Since 40-year-old Tom Gordon couldn’t get the job done yesterday (1/3 inning and a 135.00 ERA [no that is not an April Fools Joke]), the Phillies decided to go younger and sign 39-year-old Rudy Seánez to a major-league contract according to Todd Zolecki.

The Phillies pitching staff continued its trend stemming from another dull spring training record. The lone bright spot for the Phillies pitching was J.C. Romero who struck out two of the three batters he faced in an inning of work. Actually that’s not entirely true. Mayor Michael Nutter who apparently thought it was “Dress like Steve Urkel Day”. He threw a mean strike for the ceremonial first pitch and probably could have out-done Tom “Make a Lead Disappear in a Flash” Gordon in the 8th.
Anyway, Seánez should be available for the second game of the season tomorrow against Washington. Normally I would say that they won’t need him since Cole Hamels is making his 2008 debut and we all know the facts about Cole, but after an inconsistent spring and it being April (when the Phillies still think games don’t count) nothing is too certain.

In other news, check out this interesting interview from Bugs & Cranks with infamous Cubs fan Steve Bartman.

Photos from amoeba.com and philly.com [#9]