COULDN'T FIND THE PHILLIES TONIGHT

FROM KEITH GROLLER

A Saturday night with some time to myself and since I am going to the home opener on Monday I was looking forward to watching some of the Phillies game against Houston, but had no luck.

No coverage on Comcast SportsNet, no coverage on WPHL-Channel 17 and none on Philly 57, all channels known to provide coverage.

Maybe it was somewhere -- CN8? -- but I couldn't find it.

To me it's disappointing that so early in the season when you're eager to watch baseball -- at least I am -- and you become rustrated by having to flip through the channels. And despite your efforts, you still can't find the game you want.

I do have the Extra Innings package, primarily so I can watch the Cardinals, but the Phillies were blacked out even there tonight.

I amused myself by watching other games around MLB on the Extra Innings... some Dodgers-Marlins, some Red Sox-Royals, but if I was a Phillies fan I'd have been ticked off tonight.

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I love listening to games on the radio when I am driving (I have satellite radio) and hearing the different styles of the broadcasters.

Bob Uecker still does the Brewers games and the surprise with him is that he plays it straight. Almost too straight.

Uecker was the funniest guest ever on Johnny Carson's "Tonight Show" and parlayed his comedy routine into a TV sitcom and stints in several movies where he made the line "Just A Bit Outside" famous.

But doing the Brewers games, there's no sign of the funny Uecker, just straight play-by-play with very little humor.

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Another oldtimer who still has a personality is Joe Garagiola. He still does TV work for Arizona and he's still a great storyteller, often veering off the action on the field to go into details of his own career and memorable games he was a part of. Usually that kind of stuff annoys, but Garagiola is an icon, part of the game's history on TV, and with him it's just nice to hear his voice again.

Former Phillies first baseman Tommy Hutton does the Marlins games. I didn't realize his brother-in-law was former Phillies pitcher Dick Ruthven until he mentioned it tonight.

Sorry if none of this interests you.

I know all I am supposed to care about this weekend is if Tiger Woods is going to come all of the way back and win The Masters and whether the Donovan McNabb trade is going to come back and bite the Eagles you know where.

But I love baseball. I love to watch it and listen to it. It's like a steady companion that takes us right through the spring, summer and into the fall.

I'm glad to have baseball back even if I couldn't find the Phillies tonight.

FROM KEITH GROLLER