There were obviously more that 15 great moments for the Phillies last year.  However, for that sake of making our list divisible by 5 (a must if you want your list to be taken seriously) while at the same time keeping it short enough so the bottom of it is still memorable, we’ve left off a few of our favorites.  And this next one certainly qualifies as one of *my* favorite moments of 2009.

On May 30th of last year, the Phillies were taking on the Washington Nationals at Citizens Bank Park in the second of a three-game set.  I remember how nice it was that day, so my buddies & I headed down to the sports complex sometime in the late afternoon and got intoxicated in the parking lot in preparation of Shairon Martis getting LIT UP by our Fightin’ Phils. And get lit up we he did.

After the Phils fell behind 3-0 in the top of the 2nd inning on the strength of a Wil Nieves 2-run double and Anderson Hernandez RBI single, power hitter extraordinaire Ryan Howard hit a solo shot in the bottom half the inning to trim the lead to 3-1. An inning later, in the bottom of the 3rd, Chooch walked followed by a Cole Hamels sacrifice and Rollins RBI single to make it a 1-run game. Then Victorino drew a walk, and with runners on 1st and 2nd, Chase Utley reached base on an infield single to load the bases.

So up steps Ryan Howard looking to add to his day’s RBI total. Martis, obviously still shaken up from the last time he faced Howard, threw a garbage first pitch changeup that landed in the dirt and made it a 1-0 count. At this point, it was quite obvious that Big Brown wasn’t gonna see a fastball for the rest of the at-bat, so he sat back and patiently waited for him to leave that shitty change up in the zone.

Turns out he didn’t have to wait long, because on the very next pitch…

HOLY SHIT RYAN HOWARD JUST KILLED A BASEBALL.

A 476 foot murdering of a baseball, to be exact.

I still remember the shit-eating grin on my face as they guy who caught the grand slam above the Powerade sign in Section 303 was escorted out of his seat to get the ball validated or whatever the hell they do with the people who catch home run balls. But I knew at that moment I had just witnessed the most powerful human being in baseball put all 250 lbs. of his behind a swing and absolutely CRUSH a baseball the way no one else can. And let me tell you, it was pretty fucking impressive.

The Phillies cruised from there, winning the game 9-6. But if you ask anybody that was at The Bank that day, they’ll tell you the game ended on a 1-0 pitch to Ryan Howard with 1 out in the 3rd inning.

<3 you, Ryan.

Albert Pujols is not coming to Philadelphia. Got it? Good.

Despite reports from ESPN’s Buster Olney that the Philadelphia Phillies had “internal discussions” about trading Ryan Howard for the St. Louis Cardinal’s first baseman, the reality of it actually happening lies somewhere between “in your dreams” and the third act from “The Matrix.”

But most of us are smart enough to know that. While the idea of adding Pujols to an already talented lineup is admittedly exciting, it would take nothing short of a miracle to convince John Mozeliak to jettison the game’s best position player at the risk of burying the franchise while single handily ostracizing a fan base.

However, these rumors tend to have a mind of their own, and once the internet caught wind, there was no stopping the tidal wave of speculation and misinformed logic that drew criticism from fans, players, and managers.

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The Reading Phillies (or the R-Phils, as they’re more affectionately known) have just released their promotional schedule for the upcoming 2010 season earlier today. As usual, the pro team’s double-A affiliate has come up with some rather unusual giveaways and attractions to get fans out to FirstEnergy Stadium (personally, I’d just call every night “Watch Domonic Brown play right-field night!) including R-Phils Mike Schmidt Maroon Batting Practice T-Shirt night, Mr. Belding Schools Out Teacher night (where Dennis Haskins of Saved By The Bell shows up to sign autographs and sing karaoke), and 28 — count ‘em, TWENTY-EIGHT! — fireworks nights.

But the ultimate giveaway this year BY FAR, to be handed out on August 3rd when the R-Phils take on the Trenton Thunder, is Ryan Howard Garden Gnome night.

The R-Phils describe it thusly:

Fans of the R-Phils, the Philadelphia Phillies and of 2006 NL MVP Ryan Howard, will want to come out to the Tuesday, August 3 game against the Trenton Thunder for a one-of-a-kind Ryan Howard Garden Gnome, presented by FirstEnergy. The Ryan Howard Garden Gnome depicts a kneeling Howard in his R-Phils uniform, sporting a Gnome Beard and Gnome hat. The first 2,500 adults attending the 7:05 p.m. contest will receive this instant collectible of the former R-Phils first baseman. Howard, who has compiled at least 45 home runs and 136 RBIs in each of the last four seasons, launched an impressive 37 home runs for the R-Phils in 2004, en route to Eastern League MVP and Rookie of the Year honors.

So fellas, ladies — make sure you’re one of the first 2,500 lucky fans through the turnstile that night so you can show your love for the R-Phils, Ryan Howard, and garden gnomes in general as you proudly display it on your front lawn for the rest of your life.  Or at least until one of your neighbors steal it.

Check out the rest of the R-Phils promotions HERE.

From the man who brought you McFarlane sports figurines, created Spawn comic books, and paid entirely too much money for McGwire’s now-worthless 70th home run ball, comes… BASEBALL ACTION FIGURES!

That’s right, Todd McFarlane has upgraded from those tiny little statues he manufactures to an honest-to-goodness poseable action figure with over 20 moving parts (!!!) and the ability to whoop your old G.I. Joe action figure’s ass. Most figures (besides pitchers, of course) come in two varieties — a batting and a fielding version. Because — let’s be honest — if you’re the type of person who sits down and plays with baseball action figures, you’d probably like your make believe baseball game experience to be as authentic as possible.

For the inaugural release, there are 12 different MLBers to choose from — Albert Pujols, Alex Rodriguez, Chipper Jones, Derek Jeter, David Ortiz, Dustin Pedroia, David Wright, Ichiro Suzuki, Josh Beckett, Manny Ramirez, Tim Lincecum, and BIG BROWN. So that means if you purchase the entire set, you’ll have a healthy squad of 3 third basemen, 2 first basemen, 2 pitchers, a left fielder, right fielder, shortstop, second baseman, and a DH. But I’m sure for the sake of your pretend game, Ichiro would gladly shift over to center, Chipper could play some RF, and — if you give him a couple mixed drinks — David Wright would be the catcher.

(It wouldn’t be the first time, amirite?)

Anyways, here’s the batting version of Ryan Howard:

And here’s the fielding (Sam Perlozzo not included):

You can check out a photo gallery of all the players HERE.

UPDATE: Reader Kurt sends along a picture of the David Wright action figure:

May I have your attention please.  The identity of Ryan Howard’s mystery Miami chick has been REVEALED and she is… Philadelphia Eagles cheerleader Krystle Campbell.

The irrefutable proof:

Krystle is a West Chester University graduate who teaches 2nd grade elementary school and jet sets to Miami on the weekends with her guy friend, Ryan Howard.  According to her profile on Eagles.com, Krystle describes herself as a passionate, dedicated, loyal, and adventurous person who loves reading, and spending time with family and friends.

And her favorite superhero is Cat Woman.

That’s pretty much it.

I got an e-mail a couple hours ago from someone named Nicki over at TMZ with an attached video of Ryan Howard walking on the streets of Miami with his leopard-printed white girl Super Bowl weekend. I’m assuming they somehow stumbled upon my earlier post on Howard’s Miami excursion and figured I’d be interested in their video.  And while they were most certainly right, the ability for me to embed the video here on The Fightins came with a bunch of stipulations. So before you see the video, I must make sure I adhere to their strict video-posting mandate.

Here was the letter:

Your use of this clip is permitted starting today through February 15 , 2010. Any use thereafter must be cleared again with TMZ.

It may not be used as file footage unless permission is granted by TMZ.

In addition, the TMZ bug must remain onscreen and unobscured for the duration of the clip and verbal credit must be given to TMZ in the track or clip’s introduction. You as well as use on your website, provided a MANDATORY link to TMZ’s sports category (http://www.tmz.com/category/tmzsports/) is in the article. Please note the above rights are for within the US and Canada.

No international usage is granted on all releases with our exclusively owned photos/video.

Please confirm that you agree to these terms & conditions.

Alright — I’m allowed to post it today (check!), I’ve kept the TMZ bug unobscured for the duration of the clip (check!), alls I need now is the link (which, technically, I already did in the blockquote), verbal credit in the clip’s introduction, and to make sure no foreigners use it.

Well, I’m not trained well enough in the art of video-creating to put verbal credit before the clip, so to make up for that I’ll put the link in all caps, bolded, and blinking.

Now that the legalities are out of the way, enjoy this :35 second video of a TMZ cameraman begging Ryan Howard not to hit too many homers vs. the Dodgers this year and asking the big man what the Dodgers chances are in 2010 now that Matt Kemp is dating Rihanna.

See, it was totally worth it. AND IT IS VIA TMZ SPORTS.

The greatest slugger in all the land, Phillies first baseman Ryan Howard, got himself down to Florida earlier than most of his teammates so he could continue working on his defense with third base coach Sam Perlozzo. Since he was down there already, he might as well take advantage of the Super Bowl being so darn close and make himself available for a ton of interviews and such, right?

Right.

So Howard did just that. On Friday, Big Brown spoke with Mike Missanelli of 97.5 The Fanatic (Philly’s FIRST fm sports-talk station!), Mike Francesa of WFAN New York (WARNING: Mike’s annoying voice starts immediately after clicking that link) as well as a LIVE! interview with CSNPhilly.com (Which can be found under the Phillies tab HERE) and probably half of the zany hosts on “Radio Row” (like here, with The Executioner!)

Surely sick of all the horrible, repetitive questions asked in those countless interviews, Ryan stepped out on the town Saturday Night to do some MIA partying, and he brought along (what appears to be) his girl. 

Aren’t *they* cute all holding hands and shit:

(pic via Bossip)

I don’t want to imagine a world in which Ryan Howard isn’t the first baseman for the Philadelphia Phillies, but that doesn’t mean it’s completely out of the realm of possibility. Once his contract expires at the end of the ‘11, the greatest slugger in all the land is gonna demand some major scratch, and if the Yankees feel they need a DH, the Cardinals part ways with Pujols and feel like bringing in their hometown boy, or (God forbid) the Mets throw some cash in his face, he could be gone.

So, if that’s the case, then who, pray tell, would fill his void?  Howsabout some Chase Fucking Utley. 

From Jim Salisbury’s ‘State of the Phillies: First Base’ column:

Chase Utley? Isn’t he an all-star second baseman? Yes, he is. But don’t be surprised if he succeeds Howard at first base if Howard moves on after 2011.

Utley, who is signed through 2013, has played some at the position already and shouldn’t have trouble with the transition if that’s the way the organization goes. There could be some pluses to moving Utley to first. He’s a very physical player. On top of getting hit by a couple of dozen pitches per season, he throws his body around in the infield and subjects himself to contact turning the double play at second.

Getting away from the second base pivot, and moving to a less physically demanding position such as first base, might help Utley’s offensive production late in his contract and extend his career. Of course, keeping Howard long-term would be the ideal.

While Chase would probably be the ONLY person who could take over for Howard without hearing non-SABR dudes complain, I still agree with the last sentence in Jim’s last paragraph there.

Salisbury’s State of the Phillies: First Base | CSN Philly

Fresh off of his press conference at Citizens Bank Park, Roy Halladay took a walk (or more likely, a limo ride) across the street to the Wachovia Center to watch AI’s 1 & 2 take on ‘Bron-’Bron, Shaq and the Cleveland Cavaliers.  There, he was interviewed by the very lovely, very Italian, Jaime Maggio from his comfortable suite at center court.

Also in attendance were Phillies slugger Ryan Howard and his twin brother Corey, Desean Jackson and Leonard Weaver of the Eagles, as well as Ray Emery, Riley Cote, Mike Richards and Daniel Carcillo of the Flyers.  It was like a cot damn Philly athlete convention!

But enough words, I’m sure you came here for pictures and video. You can find them both — ATJ.

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Here’s this week’s SI cover.

Don’t worry, fellas. Ryan Howard is so awesome not even the Sports Illustrated cover curse can contain him. (via)

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