Hard to believe, Topps

LOOKS AS IF TOPPS went the cheap route in putting an image of Mariners lefthander Cliff Lee on a baseball card in its 2010 Opening Day set.

Instead of waiting to get a photo of Lee pitching for his new team, the company reportedly took a shot of him while he was with the Phillies and doctored it to make it look like he was wearing a Mariners uniform.

Several blogs and Web sites are reporting on the digitally altered card.

Apparently, whoever "transformed" Lee's duds from a Phillies to a Mariners uniform forgot to remove the HK patch that the Fightins wore last season in honor of Harry Kalas, their late, beloved broadcaster.

The ironic thing is that Kalas never called a play while Lee was with the Phils. Harry died on April 13 of last year, Lee was traded to the Phillies on July 29. Not surprisingly, Lee's "HK" card is already on eBay.

It's all Greek to them

 

Former Saint Joseph's guard Pat Calathes and his brother, Nick, are playing for rival teams in a professional league in Greece. Pat, undrafted out of St. Joe's, plays for Maroussi. Nick left Florida after his sophomore season to sign with Panathinaikos.

The two live together in a house near Athens.

"Five years ago, if someone would have said we'd be playing in Greece, I would have said there was no way it would happen," Pat told the Andrea Adelson, of the Orlando Sentinel. "But things work out."

- Tom Mahon

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