World Series champion Phillies get plenty of media attention

Winning the World Series brings massive media attention in the offseason and spring training.

The Phillies have done even better after they went through the playoffs with style and flair and ended Philadelphia's 25-year streak of having no major titles.

They won with a bunch of high-profile, talented and photogenic players who are in great demand.

And it began right after the World Series. The day after the clinching Game 5, the "Late Show with David Letterman" sent a helicopter to take Cole Hamels to New York to do the Top 10 and then back in time to attend a team function.

Phillies manager of public relations Greg Casterioto said the team has not received any strange requests, but has heard from plenty of outlets.

"We've had a lot of media requests," he said. "We've had a lot of national writers here [in Clearwater, Fla.]."

Hamels, the World Series and NLCS MVP, was on the cover of Sports Illustrated in February.

"SI has been here twice, to talk to Cole and Charlie [Manuel]," Casterioto said. "HBO's 'Real Sports' was here for 4 days to do a story on Charlie that's going to air in April."

Casterioto saw this increased interest coming. The Phillies made the playoffs in 2007 and have been in contention for several seasons. Hamels, Ryan Howard, Chase Utley and Jimmy Rollins are All-Stars who were well-known nationally even before beating Tampa in the '08 Series.

"Even before we won the World Series, we were heading in that direction," Casterioto said. "Last year, we were on ESPN five times, on 'Sunday Night Baseball,' which is the max number of times.

"What also has made a difference is that 2 months after the Series, the MLB Network started, and it's a 24-hour network, and they have a demand for players." *

- Chuck Bausman