Last week the Philadelphia Phillies celebrated the 60th anniversary of Jackie Robinson's breaking of the color barrier in major league baseball. All of the Phillies players wore Robinson's number 42 to honor the anniversa. This is a far cry from how they celebrated the 10th anniversary of this occasion - by becoming the last National League team to field an African-American player. Move forward 50 years and the Phillies have moved forward somewhat. In a league where there are teams that don't have one African-American, two of their premier players and team leaders, Jimmy Rollins and Ryan Howard are African-American. Their closer Tom Gordon is also African-American. They have also been one of the leading teams in working to bring baseball back to the inner city. With all this progress I wonder if it stops at the field. I wonder this because when I went to their website recently they were promoting their ballgirls (their term, not mine) and I noticed that out of 14 members, not one woman of color. How can this be in a city that is 43% African-American, that not one person on this squad is?

The Phillies and major league baseball have spoken about how they want more African-American customers and players, but you have to wonder, if we're not welcome as employees, should we support the team with our dollars. The thing to remember is that this squad is arbitrarily chosen and it makes sense to make sure that it is indicative of the city you represent.

As a fan of the Phillies, I'm going to hope that this is an oversite on their part. It's easy to overlook something like this. But I can promise you that I will be watching them closely when I do attend a game. Are the jobs for African-Americans only in concessions? What about management? The Phillies have never had an African-American manager - matter of fact, all of their managers and GMs have been as lily white as the 1947 Phillies were.

Makes you wonder if they truly get it.

With acclaimed singer/songwriters Michael Penn currently touring (at the World Cafe on Friday, April 27) to support his new albumPalms and Runes, Tarot and Tea: A Michael Penn Collection, he gladly sat down and answered a few of my silly questions:

What are you reading, listening to, and watching these days
I just re-read Alan Moore's "From Hell", listening to a lot of tango, watching Intervention.

Cat person or dog person?
Dogs are great pets. It's as if they are programmed to show unconditional love, like they have little to no free will of their own. I'm a cat person.

What about the music industry excites you?

First is that the music industry is in such a massive tumble that I think it is bound to crush all the people doing it just for dough. No dough no more.

And the other thing is that some of the same technology that has contributed to the tumble is a godsend, the corporations don't have the only printing press. So I am attracted to all the creative potential that provides.

A few years ago you said that any musician going into the music industry should learn HTML - care to revise?

Only to say that I would add Flash and any other protocol used on the internet. My point was "learn the tools"...that if you got creative with your website, or using mySpace or whatever...it was no different hat designing one's own album cover.

But the main dilemma remains for people who do what I do for a living. We don't make things anymore. We used to lock our waveforms inside something.

If I forced you to listen to one of your albums - which would you choose?
It will always be the last one.

Coffee or Tea?
One very large iced coffee in the morning. Black tea the rest of the day. Usually.

What should someone expect from seeing you live?
Me doing my best...getting along. Trying to stay out of trouble, trying to make a bit of a difference, quit smoking...oh...LIVE....

What's it like being married to another musician/songwriter? (That would be Aimee Mann)
Wonderful.

East coast or West coast?
Only one of those two choices is the home of The Museum Of Jurassic Technology

We win.

What's the hardest thing for you to do or accept as a musician?
Hmmm. I'm not sure. I wish I was more prolific, I wish the things I hear in my head could translate to my fingers with less effort, but acceptance of the things I can't change is getting easier.

Sushi or Pizza?
either/or

What should we expect from you next?
Another bunch of songs, probably another score this year. But in the shorter term I want to keep the new web site active and get out and play live as much as I can.

Michael Penn will be playing at World Cafe Live on Friday, April 27 with The Last Town Chorus.

The following is a reprint from my blog A Rubber Door

Growing up in Philadelphia one of my favorite childhood memories is that of my father taking my younger sister and I to Phillies games. The Phillies were great in those days: Steve Carlton pitching, Mike Schmidt and Greg Luzinski hitting, Larry Bowa and Garry Maddox catching. And to top it off the soundtrack was provided by stadium organist Paul Richardson.

I'm certain that Paul Richardson is an integral part of many a Philadelphian's childhood. Never seen, but the experiences wouldn't have been the same without him.

Now when you go to a game, it's pre-recorded songs and special effects, million dollar sound systems and games on the big screen. Just like so many of today's experiences, modern advances haven't improved the experience, just made them modern.

Today Paul Richardson died after a long illness. Just one more time for Paul:

CHARGE!

I work in the worst block of the Avenue of the Arts - the 100 block of North Broad. We're just waiting to be knocked down for the Pennsylvania Convention Center expansion, it's nothing but vacant building after vacant building for most of the block.

Here are a few things I saw last week on my walk from Suburban Station to work during the week.

Let me start this by saying I’m probably a little jealous.

This weekend the already Yankees/Red Sox focused national coverage will become even more so. With the heated rivalry starting up again with 5 games in 4 days, you can forget hearing about anything else until Tuesday at best. Of the 5 games, all but tonight’s second half of a doubleheader will be nationally televised. Add to that the fact that Baseball Tonight, Sportscenter, and any other coverage that aspires to be a national sports news provider will devote 75% of their coverage to this series. I’m here to say I’m tired of it.

Since when has Major League Baseball been defined by two teams? I know it’s a compelling story, but come on! There are 28 other teams in the majors. The Yankees are the Yankees and Red Sox fans have done a great job at whining about their tale of woe (I’m from Philly - I got your woe right over here! Since when is two dynasties from your city in the past 25 years considered woe?)

Note to ESPN, Fox, and whoever else is listening: we’re not all Yankees and Red Sox fans; as a matter of fact, most of us probably hate them. Some of us like the Phillies , Giants, and even the Devil Rays. There are great races (or at least close races) in both western divisions, the National League Central, and the wild cards. How about we not focus on one series for the next 4 days?

Phillies notes

I don’t want to be considered a doom and gloom Phillies blogger - so I have to talk about the good too. I love the way the way the Fighten’s are playing right now. While the timely hitting still leaves a little to be desired, they are stealing runs, playing good defense, and most importantly the pitching well. Uncle Charlie has also decided to fiddle with the lineup a bit, playing 4 outfielders in all 3 spots and platooning at catcher. The additional playing time for Dellucci, Coste, and Victorino has added spark. John Lieber has turned it around, Hamels is pitching well, and Randy Wolf has been a welcome addition. I’m kind of missing Corey Lidle and his ability to eat innings and keep you in the game, but I’ll live without him.

Through the end of the season it will be interesting to see how hard the Phillies as an organization go after the wild card. Will they add pitching or a bat to the bench beyond the September call-ups? Will Mathieson remain in the rotation? Lots of questions.

As with everyone, I woke up this morning to the shocking news of the airline terrorist plot out of the UK. Throughout the day we then began to hear from all the experts and the true depth of the plot. The scope of this plan is frightening and makes me think twice about taking a plane anytime soon, but not because I'm afraid - I accept the fact that there is some inherent danger, but because it was already inconvenient enough.

An article on CNN today has comments from experts as to what needs to be done in the U.S.

Bomb experts and troubleshooters for airline security interviewed by The Associated Press said mobile phones, computers, wrist watches or anything else with a battery should be prohibited from flights.

Nothing with a battery? OK - I don't have a watch that doesn't use a battery. Would I leave my cell phone at home? Imagine the flight to Hawaii without your iPod. What do I do with my car keys? They use a battery. Finally is anyone going to check their laptop instead of carrying it on? I understand that safety is paramount, but at what point does it stop? What happens when someone finds a way to use fabric to build a bomb? Will we all have to wear government issued orange jumpsuits? I understand that we need to tighten things up, but at what point does it become untenable? I've already decided that I won't fly unless I absolutely have to. I don't want to wait 4 hours at the airport. I don't want to fly 5 hours without my iPod. I'm not willing to inconvenience myself to fly. I'm guessing that a lot of people are thinking the same thing.

I'm not saying more security shouldn't be put in place - I'm just saying not for me.

There was a time when you would fly short distances or fly for pleasure without thinking about it. Fly from Philly to Pittsburgh because it was cheap and short. Now you drive or take the train because any flight under 2 hours might mean 6 hours total once you take into account security and picking up checked bags. The airlines must shudder at this line of thinking.

Another thing - are we really any safer than we were 5 years ago? I know that the government has put tons of policies in place in order to keep us safe - and to a certain extent I believe they have, but have these very same policies also created new terrorists? What we did in Afghanistan. The chase for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. Our support for the Israeli war? As Kristen said to me today "we've created a nation of haters." It seems to me that the one thing we have definitely been successful at is making more people mad at us. Where does this stop? Can we change minds? I don't think so - I think these people will always hate us.

Aren't you glad you're not in charge?

The overhaul is underway. This weekend the Phillies have rid themselves of David Bell, Ryan Franklin, Cory Lidle, and Bobby Abreu. I expect that by 4PM tomorrow that John Lieber will join that group. This means that Pat Gillick is now on the clock. He has a strong nucleus of players, but won't be able to add to that group until the fall. This team will be bad until then (trust me, we haven't seen real bad yet). There is no reason to keep Charlie Manuel around at this point. Don't let Howard, Utley, and Hamels get used to the losing attitude. Manuel has given up at this point, and the worst thing you can have is a short-timer such as him spoil this team.

There are those that say that the manager doesn't go out there and play the games. That the players have let him down. But the attitude, mistakes, and unpreparedness is a clear sign that Charlie Manuel doesn't deserve to manage one more game.

Manuel won't be here next year. So why wait until October to fire him? Let him go now.

Just when it seems it couldn't get worse for the Phillies, it seems that senlity has set in for owner Bill Giles.

The season has been horrible. They are 11.5 games behind the Mets. The manager is on the hotseat as are two thirds of the outfield and every pitcher not named Tom Gordon. Their "best" pitcher was arrested for beating his wife in public. Etcetera, etc. I wonder why I am surprised at the interview Bill Giles gave that was published on Philly.com . I guess it's the total lack of understanding and reality. Here are some wonderful comments from the interview:

Billy Wagner says that the Phillies have "as much talent talent as [the Mets]". That "there is something lacking there". That the team needs to be broken up. The funny thing is that the papers disregard him. The Phillies laugh it off. But you may not like some of the things that Billy says, but you have a hard time finding fault with anything he's said this last time. The Phils are talented, but they don't win, and it's management and lack of leadership. Why argue with him - this type of publicity is maybe what is needed to embarrass the ownership into changing. Remember when SI called the Clippers the worst team in all of sports? We need someone on a national level to do an expose on the Phillies. The consistency of their badness is not to be rivaled. Not by the Clippers, not by the Buccaneers, not by anyone. No one can point to our level of ineptitude and say they have worse.

So Lynn Swann won the Republican nomination for Pennsylvania Governor this weekend (surprise, surprise). I, like many men my age, idolized Swann as a child watching the acrobatic catches he so routinely made. Being that Swann has no political experience or background, Swann's selection by the Republican party as the person to go up against Ed Rendell seems to be a desperate attempt to fool the people of Pittsburgh into voting for their candidate.

Swann is as hardcore a conservative republican as they get. In the past weekend he said he would sign any law outlawing abortion as well as coming out against an increase in the minimum wage (apparently the state's competitive advantage is tied to the backs of the workers who can least afford it). That Swann would then talk about the "lip-service" that the Democratic Party gives to minorities that automatically vote for them, is laughable with so many minorities living below the poverty level and earning this minimum wage. The lip-service that Democrats pay minorities is a step up from the out and out ignorance that the Republicans generally give. While coming out against the minimum wage increase, he wants to cut business taxes. Maybe Swann has been a part of the elite too long to know, that you can't expect that favors that benefit businesses will trickle down to the employees. We've been down that road before.