[Phantom9in]

January 1, 2007

Ring, Ring, Ring I awoke at 6:45am to a ringing phone. "Who the hell is calling me at this hour on New Years Day? Someone better be dead or in jail," I thought to myself.
Ring, Ring, Ring "Hello," I said as I answered the phone groggily.
"Good morning, is this Mr. Philipp?," the voice on the other end said.
"Yes it is, who the hell is this?," I replied.
"This is Fred Wilpon, CEO of the New York Mets. How are you this morning?," he said.
"Well Mr. Wilpon, I'm kinda hung over this morning, seeing as how it is New Years Day and I was out with friends last night. Anyway, what is the CEO of the Mets doing calling me?," I asked.
"Well, we fired Omar this morning, just wasn't working out the way we wanted it to, and we got your name from our new hitting coach, maybe you know him?," he said.
"Last I heard, I didn't know anyone on your staff personally."
"Well, he knows you, after all, you are family. Does the name Mickey Hatcher ring a bell?"
"Your kidding right? Mickey, my cousin, remembers me? I haven't talked to him in 4 or 5 years. But that still doesn't answer my question of why you are calling me"
"I guess it is a little too early for you today to put two-and-two together, so I'll just come out and tell you. We have decided that we want to offer you the GM position for the New York Mets. What do you say?"
Holy crap, this is a dream come true, but I can't let him know this, "Hmmm...I'll have to think about it....O.K., I'll take the job, but on one condition."
"Ohhhh," he replied sarcastically," you want one condition now. O.K. big guy, let's hear it"
"I get total control of the team. meaning I decide what people to keep, trade away, trade for, sign, etc."
"That's doable," he said, " as long as we stay within budget. Meet me at the park at noon today for the press conference. And welcome aboard"
"Thanks, see you at noon."