Mandelbaum! Mandelbaum!

On another note, I (as well as a bunch from the Philadelphia-writing contingent) was nearly hospitalized from laughing so hard when Ken Mandel, dressed as the big-headed Thomas Jefferson, took a header onto the outfield grass during the always-popular Presidents Race held between innings.

Ken, not exactly the epitome of grace or athleticism (think the opposite of Adonis!), finished DFL in the four-man race in part because he fell -- head first -- not once, but twice. Worse, when he finally got his equilibrium together, the Phillies.com scribe seemed to dash for the first row of seats near the Phillies' dugout instead of for the finish line.

Yes, it was a black day for baseball.

But it was also the hardest I laughed at a ballgame since the Oriole Bird moment in Baltimore during the 2001 season.

While Ken was running like Thomas Jefferson with his head cut off, Dennis Deitch, the erstwhile (yeah, that's an apt description for Deitch) writer for the Delaware County Daily Times finished second in the race. Wearing the George Washington head, Deitch ran gamely despite falling behind to Abraham Lincoln very early. Deitch bravely made up ground after the midway point of the race, but the deficit was too much to overcome.

Meanwhile, Phils' pitcher Randy Wolf seemed to know that the man wearing the Jefferson suit was Mandel after the first fall, and alerted a few of his teammates. I suppose there is something about Mandel falling flat on his face that is unmistakable.

On a final note, Deitch was welcomed back into the press box with rousing cheers following his race. His competitiveness deserved the applause.

Mandel, on the other hand, was greeted with even louder cheers though it was the type of applause saved for a guy who limps away after embarrassingly getting kicked in the groin.

One more thing regarding scribes and running: Rich Hofmann looks as if he is fit enough to rip off a 3:30 marathon even though he only hits the roads three or four times a week.