Wendell Magee

Wendell Magee Jr. realizes that he isn't supposed to be with the Phillies just yet, that the drain of big-league talent here is the only reason he is in the major leagues. By his own timetable, Magee figured he would be ready to come up maybe a year from now, or at least by the spring of '98. But it doesn't sound as if the outfielder's premature appearance should stunt his development. The way Magee tells it, he is getting some serious hitting instruction for the first time in his life.

ESPN got lucky last night. You put the Phillies on national TV in September, you're taking your chances. But there were a month's worth of highlights in the Phils' 6-3 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers at the Vet. Starter Mike Williams kept Dodgers bats quiet for innings on end. Rookie outfielder Wendell Magee Jr. atoned for a run-costing fielding mistake with his first major-league home run and a sensational run-saving catch on the...

The Reading Phillies unlimbered the lumber last night and won their first Eastern League playoff championship since 1973 by clouting visiting New Haven, 13-2. In winning the best-of-five series, three games to two, the Phillies got home runs from Wendell Magee, Rick Holifield and Dave Doster. The homers gave the Phils 13 in the series and 21 in eight postseason games. Tommy Eason went 3 for 4 and drove in three runs last night. The catcher batted .482 in the postseason with five homers and nine RBIs.

It wasn't so much that Wendell Magee Jr. struck out in his final at-bat during Sunday's doubleheader against the Expos at Veterans Stadium. It was that he almost swung himself right off his feet in the process. So hitting coach Hal McRae was there to greet him when he arrived at Three Rivers Stadium yesterday afternoon. "He said, 'Come with me. We're going to work on your balance, we're going to change everything and we're going to do it right now,' " Magee said. Down to the batting cages they went.

Major League Baseball yesterday suspended Kansas City Royals first baseman Mike Sweeney for 10 games for charging the mound against the Detroit Tigers and triggering a bench-clearing brawl last Friday. Tigers catcher Robert Fick received an eight-game ban. Royals pitching coach Al Nipper was suspended for three games, Detroit hitting coach Bill Madlock was suspended for two games and Tigers first base coach Juan Samuel received a one-game ban. Kansas City catcher Brent Mayne and Detroit pitcher Jeff Weaver, outfielder Wendell Magee and bullpen coach Ed Ott also were fined.

It turns out that Scott Rolen may have been playing with a microscopic fracture in his left hand since Mets outfielder Carl Everett slid into the Phillies' rookie of the year candidate at third base on May 31 at Shea Stadium. Rolen had an MRI done on June 20 after he continued to experience discomfort in the hand. It was announced at the time he had a deep bruise. Either way, Rolen insisted, it's not a big deal. "It's very small," Rolen said. "It's no different than if it was a bruise.

It's not unusual to be watching SportsCenter and see a man they call Junior go sprinting back to the center-field fence to bring a dramatic home run back into the park. What was unusual about seeing this Tuesday night was that the man doing the soaring wasn't Ken Griffey Jr. It was the mysterious Wendell Magee Jr. of those late-night Phillies. Back East, Conan O'Brien was just teeing it up for his monologue when Magee went high-jumping above the fence at Dodger Stadium to make the catch of a lifetime - and save the Phillies' 3-1 win over the Dodgers.

Score tied, top of the seventh. One out. Wendell Magee Jr., batting .125, at the plate facing Padres ace Joey Hamilton. And there's a long drive . . . Magee's first home run of the year was a line drive that never got much higher than the potted palm trees behind the outfield fence at Jack Murphy Stadium, but carried over the fence in dead center to lift the Phillies to a 3-2 win, halting a four-game losing streak. "I don't want to say it came out of nowhere," said manager Terry Francona.

Nine months ago, he was supposed to be one of the key acquisitions in the deal in which the Phillies traded away their closer, Heathcliff Slocumb. But yesterday, Glenn Murray suddenly became an ex-Phillie. The 25-year-old outfielder was claimed on waivers by the Cincinnati Reds after the Phillies attempted to outright him to Scranton. Murray arrived in Philadelphia from Boston with a reputation as a big-strikeout, big-homer guy. And he lived up to half of that, striking out 36 times in 97 at-bats.

The Phillies say they want Wendell Magee Jr. to succeed. However, it was getting hard to live with his failure. Magee, the talented but raw rookie who the Phils believe will eventually be their centerfielder, was sent to Scranton yesterday along with his backup, Ricky Otero. Outfielder Rob Butler, who will platoon in center with Rex Hudler, and catcher Bobby Estalella were recalled. Estalella likely will remain here only until catcher Mike Lieberthal's sprained right thumb has healed.

THE PHILLIES laid their wretched 1996 season to rest during a late-September weekend series at Shea Stadium in New York. In those dying days, manager Jim Fregosi posted lineups that included Ricky Otero, Desi Relaford, Jon Zuber, Wendell Magee, Kevin Sefcik, Bobby Estalella and, playing rightfield and batting fourth, a spare outfielder named Ruben Amaro Jr. Even the supremely self-confident future general manager recognized that having him bat...

Even if the Phillies and Toronto Blue Jays had managed to play a peaceful game yesterday, it would have been a busy day at the Phils' camp. Let's get right to it: Travis Chapman is back with the organization. The 25-year third baseman, who hit .301 with 15 home runs and 76 RBIs for double-A Reading last season, went unclaimed after being waived by the Detroit Tigers. The Phillies took him back for $25,000. Chapman had been lost to Cleveland in the December Rule 5 draft.

Phillies assistant general manager Mike Arbuckle was looking for an outfielder to play at triple A. When the Cleveland Indians made Wendell Magee available, Arbuckle jumped at the deal and brought back the former Phillie yesterday in a trade for a player to be named. Magee had been in the Indians' camp on a minor-league contract. The Phillies will probably send the Indians righthanded pitcher Mike Fyhrie after some procedural matters are worked out over the next week. Magee will report to the Phillies' minor-league complex today.

Major League Baseball yesterday suspended Kansas City Royals first baseman Mike Sweeney for 10 games for charging the mound against the Detroit Tigers and triggering a bench-clearing brawl last Friday. Tigers catcher Robert Fick received an eight-game ban. Royals pitching coach Al Nipper was suspended for three games, Detroit hitting coach Bill Madlock was suspended for two games and Tigers first base coach Juan Samuel received a one-game ban. Kansas City catcher Brent Mayne and Detroit pitcher Jeff Weaver, outfielder Wendell Magee and bullpen coach Ed Ott also were fined.

It will be one of the biggest challenges in baseball - trying to rescue one of the sport's worst franchises. The Tampa Bay Devil Rays have turned to John McHale Jr., the former Detroit Tigers executive, to handle the task. McHale, 52, was hired yesterday as Tampa Bay's chief operating officer, and the team said he will take over day-to-day operations handled by managing general partner Vince Naimoli since the club's inception. McHale had been president and chief executive officer in Detroit since January 1995 and led the effort to fund and build Comerica Park.

The Florida morning is Wedgwood blue, but the pesky black bugs that journey to this Central Florida town in winter as regularly as retired auto workers have descended on Tigers outfielder Billy McMillon. "They drive you crazy," said McMillon, frantically swatting at them. "Every time you look up, there are more. " That's kind of how it was for McMillon in his 2 1/2 years with the Phillies. He never could shoo away all the outfielders Philadelphia brought in behind him - Bobby Abreu, Doug Glanville, Ron Gant, Rob Ducey.

Wayne Gomes was clearly fighting mixed emotions as he sat in front of his locker Thursday afternoon and reflected on his spring training. On the one hand, the 27-year-old Phillies reliever was eager to get out of Florida and begin what he is calling his Slim 'n Strikes season. At this moment, however, Gomes was feeling wistful as he looked back on a spring in which he saw the lives of his two best friends change dramatically. Gomes, Wendell Magee Jr. and Marlon Anderson are so close that they have one another's names tattooed on their right arms.

Wendell Magee Jr. was out of options with the Phillies. Now he's out, period. Pushed into the organizational background after opening the 1997 season as the team's everyday centerfielder, Magee was traded to the Detroit Tigers yesterday for Class A lefthander Bobby Sismondo. Ed Wade said the Tigers had asked about Magee since December. "It wasn't a fullcourt press at that time," the Phillies general manager said during the second inning of yesterday's 6-2 exhibition loss to the defending world champion New York Yankees at Legends Field.

Wendell Magee Jr. got his wish yesterday - a fresh chance with a new team. Magee had just finished taking batting practice under the blazing noontime sun at McKechnie Field when he was called into the Phillies' dugout by manager Terry Francona and assistant general manager Ruben Amaro. Still dripping sweat, the 27-year-old outfielder learned that he had been traded to the Detroit Tigers for minor-league pitcher Bobby Sismondo. Magee, who was supposed to start in right field against the Pittsburgh Pirates yesterday, shook hands with Francona and Amaro, then retreated to the clubhouse, where he began phoning family members, telling them that he had just received the break he had been hoping for. "This is a great opportunity for me," he said.

To the Phillies, Milwaukee County Stadium had the refreshing look of a desert oasis last night. The weary Phils had just come off a stretch in which they had played 20 games against five of the National League's best clubs. They were a dismal 3-17 in those games. Facing the sad-sack Brewers, who entered the night 16 games under .500, the Phillies would have a chance to nourish their victory-starved palates. The only thing that got nourished, though, was their grisly late-season free-fall to baseball oblivion.