It’s well past time for the Philadelphia Phillies to wave the white towel at this season, but this isn’t what we had in mind.
As if losing 19-3 and giving up eight home runs wasn’t embarrassing enough, the Phillies hit a new low Tuesday night when manager Ryne Sandberg was unable to summon a fifth relief pitcher into the game. The problem? Somebody left the bullpen phone off the hook.
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In a moment of slapstick comedy too good to make up, pitching coach Bob McClure had to wave a white towel from the top of the dugout steps to alert the bullpen that the number he had called was temporarily out of service. Thanks in part to the phone flap, outfielder Jeff Francoeur had to toss two full innings and throw a whopping 48 pitches in the defeat.
