Do the right thing

Let’s start with a clerical thing – starting on Dec. 1 I am going to go into “Holiday Mode.” That means the posts here are will drop to just two or three per week as opposed to the veritable Odyssey and the Iliad that gets posted in manic spurts. Oh, I’ll be working for the first couple of weeks of the month before using up the last of my vacation days of 2006, but there will be other things happening that need my attention. I’ve been neglecting a few more “serious” writing endeavors and I want make some headway before the end of the year.

On another note, the running and training site will continue to be update with the same alacrity as always. Feel free to dive in and laugh at me.

Now, on to our regularly scheduled drivel…

According to the dispatches from the coast, Dodgers fans are excited about landing Randy Wolf and have given him special, sloppy kudos for agreeing to a deal for less years and guaranteed money to pitch in front of his friends and family in Los Angeles.

Of course Wolf will get $7.5 million for 2007 with an easy-to-reach vesting option for $9 million if he pitches 180 innings. Should Wolf remain healthy – and there is no indication to think he won’t be – the lefty believes he’s getting a two-year deal to go home.

Then again, despite the inflated free-agent market this winter, it’s not as if deals like the one Wolf got are growing on trees. At least they don’t give them to guys who write sentences.

“I'm not being paid minimum wage,” Wolf said. “It wasn't about how many years I could get, how many dollars I get.”

Better yet:

“You can't live your life for somebody else,” he said. “You have to do what's right.”

Besides, Wolf always said the biggest thing for him was to "experience baseball in October." With a new team that has done just that for the past two seasons in a row, the former Phillie just might get his chance.

Standing with the Inky & DN
Speaking of doing what’s right, let’s interject a little business with the baseball. Now I’m definitely no expert on business matters and things of that nature. If I was, well… you know.

Anyway, there is a strong chance that the writers at the Philadelphia Inquirer and Daily News could go out on strike at midnight on Thursday. Certainly, there are many intricate details that complicate matters, but the potential strike is bad for everybody.

It’s especially bad for a business that is making money. In fact, newspapers routinely turn in double-digit profit margins despite the changing landscape of the media. Again, I’m not expert, but it seems as if only casinos, certain elements of the entertainment industry and the Cosa Nostra consistently turn in profit margins like newspapers.

Yet across the country newsroom layoffs continue to occur at an alarming rate. Again, I’m not expert, but when did making a profit become so bad that it costs people livelihoods and careers?

Is it a simple issue of greed? Do the owners of newspapers believe the bottom line supercedes the public interest and the sanctity of our democracy? Sure, it might sound a bit dramatic, but trust me, it’s not. Without a resourceful and free press, the United States does not exist.

Don’t get me wrong, I think I believe in capitalism as it relates to a person’s liberty and labor. If someone can build a better mousetrap, have a special skill and/or work hard, they should be rewarded. But at the same time there is a way to do this with ethics and honor.

From what I can decipher from the newspapers an their double-digit profit margins is that if the world is a rat race it’s OK to be a rat.

Anyway, I’ll be rooting for a swift and painless settlement for the Inky/DN as soon as possible. There are some very hard-working, intelligent and kind people who work for our local papers of record. Let’s hope they keep on putting out their newspaper.

No way, Joe
Like Sandy Alomar a couple of years ago, a potential free agent signing for the Phillies appears to have hit a snag.

According to ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick, the Phillies have “backed away” from a multi-year offer to relief pitcher Joe Borowski because of concerns over his right shoulder following the results of a physical.

According to Crasnick’s report, the Phillies were prepared to sign Borowski when a team doctor examined the results of the physical and advised against giving the pitcher a multi-year deal.

However, the report says that Borowski and his agents continue to field one-year offers from teams, including the Phillies.

The right-handed Borowski, 35, saved 36 games in 2006 for the Marlins and was eyed by the Phillies as a set-up man for closer Tom Gordon. Manager Charlie Manuel is one the record saying he would like to have a set-up man who worked as a closer in the past.

Despite appearing in 72 games in 2006 and saving 33 games for the Cubs in 2003, Borowski has struggled with shoulder trouble in 2004 and 2005 before rebounding with the Marlins.