Duncan joins the crew down in Tampa
Shelley Duncan made an appearance in Tampa today and said his health issues had cleared up. He had to deal with a blood clot in his shoulder during the winter.
According to the Associated Press correspondent on hand, Duncan was crushing the ball in batting practice. He then scattered people in a five-block area by trying to give forearm smashes.
Phil Hughes, Joba Chamberlain and Jeff Karstens have been throwing off a mound for three weeks now at the complex. Brian Bruney has arrived in Tampa along with lefties Chase Wright, Sean Henn, Billy Traber and Heath Phillips.
Phil Hughes reported on his blog that he will wear No. 34 this season. Henn gave it up willingly. Sources close to the situation revealed that Hughes will be buying Henn dinner in exchange.
UPDATE: Just an aside here, but don’t read much into who is already in Tampa and who is not. Some guys live in the area, so it’s easy for them to drive over and work out.
A-Rod, for instance, doesn’t show up until the moment he has to. But he’s always in shape. Chien-Ming Wang is with a private trainer in Arizona. Other guys work out with big leaguers at fields near where they live. Everybody has a different routine.
Just because somebody isn’t in Tampa doesn’t mean they’re not working out. Spring training last plenty long when they have to be there.





Chad Jennings
Sam Borden
Josh Thomson






BASEBALL!!! WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!
Dude, my sentiments exactly
What happend to Phil Franchise and his number 5 thing????
Hughes actually wrote it in the comments that he’ll probably take henn out for dinner. and he picked 34 cuz it was Nolan Ryan’s number. And the main thing here i’m so excited for baseball.
Aaron Boon: Phil said his mothers favorite number is 7, and since its retired the next best thing was 34, because together 3+4=7.
Sticking with the same logic is anyone 52?
I thought he wanted something with the last digit a 5
Sources close to the situation….
You mean Phil, right? He said as much on his blog.
#34 is cool but I was kinda diggin’ the 65.
I got the phil hughes #65 jersey. Just like my cano #22. Worth anything? haha
thank goodness we got some baseball again.
lol i got the cano 22 jersey about 3 months before he changed it and i got so frustrated but i kinda like the authentic feel to it
Fans who follow the team will remember the other numbers the players wore, plus, YOU know who you bought it for, which is what really matters, no?
Any update on what kind of shape these players look like they are in?
Am off, night all.
Aaaahhh. Got my baseball news fix. Thanks, Pete.
Your description of Shelley just brought back flashes of the Thing from the Fantastic Four movie. Get out of the way!
That’s a great story for Henn to tell his grandkids one day…”It was a great honor to give up my jersey number to some little known kid. Little did we know that he’d outduel the magnifico Johann Santana in Game 7 of the World Series that year. I remember it like it was yesterday…”
I wish I knew what time they were out there. I’d drive by to see whats up.
Mel Wow you still remember that? you just reminded me of that moment. You gotta have a great memory. Lol.
I can’t believe my T-shirt is already considered “retro” for a guy who’s not much past the rookie innings barrier.
Not that I mind; matter of fact, I should see if I can score a few more #65s on clearance so I can show my Hughesdom more often, and let ‘em all know in a few years that I believed in Phil since day one.
Whether I’m in Tampa or not, I’m always in mediocre shape, so let’s not read too much into that, either.
DOOOD! Shelley Duncan in da house!
Yeah I would think that guys who arent already there would keep in shape. (Except for abreu who is on tour in the far east? lol) I for one would want to spend as much time as I could with my family considering how much time away the game of baseball creates.
When I see Shelley Duncan I see heart.
I think I am in the minority of people who think Shelley Duncan is overrated…oh and that fact that he looks like we shouldnt feed him after midnight.
Speaking of A-rod staying in shape, I heard he was seen at the Reebok gym in NYC yesterday benching 350. Yikes