Amaro

Twenty-five days remain until the trade deadline, so naturally, Ruben Amaro Jr. is keeping his options open - at least publicly. The Phillies' general manager met with reporters for about 15 minutes before Tuesday's game and covered a wide range of topics regarding possible moves his third-place club could make. Amaro is looking for starting pitching, first and foremost. The infield is wounded without Chase Utley and Placido Polanco - and Amaro has had talks with various clubs about acquiring infielders.

Would someone please remind Ruben Amaro Jr. that this is only batting practice? Here it is, two hours before game time, and Amaro is shagging fly balls as if he were playing the seventh game of the World Series. Then Amaro stands in the batter's box and studies Phillies coach John Vukovich, a jelly-armed 45- year-old BP pitcher, as if he were facing Dwight Gooden. Then Amaro puts on full catcher's gear in 92-degree heat and starts catching batting practice. No one catches big-league batting practice.

Ruben Amaro's single with one out in the bottom of the 10th inning lifted the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Red Barons to a 3-2 victory over the Rochester Red Wings last night in the International League. Amaro's hit came off Jeff Williams with the bases loaded. Joe Millette, who reached on a fielder's choice after Sean Ryan led off the inning with a single, scored the winning run. He advanced to third base on walks by Steve Bieser and Kevin Stocker. Tim Mauser retired the only two men he faced, with two on in the top of the 10th, to earn the victory.

Who: Ruben Amaro Jr. Age: 43 Management career: Became an assistant general manager for the Phillies immediately following his retirement as a player in 1998, and has been in the position since. Just completed his third season under GM Pat Gillick. Growing up: Born and raised in Philly, he was a batboy for the Phillies from 1980-83 while his father, Ruben Sr., was a first-base coach. Education: The 1983 Penn Charter product graduated from Stanford University in 1987 with a bachelor's degree in human biology.

CLEARWATER, Fla. - Ruben Amaro Jr. started mapping the course to this destination long before he stopped playing baseball. "If I had one wish, it would be to spend the rest of my working days in this organization," Amaro said near the end of his final season as a player in 1998. "I love this organization. " A short time later, Amaro became the assistant to former general manager Ed Wade, and his dreams have been coming true ever since. His Phillies tale continued Saturday when team president David Montgomery announced that Amaro had received a four-year contract extension to remain the team's general manager through the 2015 season.

Ruben Amaro Jr. has not had much time to reflect on the Phillies' World Series championship. He has been too busy since he replaced Pat Gillick as general manager. "It's been a bit of whirlwind," Amaro said last night at the Phillies' World Series DVD premiere at the Bridge Cinema De Lux in Philadelphia. "It'll be nice to sit down, watch what happened, and kind of relive it. " But while the Phillies and their fans enjoyed the story of the 2008 season at five area theaters last night, the Phillies' future remains a hot topic of conversation - and nothing has been hotter than the condition of Chase Utley's hip. Utley had surgery on his right hip yesterday at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York.

Ruben Amaro began this season a hero in his home town. Now, unless he is recalled in September, he will end it forgotten in Scranton. The Phillies sent the struggling rookie outfielder back to triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre yesterday to make room on the roster for another outfielder, Jim Lindeman, who was reactivated after being on the disabled list since May 10 with a back ailment. Amaro, who hit three homers in the season's first week, while filling in for the injured Lenny Dykstra, couldn't maintain that pace.

Houston Astros general manager Tim Purpura said Thursday that Ruben Amaro Jr. should be a candidate for every general manager's vacancy in baseball. Well, he's a candidate for at least two jobs so far. Amaro is a candidate for the Phillies' job, and a baseball source said yesterday that he will interview for a senior front-office position with the Baltimore Orioles today. It's unclear exactly what the position will be, but it clearly would be a promotion for Amaro, who has been assistant GM with the Phillies since 1998.

It was 139 nights ago, but it seems like another lifetime to Ruben Amaro when he electrified a city. It was the second game of the season. Lenny Dykstra had interrupted a fastball with his wrist in the opener. A funk descended. Everybody understood what Dude meant to the Phillies. Manager Jim Fregosi, who had little choice, wrote Amaro into Dykstra's spot playing center and leading off and hoped for the best. That first game was better than Fregosi or anybody else could have possibly hoped for. On April 8 at Veterans Stadium, he had a fairy tale beginning, with two doubles, a homer, three runs batted in and three runs scored.

Ruben Amaro, Stanford University's senior leftfielder, is feeling better than the average College World Series participant. That's because he soon will be playing pro ball, having been selected by the California Angels in the 11th round of the major league draft. "I was hoping to get a chance last year, but I was thinking too far ahead of the game," Amaro said. "I was worried more about getting drafted than I was about just playing well. "I didn't come around to hit like I knew I could until I played last summer in the Cape Cod (college)