Wednesday's first pitch

Leading Off
How weird is it that Zack Greinke is a World of Warcraft player? I mean, I can see how his pitches could slay a level 5 warlock, but he's really breaking boundries here.
His off-field video-game adventures might be as shocking as his dominant season.
Don't forget, he came into this season having a 34-45 record.
Now, we'll find out if he's another Pete Vukovich.

Joe Posnanski writes that the vote was correct because the voters didn't get caught up in wins and losses.
Regional Roundup

• Andy Martino looks at how the Phillies hope to fix their bench.


• The Orioles like what they're seeing in the Arizona Fall League.


• Christian Guzman could have won a gold glove at short during either of the last two seasons. Now he's moving to second.


• Here's a good profile of the former Altoona Curve owner and his current conundrum.

• Sandy Alomar Jr. is returning to Cleveland as a first base coach.


• If the Cardinals lose Matt Holliday, they won't go after Jason Bay.


• Is Wally Backman the backup plan?


• Kung Fu Panda has found a good workout.
• The Angels say John Lackey and Chone Figgins are the priority As they should be.

• The LA Times asks, which Dodgers squad doesn't have any active players on it. Confused, check the link.

The Closer

Evan Brunell, of the Hardball TImes, has an interesting idea.
Omar Vizquel wants to play one more season. And he wants to do so for a team in the spotlight. Vizquel was surprisingly productive coming off the bench for the Rangers last season, batting .266 with 27 games at short and 20 more at second.
He did not commit an error during the year and his range factors at short and second were pretty impressive.
Meanwhile the Phillies are looking to upgrade their bench.
Vizquel would be an intriguing option at worst and a pretty good signing at best.
First of all, he'll come cheap. So the Phillies could spend more money on relief and third base.
Second of all, for 200 at-bats, he'll give them better production, than they got out of Eric Bruntlett.
The question, of course, is his age. Does he have enough left in the tank?