It goes without saying that here at Macho Row we hold a special place in our heart for the 1993 Phillies. So naturally, when this music video popped up it seemed only natural that it had to be shared here.

Local cover band The Business put wrote a song in honor of those lovable bunch of throwbacks, titled "Those Phillies Thrill Me." The chances it gets stuck in your head today are probably pretty good, at least for a little bit after you watch the music video consisting entirely of clips and highlights from the 1993 season. Since it can be difficult to come across Major League Baseball highlights on YouTube there is a chance this video eventually gets pulled, so enjoy it now while it is available.

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Does anybody like the Phillies bringing in outfielder Delmon Young? It sure does not seem like it. Once again Ruben Amaro is taking a gamble and hoping it pays off in a big way. Nobody seems to be confident it will, and fortunately for the Phillies they are taking that gamble without putting out a lot of money to do so.

The Phillies signed Young at a price tag of $750,000 but incentives could yield up to $3.5 million this year if the move pays off. If Young manages to reach those incentives, this could be a very good year for the Phillies.

Young is 27 but lacks athleticism and mobility. The Phillies want to put him in right field but he is probably better suited for left field. The Phillies outfield situation is far from the days of Jayson Werth and Shane Victorino. With Darrin Ruff, John Mayberry an Domonic Brown all in the mix along with newly acquired Ben Revere and now Young, the outfield will be a complete on-going experiment and adventure in the field and at the plate.

Young's temperamental history should also be a concern, and a reason why he is able to be signed for a small contract.

Philadelphia Phillies shortstop Jimmy Rollins will once again represent the United States in the World Baseball Classic, it was announced Thursday. Rollins is the only Phillies player to be chosen to play in the spring baseball tournament for Team USA (the remaining rosters for other participating countries will be revealed later today) that runs at the same time as spring training.

Rollins is one of four players returning to Team USA from the 2009 team, the first year of the World Baseball Classic. He is joined by former Phillies centerfielder Shane Victorino, now with the Boston Red Sox, Milwaukee Brewers leftfielder Ryan Braun and New York Mets third baseman David Wright.

Nobody will be inducted in to the Baseball Hall of Fame in the Class of 2013. The Baseball Writers Association of America, for the eighth time in the history of the hall of fame, elected nobody to their class this year on Wednesday. 

Among the former Phillies on the ballot this year included Curt Schilling (38.8%), Kenny Lofton (3.2%) and Jose Mesa (0%). Players appearing on the ballot need to receive 75% of the votes in order to be elected to the Hall of Fame.

On MLB Network after the announcement, longtime baseball analyst Peter Gammons said he believed because of the fallout of the PED and steroid issue surrounding a number of big names on the ballot, Schilling might have been able to get elected this year with voters looking for someone to vote in this year. Clearly, not enough support was there for Schilling, who won two World Series rings away from Philadelphia but had one of the more memorable World Series pitching performances with the Phillies in 1993.

This year's ballot was the first to feature some of the game's biggest names in the modern era. First-year ballot players Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, and Sammy Sosa and seven-year ballot player Mark McGwire all failed to receive enough votes to be elected. It goes without saying these players are among the big names tied to the tainted steroids era in baseball.

Much will be debated about whether or not these players should be in or not. You can make cases for players using sabremetrics that were not around in the 1980s and 1960s as much as you can make a case against other players using the advanced methodology. In the same respect you can debate how much value should be placed on use of PEDs or not. How these affect your view on greatness is your own right.

To be honest, I do not care.

Well, of course he did. Philadelphia is awesome.

Shane Victorino was traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers last summer as the trade deadline loomed and Ruben Amaro Jr. opted to begin a bit of an overhaul project with the roster. Victorino was shipped to Los Angeles and Hunter Pence was sent to San Francisco in exchange for an assortment of players. Though he had been traded to the Dodgers, Victorino's impending free agency left him as a potential target for the Phillies this off-season. Last week Victorino signed with the Boston Red Sox instead, agreeing to a three-year contract worth $39 million. That kind of contract was certainly not going to come close to anything the Phillies would have even considered offering Victorino, if it got to a point that he was going to be a serious candidate to fill the hole in center field.

Of course, the Phillies brought on Ben Revere from Minnesota in a trade involving Vance Worley and minor league arm Trevor May.

During a recent radio interview with WEEI in Boston Victorino admitted to being a little distracted by his potential future while in Philadelphia last season. The following choice quotes were provided by Sports Radio Interviews:

We believe it’s better to learn how to fail in big markets like Philadelphia because it prepares you to play in Boston. Do you agree?

“Absolutely, 100 percent of that. Am I going to miss Philly? One hundred percent. But again, I will always call that home. It will always have a special place in my heart. When you talk about the fans and all that kind of stuff that we were able to create, and at the end of the day it’s about going out there and having fun. It’s about going out there and being the team we can be. Here in Boston you have that great fan base. You have the people who are hard-working, that love the game, who are passionate about the game, who know the game and understand the game. All those things where, yes ,it’s an added incentive to come to a place like this. And I’ve been very fortunate to play eight seasons in Philly and have that opportunity to play in a market like that and, again, for me it’s going out there and just being myself and going there and having fun and giving 100 percent. At the end of the day, I can’t make everyone happy, but I go out there and play hard and play the game correctly. That’s all I can do.”

A Phillies fan favorite will be moving form the studio to the broadcast booth at ESPN for coverage of Sunday Night Baseball this season. Phillies Wall of Famer John Kruk will be providing his commentary this season for ESPN, replacing former Phillies manager Terry Francona.

“It’s a real honor to work with Dan and Orel, and to be front and center on baseball’s biggest game of the week,” said Kruk. “When I was asked to join the team, I couldn’t have been happier.”

Of course, Phillies fans adore Kruk and his style but our friends over at Awful Announcing are not exactly warm to the idea of putting Kruk in the booth...

This has the potential to be a disaster for ESPN. I don't think Kruk's loudmouthed approach will fit in well with the soft-spoken, intelligent pairing of Shulman and Hershiser. It seems to be a poor fit chemistry-wise. Analytically speaking, the downgrade from Francona to Kruk is a meteoric shift. Kruk has limited experience calling games and his analysis isn't exactly very thoughtful or compelling when sitting behind the desk on Baseball Tonight.

On this day in 1978 one of the top players in Philadelphia Phillies history, Jimmy Rollins, was born.

The three-year All-Star, four-time Gold Glover and one-time MVP is arguably the best shortstop in Phillies history and he without a doubt played a huge role in developing a winning attitude in Philadelphia, where it was long thought to be nearly impossible. Rollins will one day be added to the Phillies Wall of Fame in Citizens Bank Park, having put together a Philadelphia career that will deserve to be remembered alongside other past Phillies greats.

Rollins may in fact be on the downside of his career and sure, we will be quick to point out his flaws when things are not going well, but I just cannot picture Rollins in any other baseball uniform. I am glad he's a Phillie, and no matter what happens in the final years of his career I believe he will be a Phillie for life.

Happy birthday Jimmy Rollins.

Here are my top five Jimmy Rollins moments, in no particular order.

The Phillies need a center fielder and it appears they may be one of the final teams in the running to sign free agent center fielder B.J. Upton.

According to Jim Bowden of ESPN the Phillies and NL East rival Atlanta Braves are the two teams thought to be in the mix, with reports of a mystery third team also in the bidding process.

Braves-Phillies in fascinating bidding war for BJ Upton with mystery team...Braves considered in slight lead with final offers due this week

— JIM BOWDEN (@JimBowdenESPNxm) November 25, 2012

In honor of the upcoming 20th anniversary of the 1993 Phillies and their National League championship season, we review the free agent signings made by the Phillies leading up to the 1993 season. Here is a look back at the 1992 hot stove and the players signed in free agency by Philadelphia.

Lee Thomas joined the Phillies in 1988 to take on the role of general manager. His success as a director of player development with the St. Louis Cardinals had made Thomas a name to watch when it came to front offices in baseball. The Phillies managed to convince him to join their staff in hopes of one day turning the Phillies around in similar fashion. The Phillies were regressing at the time, and the first four seasons with Thomas at the helm of the team in the front office were not much more promising. But Thomas knew the kind of character his team had and he just needed to find a couple more ingredients to help it all mix together.

These are the players he signed during the free agent season between the 1992 and 1993 seasons.

Pete Incaviglia

Signed as a free agent December 8, 1992

The Phillies were still in need of a bat with some pop, and Pete Incaviglia was signed just for that reason. Incaviglia struggles a little in his first year in the National League with the Houston Astros in 1992, hitting just 11 home runs in 113 games. His production in Philadelphia was much improved with 24 home runs and his first and only 100-hit season in the National League. Inky had a career high slugging percentage in 1993 (.530).

The Phillies were confident with the signing, offering Incaviglia his first contract worth over $1 million in his career. The Phillies signed Incaviglia for $1.05 million in the 1993 and 1994 seasons

Milt Thompson

Signed as a free agent December 9, 1992

Thompson, who had been acquired in a trade with the Atlanta Braves in exchange for Steve Bedrosian in 1985, spent a couple of seasons in the organization before being traded in 1988 to the St. Louis Cardinals. He was granted free agency following the 1992 season, when his batting average dropped 14 points, from .307 to .293. The Cardinals already had a starter in left fielder Bernard Gilkey, a .300 hitter in 1992 and .305 hitter in 1993.

Thompson hit just .262 in 129 games for the Phillies but he came up with some key plays with his glove, including saving a game-winning home run in San Diego .

The Phillies signed Thompson for $1,475,000 after the Cardinals bought out his previous option for $300,000.

Adding Thompson to the roster allowed the Phillies to move Mariano Duncan to the infield, where he would split playing time at second base and shortstop with Mickey Morandini, Kim Batiste and Kevin Stocker.

Today the 2012 Major League Baseball postseason will officially begin and for the first time since 2006 it will not involve the Phillies. Each of the past five seasons the Phillies have opened up their playoff schedule at home in Citizens Bank Park. There will be no white rally towels waving in the stands and no dancing by the Phillie Phanatic this October, but some fans may be keeping an eye on the postseason anyway. We certainly will be watching here, and keeping some tabs on former Phillies in the postseason.

Today the first-ever one-game Wild Card games will be played to determine which teams will advance to the Division Series in each league. First up is the National League, where the Atlanta Braves will get a chance to dethrone the reigning World Series champions, the St. Louis Cardinals.

St. Louis Cardinals at Atlanta Braves
Kyle Lohse (16-3, 2.86 ERA) vs. Kris Medlen (10-1, 1.57 ERA)
First pitch: 5:07 p.m., TBS

When I think of Kyle Lohse I think of one thing: Kaz Matsui grand slam. Lohse gets slammed for tossing up a grand slam in game two of the 2007 NLDS but blame has to be rightfully be placed on Kyle Kendrick for loading the bases with a 3-2 lead. But that is ancient history at this stage.

The ghosts of Lohse's playoff past will have to be silenced if the defending World Series champions want to live to see another day this October. The Braves counter with Kris Medlen, and the Braves have not lost a game he has started in two years. Those trends tell you to go with Atlanta in this game. I know I will be pulling for the Braves because I am not ready to see the Chipper Jones farewell tour come to a stop just yet. I also respect how Atlanta put last year's downfall behind them the way they did and feel they are entering the postseason on a positive note, and playing at home for one game is huge.

I think Atlanta advances to host the Washington Nationals, and that could give Atlanta the upper hand in that NLDS match-up.

For more coverage on the Braves and Cardinals, check out Chop-N-Change and Cards Diaspora.