Maybe She Could Play Right Field?



If you've been staying awake over the winter months, wondering about the fielding preparations of the Mets' singles-hitting, four-eyed C/1B Jason Phillips, fear not. Phillips' wife has been hitting grounders to Jason on the pavement.

From Newsday's David Lennon :

In addition to moving his family to Las Vegas, and adjusting to life with a newborn son, Phillips had his relatives hit him ground balls whenever they had a chance.

His father did it when they visited his parents in San Diego and his brother took a turn with the bat when he came out to Las Vegas. But mostly, Phillips relied on his wife, Kelly, a former professional basketball player in Australia, to smack ground balls at him during their spare time. Phillips got Kelly a bat she could swing one-handed and they went out on the street of their cul-de-sac, with Phillips positioned about three houses down. Phillips did get good hops off the asphalt, but the important part was to keep his hands quick.



While many teams would flash their cash needlessly by having their part-time 1B train tutored by someone who had played the position before, let's give the Mets some credit for being thrifty. And keep in mind that Kelly Phillips is a former professional basketball player, so it isn't as though she's entirely unqualified to be swinging a baseball bat. The two pursuits have almost as much in common as competitive cycling and competitive eating.

Given that the Mets have two guys (Mike Piazza and Phillips) in serious need of training at 1B --- why isn't Keith Hernandez (possibly the finest fielding 1B of his generation) in Port St. Lucie lending his sage advice?

Posted: Fri - February 27, 2004 at 10:53 AM      

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