• Look Back In History
• Pmessages
• Quiz
• Stump The Staff
• Top Fifty
• Close

Injuries Plague Reading Phillies Outfield

Posted: Apr 29th 2010 By: CMBurnham

The Reading Phillies appeared to have one of the premier outfields in the Eastern League when the season got underway earlier this month.

Unfortunately for R-Phils manager Steve Roadcap, a rash of ill-timed injuries rendered what looked to be the squad's biggest strength into a big question mark recently.

After Reading opening the season with a strong 5-2 homestand, manager Steve Roadcap had plenty of reason for optimism with what appeared to be a potent lineup anchored by Domonic Brown and Tyson Gillies.

That was until the squad had to deal with the proverbial road trip from hell - with players going down left and right.

First, Brown, their right fielder and the guy considered the top prospect in the system, suffered a concussion after a collision while trying to catch a fly ball at Richmond April 16. He wound up missing five games.

"You take a No. 3 hitter out of anybody's lineup, it's going to be a big impact," Roadcap said.

That, however, was only the start of the R-Phils' injury woes.

Last Tuesday, Gillies, their center fielder and leadoff man, suffered a hand injury in batting practice and wound up missing three games.

A day earlier, left fielder Mike Spidale was forced to miss a game due to a heel injury suffered in the weekend series at Richmond.

Throw in the continued absence of speedy outfielder Quintin Berry - an all-star last year who finished second in the league with 48 stolen bases but is on the DL with an infection - and you can't blame Roadcap for wondering what he did to anger the baseball gods.

The patchwork lineup was a big reason the R-Phils managed just one run in dropping a three-game set at Harrisburg last Monday through Wednesday to lowlight a 1-7 stretch that dropped them three games under .500.

"As a team, you just have to deal with it," Roadcap said. "Everybody has to understand injuries are part of the game, but this is definitely different. I was very strapped two days at Harrisburg. That's no excuse for being shut out, but we pretty much had to go with one extra guy."

Fortunately, things are beginning to stabilize on the injury front.

Brown returned Friday against Richmond and homered in his first game back, then Gillies was back in the lineup Saturday, when he went 2-for-4. Spidale, meanwhile, has been gutting it out and Friday he homered for the first time since last May.

"Now I feel we're finally starting to have a loaded boat again," Roadcap said.

THE KING HOLDS COURT

The promotion for Friday night's game against Richmond was "A Tribute to Professional Wrestling," which featured an appearance from WWE Hall of Famer Jerry "The King" Lawler, who signed autographs and threw out the first pitch.

Lawler, a Memphis native and lifelong Cleveland Indians fan, regaled the media with tales of interaction with those around pro baseball, most notable Phillies manager Charlie Manuel, an avid pro wrestling fan.

"About 10 years ago when he was managing Cleveland, I was throwing out the first pitch in their game against the Yankees," Lawler recalled. "I was walking with some team officials by his office, and the door opened up and he had about six scouts in there talking about the upcoming (baseball) draft. As soon as he saw me, he ordered everybody out and called me in and told me to sit down. Then his first words were: 'Boy, they realy beat the hell out of Stone Cold (WWE superstar Steve Austin) last night, didn't they?'"

Lawler mentioned Cleveland's Travis Hafner and Austin Kearns, Texas' Ryan Garko and Tampa Bay's Kelly Schoppach as huge pro wrestling fans.

You could even call Lawler, a color commentator on "Monday Night Raw" who hasn't missed a show in 15 years, the Cal Ripken Jr. of wrestling announcers.

That streak nearly came to a halt last week, when the "Raw" crew was stranded in Europe due to the ash cloud from the volcanic eruption in Iceland. Lawler, however, caught a flight out of London Tuesday morning and was ringside for the event in East Rutherford, N.J. - in which the stars from the WWE's "Smackdown" brand had to fill in.

"I felt like I needed a scorecard to call the action," Lawler joked.

THE WEEK AHEAD

Reading entertains Harrisburg (7-10) for a three-game series tonight through Wednesday. Then, after a day off, the R-Phils head to first-place New Hampshire (10-7) for a three-game series Friday through Sunday to open a seven-game road trip.

Tags: WWE, Jerry Lawler