Phillies Nation

Gillick On Fans, Bush On Utley

Posted by Tim Malcolm, Thu, May 15, 2008 04:02 PM

Pat Gillick, on MLB on XM today, spoke about the role Phillies fans play in Pat Burrell’s life in left field. Here is what he said, from the MLB on XM blog:

“The fans here are pretty frustrated. I think, sometimes, they tend to take the frustration out on the players. … Pat is sitting out there in left field, and we have an nice group of people out there in left field … they like to get on him from time-to-time. … He really loves playing here in Philly. … They have a ‘love-hate’ relationship out there in left field…”

Wait, fans still jeer Burrell? Really? I hope not. Or maybe Gillick is that out of touch with his fans … and his own team.

Also, supposedly President Bush loves Chase Utley. Bush said if he was the owner of a baseball team again, he would take Utley as his first player:

Q: Mr. President, I know you’re going to hate this, but I’m hoping that we may twist your arm and talk about baseball for just a moment. (Laughter.) Mr. President, you’re a Major League Baseball team owner again. Everyone is a free agent. You have a Yankees-like wallet. Who is your first position player? Who’s your pitcher?

THE PRESIDENT: That’s a great question. I like Utley from the Philadelphia Phillies. He’s a middle infielder, which is always — you know, they say you have strength up the middle — there’s nothing better than having a good person up the middle that can hit. And Roy Halladay from the Toronto Blue Jays is a great pitcher. He’s a steady guy, he burns up innings. And I’m sure I’m leaving some other good ones out, but those —

Q: We thought you were going to go A-Rod, Josh Beckett.

THE PRESIDENT: Josh Beckett is good, yes, he’s real good, too. I mean, look, that’s a tough question to answer on the fly like this, Michael.

Take that, Sox and Yanks! Utley said he was flattered that Bush would go with him; politically, Utley is a champion of environmental and animal rights issues.

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