Hey, who’s ready to check their answers against the book contest answer key and find out which three lucky contestants will be the recipients of the all-time #1 bestselling book in the long, storied history of the Triumph Books publishing company*, “The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly: Heart-Pounding, Jaw-Dropping, and Gut-Wrenching Moments From Philadelphia Phillies History” by Todd Zolecki foreword by Scott Franzke?

Not so fast, pal. Let me explain how I picked the winners.

First of all, thanks to everyone who entered. I was literally overwhelmed by the response we got from this contest, and I normally like to do things at night other than sit on the computer and grade ridiculous quizzes, so I decided against going through each individual e-mail to mark for accuracy and instead opted for letting everyone become eligible. That’s right — if you went 8-for-8? YOU’RE ELIGIBLE! 3-for-8? Fuggit, YOU’RE ELIGIBLE TOO! Honestly, the point of having the quiz was to weed out the people who can enter a contest willy-nilly from those who had to at least use their brain a little bit. And as my reward to you, if you even attempted to answer to questions, you got 100%.

haha, I’d be the shittiest teacher.

* projected sales

Find out the answers & winners, after the jump…

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As you’ve probably heard, Phillies beat writer extraordinaire and friend of The Fightins, Todd Zolecki, is about to release his first book under the publishing company Triumph Books entitled, “The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly: Heart-Pounding, Jaw-Dropping, and Gut-Wrenching Moments From Philadelphia Phillies History.”

Since Todd is such a good guy, he forced Triumph to send us 3 copies to do whatever we please with. And what pleases us is pleasing you, so I figured I’d hold a Phillies-centric contest and choose three winners to receive their very own copy. I say “Phillies-centric” contest because I believe one should at least have some knowledge of my favorite team in order to win the book.

After the jump, I’ve assembled a grade school-style matching quiz that will test your knowledge of Phillies players and their corresponding on-the-field quirks. Once you’ve correctly matched all eight of the players and their habit, simply fire off an e-mail to FightinsContest[at]Gmail[dot]com (Subject header “ZOLECKI”) and your entry will be graded for accuracy. If you’re one of the lucky ones to go 8-for-8, your answer sheet will then be thrown in a pile and I’ll pick the three random winners at the conclusion of the contest

The contest will end promptly at 3:59pm EST on Monday, February 22nd, 2010.

Get your quiz on, after the jump.

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UPDATE, 3:15 pm: Kevin Cooney of the Bucks County Courier Times reports that Roy Halladay will wear jersey #34. The same number previously occupied by Cliff Lee (and Sarge!).

According to the dynamic tag team of Jim Salisbury and Todd Zolecki on the tweets, Roy Halladay will be formally introduced as a Phillie during a 5:00 EST press conference LIVE! from Citizens Bank Park. Apparently, whoever failed the physical is not going to hold up the deal:

@JSalisburyCSN (get a profile pic, will ya Salisbury!):

@ToddZolecki:

It’s finally over. Welcome to Philadelphia, Roy Halladay.

A few days ago, Todd Zolecki brought us the story of the Ryan Howard foul ball that flew into the press box and almost decapitated two Phillies employees, Greg Casterioto and Kevin Gregg.  Well, Big Brown returned to the scene of the crime yesterday to mark his territory with a signature and a simple message for all future occupants of the press box — W.O.B.

Watch out, bro:

Watch out, bro | The Zo Zone

The Fightins dot com have learned from a reliable source* that the fine Philadelphia Phillies beat reporter for The Philadelphia Inquirer, Todd Zolecki, is leaving his comfy digs as a print journalist for the all-access, high tech lifestlye of MLB.com.

Not only has Todd been writing for the Inqy for almost ten years now (serving as Phillies beat writer since 2003), but his blog over on Philly.com appropriately titled “Phillies Zone” (f/k/a The Zo Zone) was one of the first blogs incorported into their site in April 2007.

At the end of January, Todd Zolecki will no longer be employed by Philadelphia Media Holdings and is free to begin his MLB.com work in early February.   He will have a similar role on MLB.com as he did with The Inquirer, serving as a writer and part-time blogger for the Phillies.  I’ll be honest with you, I was sad to see Ken Mandel get ousted from this position at the end of last season, but Todd is a damn good replacement.

No word yet who will take Todd’s roster spot at the Inqy.

*I always wanted to type that

Me(ech): Hey, Todd, I appreciate you taking a few minutes out of your busy schedule to talk with The Fightins.

Just curious, where are you originally from?

Todd Zolecki: Born in Milwaukee, but I grew up in the hardscrabble suburbs of West Allis and New Berlin.

Me: Oh, really? Hmmm… I did not know that. I also had no clue Scrabble was any harder in Wisconsin than it is the rest of the country. Smaller dictionaries, I guess.

When you were younger, which baseball team did you root for?

TZ: The Milwaukee Brewers.

Me: The Brewers you say? Huh.

If you don’t mind me asking, where do you currently reside?

TZ: I’ve got a Philly zipcode.

Me: Oh, sweet! Me too!

I hear you work for the most respected newspaper in town, The Philadelphia Inquirer, what is your specific title over there?

TZ: I’m the Phillies beat writer.

Me: Sounds like a blast!

Being that it’s your job to follow the Phillies, I’m sure you’re aware that they are playing your hometown Brewers in the NLDS, correct?

TZ: Correct.

Me: Would you say – as a general rule of thumb – that most baseball fans who grow up following their hometown team continue to do so throughout their life?

TZ: I would say so.

Me: Interesting.

Okay, well, with that being sa- – OUT WITH IT, ZOLECKI – ARE YOU ROOTING FOR THE BREWERS IN THIS SERIES?

TZ: I am not, but I will say I was happy to see the Brewers finally get into the playoffs just because I know how bad Brewers baseball has been since 1982. But I absolutely am not rooting for the Brewers.

Not unless Robin Yount is back in uniform. Wait, isn’t he the new bench coach?

Just kidding.

Me: Close one, Todd.  I was sure my deceptive line of questioning would reveal the truth.  You done good.

Be sure to check out Todd Zolecki’s in-depth playoff coverage for The Philadelphia Inquirer, and read his daily updated blog, Phillies Zone, over at Philly.com.  Or else.

While the Phillies are battling the Rangers in Arlington, Inqy beat reporter Todd Zolecki thought it was an appropriate time to sit down with Texas native, Clay Condrey, and ask him a few questions. The Q&A session started off with a few harmless inquiries where Clay admitted his pickoff move is more of a “balk move” and explained how he managed to be the only guy on his minor league team to avoid suspension when they chased a fan into the stands. But then some inquisitive fella from Hoboken probed into Clay’s hunting habits and he admitted to tracking down — and eating — some abnormal animals such as dove, squirrels, racoons, and the most disturbing, armadillos:

Q: Being an avid outdoorsman, do you, like “Sack Master” in the movie Wedding Crashers, hunt quail? – Greg P., Hoboken, N.J.
A: I don’t hunt quail. I hunt deer, dove, duck. That’s it. Rabbits. Whatever I can eat.

Q: Squirrels?

A: Squirrels, too. It’s good stuff.

Q: Have you had a raccoon?

A: Yeah, I was forced to eat one once. It’s very greasy and very tough. I’ve had armadillo one time. It’s the same type of deal. The armadillo is probably the worst thing I’ve eaten. We ate it because we shot it, and anything we shoot we’re supposed to eat.

Thanks for sharing, Clay.

He’s a proud Texan who loves outdoors | Inquirer

The Fightins’ drew first blood against Boston in front of a raucous, sold-out crowd in South Philadelphia last night. A fired-up Phillies team practically put the game away after the 2nd pitch in the bottom of the 1st when defending NL MVP Jimmy Rollins cleansed a Colon fastball deeeep into right field. Three batters later, Ryan Howard hit the first of his two opposite field homers on the night to make it 3-0, and that would be all they needed. Hamels was sharp as usual, the only blemishes being back-to-back solo shots surrendered to Dustin Pedroia & JD Booo in the fifth.

After the jump, some more game notes…

UPDATE: Per request, more pink ape man at the bottom.

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