Phillies Take BP at Kiddie Field To Prepare for R.A. Dickey

The Phillies arrived in NY early and used their off day to take extra BP in anticipation of facing knuckleballer R.A. Dickey on Tuesday night.  While this is not all that unusual, the venue for BP was.  The Phillies opted to take their BP on Mr. Met's Kiddie field.

According to team sources, the Phils felt that the natural movement of a wiffle ball would better simulate Dickey's knuckler and give the Phillies an edge.  According to some players though, there is another reason.  Jimmy Rollins explains, "We like Kiddie Field a little better than Citi.  The dimensions here are much closer to what we have at home.  I mean, have you seen that stadium they play in here? It's scary man.  Routine fly balls actually get caught here."

The Phillies were not alone however at Kiddie Field on Monday.  A couple of Mets were also on hand.  Carlos Beltran, who had just been cleared to resume "Wiffle Activities", and Gary Matthews Jr. also took BP on Monday.  The team has requested that Matthews take all BP on Kiddie Field from now on to boost his confidence and allow real hitters more AB's in actual BP.  Oliver Perez pitched both sessions.

In an interesting twist, all players had to clear the field early due to a scheduling conflict.  Apparently Monday was also the scheduled day for the New York Knicks vs. Maccabi Tel Aviv charity Wiffle Ball game.  Maccabi won the game 12-3.

editors note: Jimmy Rollins was placed back on the DL upon hearing news that they could not play the actual game on Kiddie Field.

All articles featured on The Apple are fictitious. No Mets were harmed in the writing of this story.  Actually, Oliver Perez was hit in the eye with a Wiffle Ball but he is OK now.

Pin It