something off the beaten path. Beerleaguer all the way.

I was impressed at Rowand's technical understanding of outfield, which compliments his more-publicized fearlessness. I got a sense he loves to play outfield and will be a true captain playing alongside Pat and Bobby, which is what he called them. That interview lasted about 5 minutes until I mercifully let one of the best two or three defensive outfielders in the world be to himself. It looked like he’d been at this press parade thing for days. His eyes were red.

About 30 minutes into it, Charlie Manuel opened up to be interviewed. What a blast. By the end, he was patting me on the back. I talked to him one-on-one for about 15 minutes and I could tell we were there for the same reason -- we both loved baseball. He's highly unquotable, however. There’s no filter there; it’s just a stream of baseball and unbridled enthusiasm. But his rapid-fire honestly is infectious. I told him why I thought he deserved more credit for certain things last season and read from a list I prepared earlier. When I finished, he was beaming, as if no one had ever given him a compliment in his life.

(Once we get the software installed, that interview is coming off my borrowed recorder and will be posted on this site. Among issues discussed included David Bell's defense, Chris Roberson and Carlos Ruiz.)

With ten minutes left in the session, Gillick opened up. He was sitting in a dark corner, his face stretched from melting away during too many of these shindigs. I had his ear, one-on-one, for about five minutes and asked whether his approach at evaluating talent had changed this time around. Not really, he said. I asked about Carlos Ruiz and the catcher spot, and both he and Manuel agree the backup job is wide open for him this spring. Manuel indicated they were actually talking about Ruiz on the bus ride to the hotel. I concluded by asking him whether the Thome for Rowand trade was designed to improve defense in any way, and he said he had asked the manager whether he was satisfied with team defense when he first arrived, and Manuel said that he was. I didn’t like that answer. It didn’t give me a good feeling about Manuel’s toughness and need to expect only the best. I also asked if steps were being taken to improve the minor leagues, and Gillick said winning at all levels was important. It was a very standard interview, even for a blogger interviewing a general manager who has won world titles. I was underwhelmed.

Right at the end, I packed my stuff away and prepared to leave. My bag was under a chair right next to the spot Gillick was sitting. I asked him if he thought there was a chance the Phillies could be this year’s White Sox. He said the White Sox had Buehrle, Contreras, Garcia, Hernandez and Garland, and then he just sort of stared at me.

Guess not.

Comments

[Tom Goodman]

Beerleaguer? I knew him when....

[Mitch]

First time I'm posting here, and I love your blog. Nice to see a positive and realistic blog about our favorite baseball team.

But I have to ask - what was the question you should have asked Flash that the other reporter ended up asking? Just like to know your mind set. And, of course, what was his answer.

Thanks again

[That Dude]

U shouldve asked Foghorn Leghorn is he studied up on double switches.

[J. Weitzel]

Nice to have you join the discussion, Mitch. I went back and answered your question back in the story.

Dude: After I was through kissing Manuel's butt, I asked which areas in his managing he needed to improve, and he gave an honest answer. For the answer ... stay tuned.

[gr]

i remember when i somehow got a press pass to cover the Nets' preseason camp at Kutztown U when i was the sports editor of the paper at Millersville U. 5 mins apiece one-on-one with ed o'bannon, rex walters, and butch beard and god knows who else. it was fun, although you cannot make rex walters smile or lighten up. it is impossible. i think by the end, i was asking him about the backboards at his KU compared to those at this here KU. he didn't think it was funny.

[gr]

sounds like gillick is only personable when the big cameras are on.

[gr]

derrick coleman. that was the other guy i talked to. i wish i had that 5 minutes back.

[Tom G]

coleman probably got hurt in the middle of the conversation didnt he?

[Tom G]

by the way jason, why is your recorder the smallest one there?

[Deanna]

That's really exciting (even more exciting than your Licey writeup, which I enjoyed reading as well). Did you get a press pass to this just as a blogger?

Man. Well, it's good to know Pat Gillick doesn't *really* think that Ryan Franklin is the answer to anything.

[RickSchuBlues]

Gillick puzzles me. I don't know whether to have more confidence in him because he can see realistically that his club has no real shot to win, or to lose confidence in him (or at least this upcoming season) because he seems to have no chance of doing what it takes to put a winning team out there. Is it comforting that he *knows* it's not good enough, or disconcerting that we're all left to confront the same thing without a trace of false hope? After years of Ed Wade's smokescreening, it's nice to have some honesty, but either way the job's not getting done here.

[Oisin]

Good piece Jason. I remember years and years ago blagging an interview with James Ellroy (of LA Confidential fame) for a college paper. I set up a series of questions that I thought would have the guy talking for at least an hour.

We were done in 20 minutes. it was the first time I came up against that kind of polished professional media presence, and he had his answer prepped for everything I put to him. sounds kinda like what happened with you and tom gordon. Looking forward to the manuel interview.

[enrico]

Nice blazer.

[gr]

deanna, i'm guessing jay got credentials through the reading eagle. tgoyne tried to get some last year thru BS&S but was denied, if memory serves.

[J. Weitzel]

gr is correct. Beerleaguer is now part of the Reading Eagle Web site, though I still maintain the site on my own. And during the season, I write the promotional material for R-Phillies posters, which run in the paper once a week. The prospect retrospectives, which you may remember reading, are originally run in the paper. Even though I had access through the Reading Eagle, I like to think my access to the press event was earned through the hard work I've done on this space.

[MD]

Jason,

I thought Pat Gillick was going to fall asleep on us; he was practically comatose. . . I think he's a bright guy, but he was definitely drained by this two-week series of road stops and endless interviews. It showed.
Overall, though, I think he has a strong grasp of the situation. He's just trying to downplay the strength of his team right now. He probably figures it doesn't help to hype expectations.

[Tom Goodman]

gr: Actually, it was I who tried unsuccessfully last year to get press credentials as a blogger. Frankly, I think Jason has earned his credentials through his wonderful work on Beerleaguer. If his association with the Reading Eagle helped pave the way, his blog will make those granting credentials stand up and notice him going forward.

[Deanna]

Oh, that's very cool, then! Being in a long-distance relationship with the Phillies, I like to read the blogs rather than the newspapers to keep up with stuff.

I'd thought of you as being the Phillies' version of Derek Zumsteg anyway (you should take that as a compliment); he runs the most prominent and well-written Mariners blog, but also is published in newspapers, ends up with articles inside the programs at the local minor league affiliates, and used to write for BP. I think it's his fault I follow bloggers over the mainstream media, anyway -- the media reports, and oftentimes the bloggers teach, in a way.

Also, there are too many Phillies bloggers named Tom, especially named Tom G. :)

[Tom Goodman]

Henceforth I will refer to myself as "That Swinger". The other bloggers already think of me that way, especially the ones named Tom. Signed, Tom Goodman, er, I mean "That Swinger".

[MPN]

http://tinyurl.com/dh3o2

A very interesting live chat posted at Phillies.com with Gillick. Highlights: Weaver isn't on the radar, Ruiz will get a shot at the backup catcher, Russell Branyon was never an option because Manuel is of the opinion that we have too many Ks in the line-up as currently constructed, Piazza may be a possibility, and he thinks that we need two utility infielders like Nunez and Perez for double switches etc... although he said Kata was a dark horse to make the opening day roster.

[gr]

nothing not stated was implied in my comments, by the way.

[Ed]

Rhodes-Michaels is official... i wonder what Gillick would have said today at Reading!

[That Dude]

We need more IF'ers so Foghorn can never mess up double switches. "I say I say I say hey boy go up there and hit for the pitcher"

[Mike]

Nice hands.