Inside Pitch

By Mike Harrington

Former Bisons star Brandon Phillips is getting his first chance to represent Team USA at the World Baseball classic and, of course, is loving every minute of it (right).

Phillips, whose Twitter account of @DatDudeBP is one of the best of in professional sports and is approaching one million followers, was on Jim Rome's national radio show Wednesday afternoon. He talked about the WBC, how he's going to honor his 1 millionth follower, playing for Joe Torre, and still being unable to wipe out the memory of the Cincinnati Reds' collapse to the Giants in last year's NLDS.

Hard to believe it's 11 years since Phillips showed up with the Bisons after the Cleveland Indians' whopper of a trade with the Montreal Expos for Bartolo Colon. And Phillips' heroics for the Herd in its 2004 championship season? Nine years ago. Wow.

Click below to hear Phillips' interview with Rome.

Photo: (@DatDudeBP via USA Baseball)

OK, I may be down on the World Baseball Classic but I must admit I was pretty interested in the Venezuela-Puerto Rico game last night. And if I wasn't in Ottawa with the Sabres and pondering how to keep up with Niagara's NIT game against Rhode Island, I would venture I'd be giving a long look to tonight's US-Puerto Rico elimination game. Maybe this time the Yank won't get mercy ruled.

Has this thing pulled you in at all like it did with Sully when he went to the US-Venezuela game last week? Might you flip channels from the Sabres' game, especially if they go into the tank, to get a baseball fix?

---Mike Harrington