Clubhouse

NASIR PINKNEY and four fellow members of the Wheels of Soul motorcycle club rolled up to their West Philadelphia clubhouse at 6 a.m. Sunday after a 12-hour drive from Chicago, where they had attended a funeral for another member of the brotherhood. The men, who had taken turns driving an SUV, were getting ready to go their separate ways when a gunman near the club's door opened fire on them, club members said Monday. Pinkney, 31, was shot in the head and taken to the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, where he later died after being taken off life support.

ST. LOUIS - You just never know what you're going to see when you walk into a big-league clubhouse. You might find Roy Halladay displaying the same sort of remarkable command with a toy helicopter that he has with his arsenal of pitches during a game; that's a common sight in the Phillies clubhouse at Citizens Bank Park. You might see a hitting display from Joseph Contreras, the youngest son of Phillies reliever Jose; the kid is talented beyond his years. But what we saw in the visitors clubhouse before Wednesday's game at Busch Stadium was as unpredictable as it gets.

The Marple Township Board of Commissioners has failed to reach a consensus on whether to close the clubhouse facilities at Paxon Hollow Country Club. At a meeting Monday, the board voted, 3-3, on a move to close the clubhouse. Commissioner Mark DiGiovanni was absent. The fate of the clubhouse, which needs repairs and is costly to keep open, will be decided at a special meeting next month. "It's a bad building," said Martin Nash, president of the board of commissioners, referring to the clubhouse's asbestos insulation and leaky pipes.

Ryan Howard is a relative newcomer to the major leagues and a first-timer when it comes to performing in the heat of a pennant race. Yet the Phillies' rookie first baseman has been taken aback by the almost laid-back atmosphere he finds in the team's locker room. "If you were to hang around the clubhouse, you wouldn't even think we're in a pennant race," Howard said before last night's 12-4 win over the Atlanta Braves at Citizens Bank Park. "Everybody is relaxed and loose, and that is probably one of the biggest things I've seen.

The Klein Co. of Philadelphia got permission Monday night to start blasting the foundation for the PineCrest Golf Club and Residential Community clubhouse in Montgomery Township. The township supervisors voted, 2-0, to approve a foundation permit with the agreement that Klein realizes it is proceeding at its own risk because the clubhouse building permit has not been approved. Klein Development director Clay L. Chandler told supervisors that the company needs to get started on the clubhouse before winter, or it might not be able to meet its planned July 1 opening date.

The Clifton Heights Police Athletic League will reach a milestone today with the dedication of its new PAL clubhouse on the North Glenwood Avenue field. About 50 to 75 league officers, parents and supporters will gather in the building for a 2 p.m. ribbon-cutting, refreshments, speech-making and a lots of thank-yous. "If we try to thank all of the people who helped this building become a reality, we'd never finish the ceremony," said Donald C. Schirg, PAL president and program chairman.

There was at least one place in this town where people seemed reluctant to talk about Pete Rose's legal victory, where smiles were scarce and answers were terse. That would be the Reds' clubhouse after yesterday's 7-0 loss to Orel Hershiser and the Los Angeles Dodgers. "I'm not talking," Reds leftfielder Ken Griffey said, turning his back on reporters who had hoped to ask him about his manager and former teammate. "I don't want to talk about Pete," rightfielder Paul O'Neill said.

The sullen heat and humidity had vacated Veterans Stadium and left behind a perfectly pleasant evening for a baseball game. The Pittsburgh Pirates were in first place. The Phillies had won four of their last five. So why weren't these people smiling last night? Pirates manager Jim Leyland went out to jaw at second-base umpire Joe West in the fifth inning. Phillies manager Jim Fregosi went nose-to-nose with West in the sixth, protesting so forcefully that he was ejected for the second time this year.

Construction bids for a clubhouse at Five Ponds golf course in Warminster have come in so much higher than expected that township officials are reevaluating its design. The clubhouse was expected to cost about $2.2 million, but at a meeting Thursday night, bids came in at nearly $2.75 million. The increase is due to the booming construction industry, which has resulted in a market more friendly to sellers than buyers, said Bernard O'Neill, president of the township Board of Supervisors.

Although Upper Dublin commissioners still have bids to examine for the interior of Twining Valley Golf Club's new clubhouse, the long-awaited beginning of construction is just days away. The Board of Commissioners unanimously accepted low bids Tuesday for hardware, painting, ceiling design and carpentry work for the clubhouse, which will replace Twining Valley's old pro shop and snack bar, gutted by a fire in February 1989. However, the board rejected the lone bid for ceramic tiles and postponed voting on the bids for kitchen equipment so the project's design company can examine the bids more closely.

Even as it crumbles, the little cottage on a knoll overlooking Evans Pond manages to charm. It has so captivated Cherry Hill resident Kevin Cook that he's started a campaign to save the vacant structure, built as the Wallworth Park clubhouse in 1927. And even as he battles a progressive and incurable neurological disorder that affects his mobility, dexterity, and speech, Cook, 35, has succeeded in persuading Camden County to delay demolition. He also hopes the county can fix the holes in the roof.

CLEARWATER, Fla. - It was the seventh inning of a Grapefruit League game, which meant the household names had been excused from the dugout to shower and change and check out of work early. In the Phillies' clubhouse, Jimmy Rollins sat near his locker chatting with Delmon Young, both of them keeping an eye on a television hanging on the wall of the clubhouse. With one out in the inning, Domonic Brown connected with a fastball and caused the conversation to stop. "Whoa," Young and Rollins howled in unison as the 25-year-old outfielder's bomb cleared the batter's eye in centerfield.

CLEARWATER, Fla. - In retrospect, the 2012 Phillies season was doomed from the very start, an idea Jonathan Papelbon is still attempting to comprehend. He cited a lack of leadership as the cause without totally blaming Chase Utley's knees, Ryan Howard's Achilles tendon, or Roy Halladay's shoulder. "It was an all-around leadership void from A to Z," Papelbon said. The $50 million closer was asked Friday to explain comments made to the Allentown Morning Call about a lack of leadership.

NASIR PINKNEY and four fellow members of the Wheels of Soul motorcycle club rolled up to their West Philadelphia clubhouse at 6 a.m. Sunday after a 12-hour drive from Chicago, where they had attended a funeral for another member of the brotherhood. The men, who had taken turns driving an SUV, were getting ready to go their separate ways when a gunman near the club's door opened fire on them, club members said Monday. Pinkney, 31, was shot in the head and taken to the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, where he later died after being taken off life support.

ONE MAN WAS critically injured and two others were wounded during a triple shooting early Sunday outside a biker club in West Philadelphia, police said. The shootings happened just before 6 a.m. outside the Wheels of Soul motorcycle club, on Market Street near 61st. Police said one man was shot in the head and taken to the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania in critical condition. The second victim, a 47-year-old man, was shot once in the right leg and was stable at HUP. The third victim, a 34-year-old man, was shot in the buttocks, back, shoulder and thigh, and also was stable, according to police.

Three men were shot early Sunday at the Wheels of Soul biker club in West Philadelphia, police said. According to police, gunfire erupted around 6 a.m. outside the club on the 6100 block of Market Street. An unidentified man was in critical condition at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania with a head wound. In stable condition at the hospital were a 47-year-old man, who was shot in the right leg, and 34-year-old man, who was hit in the buttocks, back, shoulder and left thigh.

Three members of the Wheels of Soul biker club were shot and wounded, one critically, early Sunday in front of their West Philadelphia clubhouse, police said. Investigators were seeking a lone gunman and a possible motive for the 6 a.m. shooting. The critically wounded 31-year-old man was shot in the head and was fighting for his life at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. In stable condition at the hospital were a 47-year-old man who was shot in the right leg, and a 34-year-old man who was hit in the buttocks, back, shoulder, and left thigh.

THE BOSTON Red Sox thought Bobby Valentine would restore order to a coddled clubhouse that disintegrated during the 2011 pennant race. Instead, he only caused more problems. The brash and supremely confident manager was fired on Thursday, the day after the finale of a season beset with internal sniping and far too many losses. Valentine went 69-93 in his only year in Boston, the ballclub's worst in almost 50 years. "I understand this decision," Valentine said in a statement released by the team.

Seven strong innings still left Cole Hamels stuck with his third straight no decision Sunday afternoon. His slim chance to capture the National League Cy Young Award has now dwindled to none. No matter, Hamels is having fun because the Phillies are winning again. The lefthander was in the home clubhouse when John Mayberry Jr. delivered a bases-loaded, game-winning single in the bottom of the ninth inning, giving the Phillies a 3-2 victory over the Colorado Rockies in the first game of Sunday's doubleheader.

LAKEWOOD, N.J. - "So . . . what you're saying is, you want a swirly?" Bob Stumpo stands over the batboy. Stumpo is 6-feet-4 and 220 pounds, and his appearance is that of a soldier. His head is shaved, his jaw square, his shoulders thick. And the batboy? Nick Cottone is tall for his age, but he's only 15 and wiry. And shy. Stumpo, muscled arms exposed, repeats the question. "You want a swirly?" A smile creases his face, and his voice cracks into laughter. He pats Nick on the arm. The boy walks away, Stumpo still laughing.