« Hitoki Iwase | Main | To Seek Johan Santana, Or Not? »

November 09, 2007

Checking In On Andy Phillips

From the Tuscaloosa News -

New York Yankees first baseman and former University of Alabama shortstop Andy Phillips’ personal and professional battles are well-known by now to anyone who has followed his career.

Although he was drafted by the Yankees in 1999 after completing his senior season at Alabama, the Demopolis native did not get the opportunity to have regular at-bats at the major league level until the 2006 season. To make matters worse, his personal life was put to the test twice in the past year when his wife Bethany was diagnosed with cancer and his mother Linda was injured in a near-fatal car wreck.

With his wife now cancer-free and his mother doing well, Phillips was able to take a relaxed approach to the 2007 season. The results showed: He batted .292 and was able to hold down the first base position for the Bronx Bombers for much of the summer.

The Yankees organization has been harshly criticized for its handling of Joe Torre’s departure. When asked about the way the front office dealt with the situation, Phillips declined to disparage his employers.

“Leaving is never easy,” Phillips said. “It’s never a good situation for anybody. You’re always going to have people that think it went good and think it went bad, but Torre has been good to me and he treated me well.”

Looking forward, Phillips is ready to play under Girardi’s leadership, and had words of praise for his new manager.

“You have different people in positions and they’ll bring different stuff to the table. Girardi will do a good job. He’s an intense guy and a great baseball man and a good man.”

What I found interesting in this story, if you follow the link, was that Phillips got Johnny Damon to join him last night at Bryant-Denny Stadium for ‘Night of Champions’ - a benefit for Baseball Country in Jena.

Damon thinks enough about Phillips to help him with this cause. That says a lot about Johnny Damon - and about Andy Phillips.

Yankees trailers in OWP, since 1973, via the Complete Baseball Encyclopedia -

NEW YORK YANKEES, CAREER, 1973-2007, with PLATE APPEARANCES >= 500

OWP                             OWP      PA     
1    Joel Skinner               .195      600   
2    Enrique Wilson             .235      636   
3    Wayne Tolleson             .277      946   
4    Gene Michael               .284      639   
5    Jim Mason                  .287      974   
6    Rafael Santana             .292      521   
7    Andre Robertson            .292      778   
8    Alvaro Espinoza            .299     1528   
9    Luis Sojo                  .305      791   
10   Fred Stanley               .307     1157   
11   Andy Phillips              .326      519

As you can see, Phillips' bat has no business being in the major leagues. It's really a shame, because, as a "person," Andy Phillips OWP is 1.000.

I'm thinking he'd make a great coach. Maybe it's time to get started on that career? Who knows, maybe Phillips could be the next Yankees manager after Joe Girardi? Stranger things have happened in baseball. And, it would be nice to start seeing nice things happen for a nice guy like Andy.

Posted by Steve Lombardi at November 9, 2007 08:56 AM

Comments

I got a chance to speak with Andy last season when he was with Triple-A Scranton. He was actually one of my first "in person" interviews.

I know he has always been praised for his kindness and compassion, and the articles we read don't even do him justice. He was extremely polite, well-spoken, and patient, and his great attitude pours out of every word he says. He treats his teammates with tremendous respect, and they definitely have respect for him.

Anyway, toward the end of our conversation, I asked him if there were any other teams he would consider playing for. He said that he's always wanted to play for the Atlanta Braves, and he would love the chance.

Posted by: Dan LaToraca [TypeKey Profile Page] at November 9, 2007 12:30 PM