Fire Sale

Dennis Cook, like many others who helped the Florida Marlins win the World Series, won't be getting his ring in Miami. "They're liable to spend as much on the UPS delivery as they would if they wound up keeping everybody," Cook joked after Florida traded him to the New York Mets yesterday for a pair of minor-leaguers. Cook, a former Phillie, was 1-2 with a 3.90 ERA in 59 relief appearances for the Marlins last season, striking out 63 in 62 1/3 innings. In the postseason, he went 2-0 with 10 strikeouts in nine shutout innings, holding batters to a .037 average.

A federal bankruptcy trustee is holding a fire sale on 350 properties formerly owned by accused slumlords Jerry and Steven Cohen. The sale of the mostly dilapidated homes and apartment buildings will wrap up four years of litigation that started with a 1992 lawsuit accusing the Cohens of operating an apartment-finding scam. "We're going to go through a short and intensive effort to sell as many properties as we can and complete the case," said Eric Frank, the attorney who heads Cohen Properties Trust Inc., the trustee appointed by the Bankrupcy Court to dispose of the Cohens' real estate empire.

Christmas came early to West Kensington. And yesterday the leftover wrappings blew across neighborhood streets and were piled high at curbsides in the form of big cardboard boxes marked, "Furniture. " The goods that didn't make it home were left where they fell - littering the sidewalks with overstuffed living-room chairs, brand-new mattresses, full- length mirrors, and wooden dining-room sets. The spree began late Tuesday afternoon at a warehouse at C and Westmoreland Streets, located in one of the city's poorest neighborhoods.

There should be an explanation for it. The Phillies started a fire sale July 28 when they traded David Bell to Milwaukee. The sale ultimately included Bobby Abreu, Cory Lidle, Rheal Cormier, Ryan Franklin and Sal Fasano. But since the front office decided to point toward the future, the survivors and fresh faces who replaced the familiar ones have been on a roll, even after a lost weekend against the Cincinnati Reds put them in a hole. The Phillies spanked the New York Mets, 11-4, last night at Citizens Bank Park to move within 2 1/2 games of the Reds in the National League wild-card race.

Pat Gillick stood at a podium at Citizens Bank Park in July and conceded 2006 and 2007. Contention in 2008 seemed a smarter bet, the Phillies' general manager said. But the unexpected happened. The Phillies, who held a fire sale before the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline, started to win. Gillick reversed course and picked up Jamie Moyer and Jeff Conine and other smaller pieces to make a postseason push. That push ultimately fell short. The Phillies, who were eliminated from the National League wild-card race Saturday after holding a half-game lead with just seven games to play, ended their season yesterday with an 11-inning, 3-2 loss to the Florida Marlins at Dolphin Stadium to finish 85-77.

Housing and Urban Development Secretary Jack Kemp is being urged by two close aides, in a confidential memo, to effect the most radical overhaul of housing and community-development programs since HUD's founding in 1965. The scandal-ridden agency's goal would become homeownership for the 37 percent of Americans who don't have it now. Kemp would lead the Federal Housing Administration in a fire sale of FHA's inventory of 50,000 single- family homes seized for mortgage defaults. Prices on the houses would start at appraised value and drop 1 percent a day until they sold.

Florida Marlins catcher Matt Treanor looks at his team's young starting pitchers and sees something special. "I think this rotation could be on the cover of Sports Illustrated someday," Treanor said Friday. "A bunch of guys in spring training, the focus of the National League East. " Treanor might not have to wait that long for the photo. The New York Mets have been the story of the NL East this season, but the Marlins may be the division's best story. Two seasons removed from their second World Series title in seven years, the Marlins retrenched and peddled off most of their high-priced talent in an off-season fire sale.

Ace righthander Ken Hill and top reliever John Wetteland were traded in separate deals as the cash-starved Montreal Expos began their talent purge. Hill was sent to the St. Louis Cardinals for outfielder Darond Stovall and pitchers Bryan Eversgerd and Kirk Bullinger. Only Eversgerd pitched in the majors last season. Wetteland went to the New York Yankees for 20-year-old outfielder Fernando Seguignol, a .262 hitter in two seasons of Class A ball. The Expos also got a fringe prospect to be named after the season and an undisclosed amount of cash.

BOB, BOB, BOBBIN' ALONG INTO THE COLORADO SUNSET Bad news for Bobs: Your day has come - and gone. BobFest - a yearly pilgrimage for Bobs, friends of Bobs, mothers of Bobs, and sons of Bobs - is history. Tom Britz, organizer of the Memorial Day weekend event since its inception in 1992, told the Town Council in Avon, Colo., that he was tired of running it. "I met one bad Bob, and it spoiled the bunch," he quipped. Britz asked the council to take over, but members decided to cancel it instead.

While the spotlight focused on the controversy over the late Max Weiner's presence on the ballot as the Consumer Party's city controller candidate, Republican M. Joseph Rocks and Democrat Jonathan A. Saidel yesterday held news conferences and stepped up their campaigning. Rocks announced his opposition to any "fire sale" of the Philadelphia Gas Works, and Saidel vowed to help improve the operation of the Housing Authority through his two appointments to the authority's board. Their late rival, Weiner, who died Sunday, continued to draw media attention as a court challenge was mounted seeking to have his name removed from the ballot.

They say it's better to give than to receive, but They haven't been to the mall lately. Americans are doing more and more holiday shopping for themselves, data over the last decade show, even as planned gift-buying for family members has stayed steady. The reasons are complicated, including a recession that has transformed what used to be a magical few days of strolling past Santa-themed window displays into a weeks-long, competitive fire sale. But experts on consumer psychology say a major cultural shift has been building: It has now become acceptable, even necessary, to give ourselves treats and rewards all year long.

WASHINGTON - It was Tuesday, and Jayson Werth was still two days away from returning to his first-place Washington Nationals, but the bearded outfielder grinned. He hugged Ryan Howard. He nodded at Carlos Ruiz. He joked with Kyle Kendrick. Lambasted in Philadelphia for taking $126 million from a hapless organization, Werth's team is now the one to beat. The results, a 3-0 Nationals win Thursday being the latest, mean less to the Phillies. The nation's capitol is primed for a pennant race for the first time since 1945.

Houston and Toronto pulled off a massive trade Friday - at least in the number of players involved - and the deal included a couple of names familiar to Phillies fans. In the 10-player deal, the Astros got former Phillies outfielder Ben Francisco and closer Francisco Cordero plus four minor-leaguers (and the ever-popular player to be named), while the Blue Jays acquired former Phillies lefthander J.A. Happ, plus righthanders Brandon Lyon and David Carpenter. Francisco hit .244 in 23 games for Toronto this year.

THE JACKSONVILLE Jaguars are headed in a completely new direction. And Los Angeles doesn't appear to be the destination. Team owner Wayne Weaver fired longtime coach Jack Del Rio yesterday after a 3-8 start and agreed to sell the Jaguars to Illinois businessman Shahid Khan. Weaver named defensive coordinator Mel Tucker the interim coach and gave general manager Gene Smith a 3-year contract extension, putting him in charge of the coaching search. The moves marked the most significant changes for the small-market franchise since its inception in 1993.

The fight for control of Pitcairn Properties, a major Philadelphia-area commercial real estate firm, took a significant turn Monday when a disgruntled investor emerged from legal wrangling as the company's new chairman. Eric L. Blum leads an investor group that gave Pitcairn $50 million for expansion in 2004. He had been trying to assert control of Pitcairn after it failed to make preferred dividend payments totaling $4.4 million and failed to meet a redemption request for part of the $50 million.

Mike Perez was a Circuit City salesman for just a few months before the company went into bankruptcy and launched a going-out-of-business sale. But it wasn't long before the 25-year-old Churchville man learned a lesson about liquidation fever. "There's a sucker everywhere," said Perez, a college student and Air National Guardsman whose store on Route 611 closed a week ago. The day after the financially distressed retailer announced in January that it would shut down, it launched liquidation sales.

Nick Perez was a Circuit City salesman for just a few months before the company went into bankruptcy and launched a going-out-of-business sale. But it wasn't long before the 25-year-old Churchville man learned a lesson about liquidation fever. "There's a sucker everywhere," said Perez, a college student and Air National Guardsman whose store on Route 611 closed a week ago. The day after the financially distressed retailer announced in January that it would shut down, it launched liquidation sales.

The New Jersey Commission of Investigation has called for an overhaul of how the state's fire departments purchase fire trucks, saying the process is rife with conflicts of interest and wastes tax dollars. Fire-truck sales are often manipulated by vehicle manufacturers so that communities cannot tell what they are getting or how much they should spend, according to a report released yesterday by the commission. The commission investigated 80 purchases of trucks across the state during recent years, including some in Moorestown and Cinnaminson.

AFTER DECADES of  seeping into places it wasn't really invited, the National Hockey League appears to be receding. Global cooling, if you will. Such is the subtext of Paul Holmgren's shrewd machinations this week, when he plucked an established star (defenseman Kimmo Timonen) and a versatile second-line winger (Scott Hartnell) from one of the NHL's top-tiered teams for . . . the 23rd draft pick. Third in overall points last season, the Nashville Predators need to be bad in a hurry if their owner is to take advantage of a $238 million offer from Canadian billionaire Jim Balsillie to buy the team.

Pat Gillick stood at a podium at Citizens Bank Park in July and conceded 2006 and 2007. Contention in 2008 seemed a smarter bet, the Phillies' general manager said. But the unexpected happened. The Phillies, who held a fire sale before the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline, started to win. Gillick reversed course and picked up Jamie Moyer and Jeff Conine and other smaller pieces to make a postseason push. That push ultimately fell short. The Phillies, who were eliminated from the National League wild-card race Saturday after holding a half-game lead with just seven games to play, ended their season yesterday with an 11-inning, 3-2 loss to the Florida Marlins at Dolphin Stadium to finish 85-77.