A group of Flyers came over to Citizens Bank Park after their morning skate around to take batting practice before Monday's Phillies-Cardinals series finale.
James van Riemsdyk, who we've seen play soccer with the Philadelphia Union, stole the show from his teammates this afternoon, crushing a couple of balls to the warning track before finally hitting a home run over the left field wall.
"He's a complete player, eh?" teammate Claude Giroux said of JVR's power.
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If van Riemsdyk was the Ryan Howard of the Flyers' bunch, Giroux was the Shane Victorino, spraying base hits all across the field. Both played baseball a little growing up, but never at any high level.
Alternate Angle:
Two Phillies players who came out to watch the Flyers take some hacks were Pete Orr and Brian Schneider, both with Canadian connections.
"I want to do a skate around with them," Orr said.
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A native of Toronto, Orr said he still plays hockey on Saturdays in the winter. "Our first game is October 14th. I don't think I'm going to make it."
Shane Victorino briefly stuck his head out of the dugout to talk some smack to the orange and black. We'd tell you what he said exactly, but it was an inaudible string of words from where I was standing.
Scott Hartnell was having none of it.
"Stick around and watch. Take notes," Hartnell said. "The Flyin' Hawaiin doesn't skate or what?"
Hartnell wasn't all that successful at the plate, chirping that he needed a right-handed pitcher, but he did cover a whole lot of ground fielding flyballs out in right center.
And yes, Harts hit the grass on numerous occasions.
"Good thing he's not wearing white shorts," Giroux joked of Hartnell.
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Other Flyers who took some hacks included Matt Carle, Kimmo Timonen, Jody Shelley, and Max Talbot.
Photos and video by The700Level.com