Phillips eager to earn spotlight.(Special Report)(Brandon Phillips, Cleveland Indians) - Crain's Cleveland Business

Byline: ANDY CALL

Bob Wickman wasn't about to let this potentially historic baseball moment pass unnoticed.

The veteran Cleveland Indians relief pitcher was seated at a table in the home clubhouse at Chain of Lakes Park when rookie second baseman Brandon Phillips went skipping by. Phillips was about to play his first-ever spring-training game with the Indians. He almost made it, too.

Then Wickman spied him. ``Hey!,'' Wickman bellowed. Phillips turned around slowly, wondering what trespass of rookie etiquette he had committed this time. ``Hey, good luck, Franchise,'' Wickman said with a grin.

Phillips smiled back, tucked his glove under his arm and completed his exit.

The 21-year-old infielder from Georgia might not yet be The Franchise.

But make no mistake about it; Brandon Phillips is special. Nearly everyone who has seen Phillips progress through the minor leagues projects big-league stardom at some point in his future. He has been compared to All-Star shortstops Barry Larkin and Derek Jeter at 21.

``I don't want to be just a good player,'' Phillips said. ``I want to be a star. I want to be like A-Rod (Texas Rangers All-Star Alex Rodriguez). I want people to come see the Cleveland Indians play and to see me play.''

People have been coming to see Phillips play in minor-league stadiums since Montreal picked him in the second round of the 1999 draft. He almost immediately was labeled a can't-miss prospect and was the cornerstone of the trade last June 27 that sent pitcher Bartolo Colon to the Expos and brought to Cleveland Phillips, left-hander Cliff Lee and outfielder Grady Sizemore.

``I'm glad people think highly of me,'' Phillips said. ``I don't blame them.''

What does Phillips do well? Just about everything. He has the quick feet and accurate arm of the best defensive players. He can hit for both average and power. He doesn't steal a lot of bases but can motor from first base to third on a single, and have time to clean his fingernails before the throw arrives from the outfield.

The label Phillips carries is ``athlete.'' Some players shy away from that tag, fearing it means they have no particular baseball skill that stands out. Phillips does not agree.

``I don't look at that as a bad label,'' Phillips said. ``I am an athlete. I played all the sports. I think it means I can do what I have to do, wherever they put me, and play the game right.''

The University of Georgia thought enough of Phillips' athletic ability to sign him to an NCAA letter-of-intent for both basketball and baseball prior to his being drafted.

That athletic ability also allowed the Indians to put Phillips at second base during the Arizona Fall League, the winter instructional program and during spring training. He won the starting job in Florida this spring.

``It's surprised me how well he has adjusted to second base,'' shortstop Omar Vizquel said. ``It will be a learning process for him. He moves around pretty well. He's going to be good.''

Phillips said he benefited from having Vizquel as a double-play partner during the spring.

``If I do play shortstop down the road, then I can say I played with a future Hall of Famer,'' Phillips said.

Making the transition to a big-league clubhouse also might be difficult for some, especially to those with naturally outgoing personalities. Rookies with as much talent as Phillips have to walk a fine line between confidence and cockiness.

``Mostly, I'm keeping to myself,'' Phillips said. ``I'm here to prove I'm ready, to have fun and to play my game. I'm not here to disrespect anybody. I understand I'm a rookie. I know my space. As every day goes by, I feel like I fit in more. But I'm not just here to talk. I'm here to produce.''

Phillips plays with a joy and enthusiasm that minor-league fans loved. As Indians fans get to know him, they could embrace his style. He might become a fan favorite and fill the void left by the departure of most of the players who fueled Cleveland's six division titles from 1995-2001.

``If I wasn't enjoying myself out there,'' Phillips said, ``I wouldn't be Brandon Phillips.''

(Andy Call is the Indians beat writer for The Repository in Canton.)

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Member newspapers celebrate AP's 150th anniversary - AP Online

MELISSA WILLIAMS Associated Press Writer
AP Online
04-20-1998
DALLAS (AP) _ Member publishers and editors marked The Associated Press' 150th anniversary at the news cooperative's annual meeting today with a progress report by president and chief executive officer Louis D. Boccardi noting improved services and the strengthening of the AP news report.

AP chairman Donald E. Newhouse opened the meeting with an excerpt from the AP's anniversary video exhibit at the Newseum in Arlington, Va.

In his report, Boccardi announced the opening of a bureau in Shanghai, the AP's first permanent representation in the Chinese city in more than 50 years. AP already has a bureau in Beijing.

Boccardi reviewed successes of the past year, including production of exclusive state-level enterprise, the creation of a new State Photo Center in Washington, D.C., increasing use of the Internet for reporting and distributing news, and nontraditional business activities such as AdSEND, AP's electronic advertising transmission service.

Boccardi noted that in 1997 the AP began delivering graphics across the Internet and began offering Internet access to AP's digital photo archive.

He also highlighted AP's newest reach into television, with a computer system that enables TV news organizations to operate bureaus and production facilities around the world as if they were all in the same newsroom.

``The BBC was our first customer, but we have recently signed agreements to create systems for CBS News, for the ESPN sports network and for ITN in London,'' he said.

In results of all-mail balloting for the AP's board of directors, four incumbents were re-elected and three new members chosen.

Incumbents re-elected were David E. Easterly, president and COO of Cox Enterprises Inc., representing the Dayton (Ohio) Daily News; Richard J. Harrington, president and CEO of The Thomson Corp., representing The Repository of Canton, Ohio; P. Anthony Ridder, chairman and CEO of Knight Ridder, representing The Miami Herald, and Lissa Walls Vahldiek, vice president and COO of Southern Newspapers, representing The Baytown (Texas) Sun.

New members are Joe Hladky, president and publisher of The Gazette of Cedar Rapids, Iowa; George B. Irish, vice president and general manager for newspapers of Hearst Newspapers, representing the Albany, N.Y., Times Union, and, representing a city of less than 50,000 population, Uzal H. Martz Jr., president and publisher of the Pottsville (Pa.) Republican.

Hladky will fill the unexpired one-year term of Larry Franklin, who resigned from the board on the sale of Harte-Hanks Newspapers.

The other directors were elected to three-year terms.

Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan, D-N.Y., ranking minority member of the Senate Finance Committee, was to be the featured speaker at the annual AP luncheon following the meeting.

The meeting and luncheon, attended by executives representing AP's 1,523 daily newspapers, were the opening events of the first full day of activities of the Newspaper Association of America's convention.

In his remarks, Boccardi said ``change is the byword of the news business today, making AP's mission bigger and more complicated every year,'' and added: ``We think ... that AP has been through a remarkable evolution to stay equal to the task.''

He also said that amid furor over scandal coverage in Washington, ``we've tried to make the AP report one place where we kept our balance and treated with care sometimes sensational news and frustrating anonymity.''

Later, in an AP panel discussion moderated by Boccardi, Washington bureau chief Jon Wolman said he would give ``an X-rating'' to coverage of the Monica Lewinsky issue: ``an X-rating for content ... also an X-rating for excessive overkill.''

The panel, titled ``A Reporter's Tour of the Day's Headlines,'' also gave details on the turmoil in the Middle East and Russia and the tumbling markets in Asia.

The panel included chief of Middle East services Earleen Fisher, Moscow bureau chief Barry Renfrew, Indonesia bureau chief Geoff Spencer and White House correspondent Terry Hunt.

Ms. Fisher, Renfrew and Spencer outlined the difficulties they deal with in the daily coverage of countries in flux.

Hunt said Washington insiders have noted Clinton's increased interest in foreign affairs during the ongoing independent counsel investigation.

He quipped that even though Clinton's overseas tours have been planned for some time, the suspicion is that the president is on the road so no one can give him a subpoena.

``It's a second-term syndrome. You're greeted more warmly there than at home,'' he said.

A ``Best of Texas'' dinner marking the 150th anniversary, sponsored by A.H. Belo Corp. and The Dallas Morning News, was expected to attract former President Bush, Dallas Mavericks basketball team owner Ross Perot Jr. and Dallas Cowboys football player Bill Bates.


Copyright 1998 The Associated Press All Rights Reserved.

Are you having the time of your life? - The News Sun - Waukegan (IL)

Is it just me, or does time seem to be passing by more quickly?Remember how eager we all were to see the year 2000?

It's gone.

Just like that.

When I was a child, I often heard adults complaining about how quickly time was passing, but to me, the days -- especially summer days -- seemed endless.

Now I understand.

Life is so hectic nowadays, it's almost as if you want to shout to the world, 'Just stop spinning for a minute, let me think.'

The older I become, the more I realize that life is not about power or work or wealth -- it's about love, and time ... and time is in limited supply. I've never understood people who boast about the fact that their careers have all but consumed their lives.

I've yet to see a tombstone that read: 'He worked 80 hours a week.' If you're only halfway enterprising in America, you can acquire money, but all the money in the world can't buy you more time.

Just think, every diamond, every ruby King Solomon ever accumulated, is still somewhere on this planet ... but he isn't. For years, government officials have tried to convince us to car pool to work or use public transportation.

What they've never understood is that sometimes, driving to and from work is the only time of day many of us get to spend by ourselves, with our own thoughts.

For most of us, it's not about OPEC or the ozone, though perhaps it should be.

It's about time.

For all our scientific and technological advances, we still can't outrun time.

Have all the facelifts you want, buy a sports car, date someone half your age, but as the saying goes, no one gets out of here alive.

One of the worst sins we can commit is wasting time, yet we all do it, everyday. Watching reruns.

Putting off calling our friends and family.

Complaining of boredom.

Sleeping until noon, not because you're tired, but just because.

One of my regrets in life is, I already know there isn't enough time to read all the great books I want to read, or see all the places in the world I want to see.

Even if I read 10 books every day for the rest of my life, some great new writer is always on the horizon.

Wouldn't you love to turn back the clock, knowing what you know now? While you can't undo the past, it's not too late to make the best of the time you have left.

If you're unhappy, do something about it.

Change is frightening, but living in misery is even worse.

Life is hard enough when everything is going well.

The same King Solomon who left behind so much treasure also is credited with leaving behind this beautiful prose: 'To every thing there is a time and a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven.' In other words, don't just sit there, reading this column.

Time waits for no one.

PERSONS. - NewsInc

Executive suite: At Digital First Media of New York City (MediaNews Group Inc. and Journal Register Co.), Paul Felicissimo has been named northeast regional vice president of circulation; previously, he was vice president of circulation for GateHouse Media New England, a job he'd held since 2008. A circulator who joined Gannett as a home delivery manager in 1984, Felicissimo was named circulation director of the company's Journal News in White Plains, N.Y., in 1996 and circulation director at its Poughkeepsie Journal in 2002. ... At Journal Communications Inc. of Milwaukee, Jason Graham has been named vice president and corporate controller; previously, he held the same position at Brookdale Senior Living Inc. of Milwaukee. Graham joined Brookdale in 2006. Earlier, he had been a corporate accounting manager at APW Ltd. of Pewaukee, Wisc., and before that was a manager at KPMG and an auditor at United Government Services. ...

Publishers: At The Sentinel-Tribune in Bowling Green, Ohio, Karmen Concannon has been named publisher; previously, she was assistant publisher, a job she'd held since January 2010. Earlier, Concannon -- the fourth generation of the family that owns The Sentinel-Tribune -- was a Realtor for seven years and sold office equipment for three. Concannon replaces her father, Thomas Haswell, who retired as publisher after 33 years. Earlier, Haswell was pressroom manager for 13 years. ... At Hearst's Houston Chronicle, Alejandro 'Alex' Snchez Sobrino has been named vice president of marketing and advertising and publisher and general manager of La Voz de Houston, the paper's Spanish-language weekly; previously, he was publisher of Al Da, the Spanish-language daily of the Dallas Morning News and general manager of communications at the News, jobs he'd held since 2008. Earlier, Snchez was vice president and general manager at LBI Media of Dallas-Fort Worth. An 22-year media industry veteran, the Mexico City native began his career at KWEX-TV in San Antonio, Texas, and later he was with Entravision Communications in Monterey, Calif., and Radio Unica in New York City and Houston, Texas. ... At The Herald in Everett, Wash., David Dadisman has been named publisher; previously, he was general manager, a job he'd held since early 2010. Earlier, he was vice president of circulation at the Washington Post (The Herald is owned by The Post Co.), a job he'd held for exactly nine years. Earlier still, Dadisman was circulation director at Texas' Houston Chronicle for four years and a division manager at the Post for almost eight years. Dadisman spent five years as circulation manager at Indiana's Fort Wayne Newspapers. Dadisman replaces Allen Funk, who resigned late last year; Funk had been publisher in Everett for a decade. He joined the paper in 1994 as ad director and later that year was named general manager, a job he held for eight years. Funk, a third-generation newspaperman, started his career at the Washington Post as an ad salesman in the early 1980s. ...

Newsroom name: At GateHouse Ohio Media and The Repository of Canton, Don Detore has been named executive editor; previously, he was managing editor, a job he'd held since 2007. Earlier, Detore was the paper's sports editor. He joined The Repository in 1985 as a sports reporter and later was assistant sports editor. ...

Idioms That Won't Fall Between Cracks - Chicago Sun-Times

During a visit to California last year, President Clintonremarked that 150 separate programs of job training are available tothe unemployed, but 'a lot of people fall between the cracks.'

Between the cracks? A spokesman for the Fish and WildlifeService used the same phrase in testifying before a House committeeon a bill dealing with biological diversity. Proposedclassifications 'would allow many elements of diversity to fallbetween the cracks.'

Obviously, the metaphorical phrase is through the cracks, butwe're dealing here with a figure of speech, and often those figuresdon't add up. The field embraces idioms, dialect, slang, metaphorsand colloquial speech. Such furbelows contribute greatly to the richfabric of English.

Readers often ask which is right, 'I could care less' or 'Icouldn't care less.' The phrases appear to be used interchangeably,but they're not interchangeable. They express different levels ofindifference.

If columnist Michael Kinsley were to say that he 'could careless' about Whitewater, clearly he cares in some degree about thestory. His care level is maybe 2 on a scale of 10. But if Kinsley'couldn't care less,' he plainly does not care at all.

What about the idiomatic 'for free'? At the Washington Park Zooin Portland, Ore., senior citizens sometimes are admitted for free.Cable operators may transmit local broadcasts for free. The PostalService will update certain mailing lists for free. In Canton, Ohio,the Repository reported in January that local banks were willing tocash government checks for free.

Is there anything wrong with 'for free'? Not in my book. Theidiom is perfectly clear. The phrase carries nuances that are notconveyed by 'without charge.'

At the time of the Iran-Contra hearings a few years ago, theWall Street Journal said Congress has 'a ways to go' before thehearings could compete with sitcoms on TV. Secretary of State WarrenChristopher used the same plural formulation in March about thesituation in Bosnia. An overall peace agreement, he said, is 'a waysdown the road.' He meant it was a far piece (pronounced fur piece)down the road.

How could one explain to a foreigner that when one is angry onemay be beside himself? That is what Lou Pinella was a few years ago.His catcher had failed to call for a cutoff throw to Don Mattingly.The AP said Pinella was beside himself. When Pinella is sore, thatis no place to be.

Neither can I explain how someone could turn up missing, butthat is what happened in Dillon County, S.C., in January. The MyrtleBeach Sun News reported that a 31-year-old woman had turned upmissing on Dec. 30. How do these idioms get into everyday English?

Last June an auto parts store in Cincinnati advertised a specialon windshield wipers. Most of the wipers would be sold in pairs, but'blades and 45 series refills sold in eaches.' That was the waycountry auctioneers used to sell bedroom suites (soots) in Virginia.The pieces were offered by the lot or by the each. Everyoneunderstood.

The ubiquitous verb 'done' appears in all kinds of contexts.When we are tired, we are done in. When the roast chicken is readyfor the table, it is done. A completed agreement is a done deal.Belching at dinner, my dears, is simply not done. After four visitsto Grant's Tomb, we have done Grant's Tomb.

Hundreds of idioms - probably thousands of idioms - come out ofsports. President Bush used to talk about putting on a 'full-courtpress.' In any adversarial exchange, at some point 'the ball is inhis court.' A worried fellow has an 'oh-two look on his face.' Anaggressive questioner 'throws high hard ones.' A front-runningcandidate may be 'fast out of the gate.'

The idiomatic use of 'par' is a puzzler. In the real world agolfer feels great if he scores below par - that is, if he makes abirdie or an eagle. In the world of idiom, someone who feels belowpar feels lousy.

'Hedgerow hair' and other Good Stuff - Chicago Sun-Times

Today we're talking about the Good Stuff, not in poetry orfiction, but in everyday prose. All of us know the Good Stuff when wesee it -- the compact simile, the apt turn of phrase, the single linethat ignites a page. How do the good writers bring it off?

One answer comes to mind. Good writers learn to look intently atthe world around them. Into the attic of memory they put aside amagpie's hoard of images. When the right time comes, the right wordwill be there waiting to be retrieved. Let me offer examples.

Tina Brown of the Washington Post was writing in February aboutPrince Charles and his 'devoted old bag,' as the former CamillaParker Bowles calls herself. As the happy couple headed off tochurch, 'Camilla's hedgerow hair and bulky tweed coat were as much adeclaration of intent as her platinum diamond ring.'

Her hedgerow hair! The image was in Brown's attic. She had lookedat English hedgerows -- looked at them intently -- and she had storedthe memory. In February she looked at Camilla, and there was theadjective waiting to be put to lovely use.

David Carr of the New York Times interviewed Joe McGinniss lastsummer about the author's book The Big Horse. Carr found his subjectat the Saratoga Springs training track: 'He looked like a lot of guysfound on the edges of horse racing. He had an old cap set against theSunday morning sun, a handsome Irish face that could have been carvedout of potatoes, and a glint of tragedy in his eyes.' Good writersrely on familiar terms. Has everyone seen a potato?

Good writers hone the fine knife of brevity. Columnist Molly Ivinshas a way of making every word count. During the presidentialcampaign of 2004, she found candidate John Kerry too staid for hertaste: 'He could take all the excitement out of a soccer riot.'

It is an old trick of the writing art to put fresh makeup on aphrase that is showing its age. Thus, Mark Krantz of USA Today begana story on market advisers who were involved two years ago inconflicts of interest: 'Analysts are learning to straighten up andbuy right.'

In the Wall Street Journal several years ago, Daniel Golden wroteabout college professors who prepare a commencement speech just incase a celebrity speaker doesn't show up. Usually speakers arrive ontime, and 'their pearls of wisdom stay forever oystered.'

At a dark time in the Iraqi war, columnist David Ignatius remarkedupon Democratic efforts to brand the invasion a failed policy.President Bush did not relieve the gloom: 'His somber speech onSunday night was all tunnel and no light.'

Mary Schulken, an associate editor of the Charlotte (N.C.)Observer, wrote an article in March lamenting the fact that thecity's local campus of the University of North Carolina is located onthe edge of the city. The site is 'three degrees removed fromCharlotte's web.' The university 'needs to weave itself into thefabric of Charlotte as neatly as a tucked stitch.'

In the Canton (Ohio) Repository in February, reporter CharitaGoshay was writing about voting machines. 'No doubt a few countieswere spooked by preliminary reports that electronic voting machineswere about as secure as a cookie jar at a day care center.'

Three years ago, Rick Reilly of Sports Illustrated watched in aweat Wimbledon. The Williams sisters, Venus and Serena, 'cover moregrass than fairway mowers,' and 'they get to more balls than theduchess of Kent.' That may not be 'great' writing, but Reilly's stuffis as good as the Good Stuff gets.

Pains in the `esses' need stomping on - Chicago Sun-Times

One of the lovely things about our lovely language is that it grows.The metaphor of spring is irresistible. Everywhere we look, newshoots are coming forth; hybrid formations appear; exotic creationssuddenly flower. Many of them may be dandelions, but at least for awhile they add a touch of color.

Most of the coinages that have come my way in recent months areverbs, but there's a scattering of nouns and adjectives, as well.

Among the dandelions is 'paintress.' It cropped up not long agoin an ad in the Canton (Ohio) Repository: 'See the unique artistry ofRoyal Doulton's paintress, Dawn Lammas, on March 5 . . .' In point offact, 'paintress' isn't new. The Oxford English Dictionary dates itfrom 1633, but surely this is a word to stomp out today. In passing,we may wonder how many of these ess-endings are still in respectableusage. Heiress, certainly; the tabloids would never give it up.Actress, for another. But let me warn you never to refer to a femalesculptor as a 'sculptress.' You may get a mallet thrown your way.

Timothy Wheeler of Shelbyville, Ind., insists that he has seenon the menu of a health food cafe 'sproutburgers.' Such a hybrid, hewrites, emerges from the process of metanalysis. This was theprocess by which a bikini, named after the atoll, begat the bastardhalf-Greek monokini. The hamburger originally was a beef steak namedafter the city; then a vague impression arose that the 'ham' had todo with ham. Nowadays, Wheeler complains, 'we put anything we pleasein buns, add the burger suffix, and behold: sproutburgers.'

Jonathan Nicholas of the Portland Oregonian reports that an icecream merchant in Depoe Bay has taken to calling unruly visitors'touroids.' I take this to be an outgrowth of Norman Mailer's'factoid,' a noun that hasn't made it yet to Webster's but is toogood to ignore.

From the Mobile (Ala.) Press Register comes 'obeyance.' Itappears that at Halloween a hobgoblin by the name of Arthur appears,and 'many imps will roam tonight in obeyance of his decrees.' FromNewsweek, a new superlative: The Vietnam war was 'the baddest Americaever fought.'

A story in USA Today about actress Ann Wedgeworth informs usthat in 'No Small Affair' she played 'the hero's ditzy mother.' Aheadline in People Magazine says that as ' `Moonlighting's' ditzyreceptionist,' Allyce Beasley has answered the call of fame. Ditzy?It evidently means 'spacey, bug-eyed.' It's a new one on me.

Mostly, you readers have sent me verbs. Vicki Wagner ofLouisville, Ohio, found that a deceased gentleman had been 'intumed'at Northlawn Cemetery. The Associated Press provided a piece aboutspace vehicles: 'Safing measures included reducing fuel tank pressure. . . .' In the News-Star-World of Monroe, La., a legal noticeadvised residents of a public hearing: 'The purpose of the hearing isto abreast residents of the city's intent . . . .'

In recent months the world of sports has given us 'to plate,' asin 'a run-scoring single plated Jack Perconte from second base.' Aheadline in the Oregonian had exciting news: 'Pendleton OutquicksNorth Bend for 26-9 Victory.' In Lewiston, Me., the University ofSouthern Maine 'skun out an 8-7 golfing victory . . . .' The New YorkState Department of Motor Vehicles provided instructions for handlinga license renewal card: 'Keep it clean and uncrumbled.'