Clearwater, FL, March 5 — As in life, so in baseball. There are myriad decisions to be made by a fan attending Spring Training, and this Yankee fan may have selected wisely Wednesday. We could have chosen to rise early and make the 90-minute-plus trip to Orlando to watch the Yankees/Braves. But there’s something about fleeing the frigid Northeast to fly to a peninsular state surrounded by shimmering water and bathed in dazzling sun, and then driving inland. Simply, we chose not to.

So while the Yankees were falling 3-2 in a listless effort west of here, we slept in a bit and headed over to George M. Steinbrenner Field to catch some drills by the Yankee players who did not make the trip. Before zipping off to Clearwater for the Team Canada/Phillies game, we watched some fielding practice and also managed to see Hideki Matsui doing his baserunning drills.

A 25-minute drive later, we scalped third row tickets behind the Phillies dugout only to find that the Clearwater contest presented a pure rooting choice: the reds vs. the reds. Both teams wore red tops with light bottoms. And, of course, the fanbase of the 2008 World Champs dominating the stands were wearing a preponderance of red Phillies caps. Had we forgotten our sunblock, we would have promptly blended in.

The Canadian team, whom we’ll be seeing again in Tampa tomorrow, has some talent, with a lineup dotted with the likes of Justin Morneau, Joey Votto, Jason Bay, Mark Teahen, and Matt Stairs (whom Phillie fans showered with cheers each time he came up, understandably, after a big home run in their 2008 postseason run). Also of note was the long-injured former Twins third baseman Corey Koskie, who looked fully healed if a little rusty, and a diminutive second baseman and a walking demonstration of what could happen if players were named on·o·mato·po·et·i·cal·ly, Stubby Clapp. This is a baseball name I have loved when I have seen it in transaction reports for years, but I had despaired of ever seeing him play. Stubby, who has played just eight major-league games since being a 36-round pick in 1996, plays just like he sounds. At 5’8″, he scrapped for an infield hit in the fifth, moved to second on a walk, and blew by third and scored on a single for the first Canada run.

This was much too little much too late, as the Phils blasted the visitors 9-2, and had a 6-0 lead when Clapp tallied in the fifth.The Canadian lineup is competitive, but they’ll succeed in the WBC only if they pitch better than today. With no time to build arm strength, righthander Vince Perkins returned to the mound to start the third after two scoreless frames, but he was promptly hammered for four runs, three on a bases-loaded double by new Phillie (and ex-AL outfielder) Raul Ibanez. One-time Yankee Miguel Cairo, trying to land a Phillies job, was up to his old tricks, reaching twice without a hit, and he scored one of the runs on the Ibanez hit.

Also of interest playing for the home team was a tall strapping outfielder I’d never seen play who was DH’ing in the seventh spot of the impressive Phillies order. He doesn’t play first, like his Dad; he swings from the right side, unlike his father; but John Mayberry, Jr., hits the ball a long way like Mr. Mayberry, Senior. Junior belted a two-run, fourth-inning bomb to left that cleared the wall, the bullpens, and a walkway beyond. Dad went yard eight times playing 69 games to finish a successful career with the 1982 Yankees, but most of his 255 fence clearers came with Kansas City and Toronto.

Not a bad day, and the temperature neared 70 today on a determined climb. We saw some Yanks train, saw a ballgame, and finished with a fine swordfish/lobster meal on the Gulf. And I finally got to see “Stubby” Clapp play on this, the 25th anniversary of the day “Pee Wee” Reese was named to the Hall of Fame.

YANKEE BASEBALL!!!