J C Romero

J.C. Romero dressed carefully. He shook out the creases in each pant leg, tucked in the black tank top. He put on his jacket slowly, buttoned each button, seven of them, carefully. He shook his watch out of a sock and snapped the clasps. He put on shaded glasses, even though it was 9 p.m. and plenty dark out. Then Romero turned away from his locker, making a deliberate pirouette, taking his time again. He looked up. "I guess I'm famous now, huh?" Romero asked.

The Philadelphia Phillies confirmed Saturday that one of their players was involved in a confrontation with a fan following Thursday's game at Tampa Bay. The Phillies did not identify the player in their statement. The Rays also confirmed the incident but did not release details. The St. Petersburg Times reported on its website Saturday that Phillies reliever J.C. Romero grabbed and shoved Robert Eaton, 25, of New Port Richey, Fla., after the fan made two comments about steroids.

Saturday's game was well out of reach when Angels reliever J.C. Romero walked the first two batters in the eighth inning, prompting Manager Mike Scioscia to practically sprint to the mound. Scioscia didn't issue Romero his walking papers. But he was close. "He said it's time to go," Romero said. "You can only take so much. If you're in the big leagues, you're supposed to execute day in and day out. If you don't do that, it's time to find another profession."

In another time or place, reliever J.C. Romero might have thrown a tantrum by now, ripped his manager in the papers, asked for a trade. But it's hard to criticize how you're being used when you don't have a leg -- or a decent earned-run average -- on which to stand. "This year has been a nightmare," said Romero, one of the Angels' biggest disappointments this season, with a 6.96 ERA in 60 appearances. "And in this game, if you don't perform, you're not going to pitch. That's the bottom line.

In another time or place, reliever J.C. Romero might have thrown a tantrum by now, ripped his manager in the papers, asked for a trade. But it's hard to criticize how you're being used when you don't have a leg -- or a decent earned-run average -- on which to stand. "This year has been a nightmare," said Romero, one of the Angels' biggest disappointments this season, with a 6.96 ERA in 60 appearances. "And in this game, if you don't perform, you're not going to pitch. That's the bottom line.

J.C. Romero hasn't given up an earned run in two consecutive appearances since enduring a rocky stretch in which he gave up seven earned runs in three outings. But the former statistic belies the misfortune heaped upon the Angels reliever in the seventh inning Sunday.

It wasn't that the Angels were opposed to having a left-hander in the bullpen, even though, after going nearly 2 1/2 years without one, it seemed they were immune to the idea. They just didn't want a mediocre left-hander, a long-in-the-tooth veteran with marginal stuff or a strong-armed kid with little experience. With Francisco Rodriguez, Scot Shields and Brendan Donnelly effective against left-handers, why sacrifice a power right-handed arm just for the sake of having a left-hander?

The Philadelphia Phillies confirmed Saturday that one of their players was involved in a confrontation with a fan following Thursday's game at Tampa Bay. The Phillies did not identify the player in their statement. The Rays also confirmed the incident but did not release details. The St. Petersburg Times reported on its website Saturday that Phillies reliever J.C. Romero grabbed and shoved Robert Eaton, 25, of New Port Richey, Fla., after the fan made two comments about steroids.

Ryan Howard hit a two-run homer off Chris Young and the Philadelphia Phillies beat the San Diego Padres, 5-1, Wednesday night for their sixth victory in a row. It was Howard's second homer of the series and the sixth of the season. J.A. Happ (4-0) held the Padres to four hits in seven scoreless innings, the longest of his eight career starts over two seasons. He struck out four and walked two. Reliever J.C.

Troy Glaus continued to give us his best Mike Schmidt impersonation, hitting the game-winning homer off J.C. Romero in the bottom of the eighth inning. It was his fourth solo homer of the postseason. It also was the first run given up by the Twin bullpen in 5 2/3 innings in the series. * The Angels had a chance to break the game open in the second inning after Garret Anderson led off with a homer. With one out, Scott Spiezio walked and Shawn Wooten singled, sending Spiezio to third.

Saturday's game was well out of reach when Angels reliever J.C. Romero walked the first two batters in the eighth inning, prompting Manager Mike Scioscia to practically sprint to the mound. Scioscia didn't issue Romero his walking papers. But he was close. "He said it's time to go," Romero said. "You can only take so much. If you're in the big leagues, you're supposed to execute day in and day out. If you don't do that, it's time to find another profession."

J.C. Romero hasn't given up an earned run in two consecutive appearances since enduring a rocky stretch in which he gave up seven earned runs in three outings. But the former statistic belies the misfortune heaped upon the Angels reliever in the seventh inning Sunday.

It wasn't that the Angels were opposed to having a left-hander in the bullpen, even though, after going nearly 2 1/2 years without one, it seemed they were immune to the idea. They just didn't want a mediocre left-hander, a long-in-the-tooth veteran with marginal stuff or a strong-armed kid with little experience. With Francisco Rodriguez, Scot Shields and Brendan Donnelly effective against left-handers, why sacrifice a power right-handed arm just for the sake of having a left-hander?

J.C. Romero dressed carefully. He shook out the creases in each pant leg, tucked in the black tank top. He put on his jacket slowly, buttoned each button, seven of them, carefully. He shook his watch out of a sock and snapped the clasps. He put on shaded glasses, even though it was 9 p.m. and plenty dark out. Then Romero turned away from his locker, making a deliberate pirouette, taking his time again. He looked up. "I guess I'm famous now, huh?" Romero asked.

CHICAGO -- Jayson Werth hit two home runs, Ryan Howard hit his major league-leading 37th home run and the Philadelphia Phillies ended the Chicago Cubs' winning streak at seven games with a 5-2 victory Saturday. Werth also hit a tiebreaking two-run single in the sixth inning. Howard and Werth connected against Neal Cotts in the eighth inning to put the Phillies ahead, 5-1, and reliever J.C. Romero cut off a Cubs rally in the bottom half of the inning by striking out the side, including Geovany Soto with the bases loaded.

Josh Paul, who will live in Angel infamy for being the catcher who rolled the ball back to the mound while the eventual winning run reached base for the Chicago White Sox in Game 2 of the American League championship series, was traded to the Tampa Bay Devil Rays on Monday for minor league infielder Travis Schlichting. Paul, a seldom-used third-string catcher who batted .224 with four home runs and 17 runs batted in for the Angels in 2004 and 2005, was designated for assignment Dec.