Separated by about 65 miles or so, my two Baseball Boyfriends Of The Day were hard at work making some spectacular plays on the diamond. My first BBOTD is Aaron Rowand, who ran himself ragged in Philadelphia during the second inning against the Padres.

First was a pickoff attempt that necessitated a slide back into first base. Then a seemingly successful steal attempt, which was called back after the home plate ump (absolutely INcorrectly) ruled the batter had foul tipped the pitch. Then another dive back to 1st on another pickoff attempt. And then another pickoff attempt and jump back. Another steal attempt that was foiled when the batter fouled off the pitch. The batter finally gets a clean ball off the bat- only to be caught by the LF which sends Aaron scrambling back to first... but the Padres' first baseman misses the catch and Aaron has to turn right around and run back to 2B. By this time, he's doubled over in exhaustion- and gasping for breath in the humidity. But he's not done yet! Another fly ball, another tag up and sprint and slide- this time for third base. All his work for nothing, as the bats behind him leave him stranded on 3B at the end of the inning- but he ran enough to have scored 2 or 3 times over. And I'm pretty sure by the end of it almost every square inch of his uni was covered in dirt (and torn in at least one place).

That exhausted me just typing it. How about some video to relive the ordeal?

My second Baseball Boyfriend of the Day is Chase Utley- who made his second and final rehab appearance up the road in Reading for the R-Phils. He made a Web Gems-worthy diving catch in the OF (which looked for a moment like it caused him to fall weirdly on that injured wrist... before he hopped up from the ground). He's scheduled to be back in the lineup for the big boy Phillies on Monday... hooray!