Socks

No one inside the Phillies' clubhouse is surprised. They expect it. Ryan Howard went 3 for 5 with a triple, two home runs and four RBIs last night in an 8-2 victory over the Boston Red Sox at Citizens Bank Park. Howard, who started the season in a vicious slump, finished the game tied for second in the National League with 19 homers and tied for the league lead with 62 RBIs. "That's him every year," Shane Victorino said. "You always want to start the season well. He started a little slow, but once he finds his groove he's that kind of guy that all his numbers will just start showing.

Half a dozen years ago, a congregation looked one last time toward the building raised by members' hands and out across the graves in the churchyard, and wept. Then, the churchgoers turned and left. This week, they'll install a new rector, welcome the public to a talk by an Anglican bishop from Rwanda, and play host for the second time to a regional meeting of their new affiliate, the Anglican Mission in the Americas. "God has blessed our socks off," said the Rev. Kenneth Cook, assistant to the rector at what was St. John's Episcopal Church of Huntingdon Valley and now is St. John the Evangelist Anglican Church of Churchville.

In a world of dotted espadrilles, jeweled thong sandals, and Nike Air Force Ones, a resin shoe is far from the prettiest shoe on the market. In fact, a kid wearing Crocs would have been laughed out of town back in the day. Clumsily oversized, covered with holes and the flip-flappable strap, Crocs are as anti-fashion as you can get. Stylistically, Crocs don't make sense. But what does yesteryear's in-crowd know? "I just like them," said 8-year-old Zakariah Alyan as he waited in line Sunday afternoon to have his caricature drawn at Rittenhouse Square.

They wanted a curtain call. Many of the 42,677 fans at Citizens Bank Park yesterday continued to roar after Aaron Rowand touched home plate in the seventh inning after hitting a grand slam in an 8-4 victory over the Chicago White Sox. They wanted to show their appreciation. But it also seemed they wanted to let everyone in Chicago know that they are enjoying Rowand just as much as they did. Rowand is revered in Chicago, where he helped the Sox win the World Series in 2005.

Barry Bonds' shins were so swollen in recent days that his socks left a thick imprint in his legs. That's how the slugger chose to describe how much pressure he has been feeling in his legs. Bonds was held out of San Francisco's starting lineup for the second straight game last night to rest and recover. Chris Young's homer in the seventh inning off Matt Morris (6-3) gave the Diamondbacks a 1-0 win over the visiting Giants. He has been taking prednisone again lately - often his practice in the past - to help lessen the inflammation in his shins.

Boston Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling, writing on his Web site, offered $1 million to anyone who could prove it was not blood that blotted his famous sock in the 2004 playoffs. Orioles broadcaster Gary Thorne said during a broadcast this week that Red Sox catcher Doug Mirabelli had told him that it was paint, not blood, and that it was done for a publicity stunt. Mirabelli called that a lie, and Thorne said Thursday he misreported what Mirabelli said. Still, Schilling blasted Thorne and the media in general in his first public statement since Thorne's on-air comments.

LET'S SAY YOU invite a friend over to live with you. On his way over, he walks through a field and his boots are covered in mud. You've decided to have this person live with you and are excited to have his company and to help pay the rent. If he doesn't remove his shoes, he's going to track mud all over your house. The whole time he's there, you're going to worry about the damage he's doing instead of his contributions to your life and the lower bills you're going to pay. To avoid this, you can ask the friend to take off his shoes so he doesn't ruin your house, and you can enjoy your time together.

So where do the socks go? Don't roll your eyes. A million pundits have made a million jokes about missing socks from the laundry. Erma Bombeck did a hysterical, wry piece on it. The joke's been tackled, badly at times, but the mystery never solved. You know the scenario: Woman puts a pair of socks in the laundry. (It could be a man doing the laundry. But the image of a man actually doing housework is far too distracting to lend humor to the anecdote.) Woman brings laundry upstairs.

Early in the Red Hot Chili Peppers' sold-out show Monday at the Wachovia Center (the first of two nights), singer Anthony Kiedis reminisced about the Peppers' smaller Philadelphia gigs, like the Chestnut Cabaret in 1989 and the Tower Theater in 1991. Having witnessed an unhinged Peppers gig from that era that Kiedis didn't mention - 1990, at the Irvine Auditorium - I can safely say that I never anticipated seeing him in an arena talking about the good old days after having just opened a show with three consecutive hit singles.

The Socceroos were tough on Italy. The referee was tougher on Australia. Another questionable call in this World Cup showed Italy the way to the quarterfinal yesterday in Kaiserslautern, Germany, giving the Italians a penalty kick that Francesco Totti converted for the 1-0 win as time expired. Moments earlier, Italy's Fabio Grosso was dribbling a few strides from the goal mouth when Lucas Neill slid in front of him. The Italian cut in Neill's direction and tried to leap clear, but tripped over the defender's back.