Philadelphia has long been considered a city of neighborhoods, and some folks spend their entire lives in the same area where they were born and raised.
Although it's not uncommon for Philadelphians to leave the city to seek opportunities elsewhere, Bobby Higginson is a fine example of someone who may have left the neighborhood but didn't leave it behind.
A star at Frankford High and Temple University, he could have continued his baseball career in Philadelphia, which drafted the outfielder in the 18th round in 1991, but Higginson decided to play his senior year at Temple and was taken by the Detroit Tigers in the 12th round of the 1992 draft. He made it to the big leagues in just three years and has been a regular in the Tigers' outfield since 1995.
Although Higginson long ago settled in the Detroit area, he still maintains strong ties to the neighborhood, which is why his No. 8 was retired at Frankford High on Monday.
The Bobby Higginson Foundation provides annual scholarships to members of the Frankford Boys & Girls Club, and the outfielder sponsors the local entry in the semipro Pen-Del League. Higginson's friend, Jim Samuels, manages the Frankford Tigers.
Frankford High baseball coach Bob Peffle took his team to Florida during spring break this year. However, when the players, family and friends completed the fund-raising to pay for the expenses, they came up a little short.
"Bobby made a very generous contribution to help us make that trip," Peffle said.
Higginson's philanthropy isn't limited to the neighborhood. Since moving to Michigan, the athlete has been involved with Variety — The Children's Charity, and the Ronald McDonald House of Detroit.
The record books will tell you everything you want to know about Higginson's baseball career. If you want to know more about the man, talk to his friends.
I took more than a passing interest in Paul Abbott's performance on Sunday. Desperate for starting pitching, the Phillies seem to have gone into a patch-up mode while trying to plug the leaks created by placing two of the team's top starters on the disabled list.
Five shutout innings were somewhat impressive for Abbott. If he can help hold the fort until Randy Wolf and Vicente Padilla return, he will have earned his keep.
Since he was signed as a free agent after Tampa Bay released him earlier this month, the Phillies gave up nothing to acquire him. Whether there will be a role for him when all other pitchers are healthy remains to be seen. If Abbott pitches well, the team may hold on to him. If they don't, the Phils could get something for him in a trade with another club that's looking for pitching.
It could have been much more memorable if Jim Thome had hit his 400th career home run under better circumstances, but life doesn't always follow a Hollywood screenplay.
Things started out right. A standing-room crowd of 44,710 was ready to see history in the making, with both the Phillies first baseman and Cincinnati Reds outfielder Ken Griffey Jr. poised to hit milestone dingers, but Griffey didn't even play in Monday's 10-7 Phillies victory. Junior will probably hit his 500th homer at home.
Thome didn't keep anyone waiting on Monday and smashed a shot into the seats in center field in the first inning, but the first of several rain delays kept the faithful waiting to see if it would count, since the two teams had not yet completed five innings before the rain came.
Monday's clash was mercifully called at 2:02 a.m., after three rain delays totaling nearly four hours (3:54). Thome's homer counted, and the Phillies won.
The first baseman will take both, but for fans, it might have been a little better had the weather been better and if the game hadn't ended long after they'd left the park.
Let's hope the conditions and timing are much better when the big guy closes in on 500.
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