GOODYEAR, Ariz. — Brandon Phillips pulled on a pair of baseball pants, yanked up the zipper and began to button the top when he suddenly stopped.
"Dang," he said. "I've got the wrong pants on." He had on his road grays when the Cincinnati Reds were about to play a home game against the San Diego Padres.
He should have been putting on his home white pants, but he smiled and said, "I guess I'm just too excited."
His excitement emanated from the fact he was going to be on the same baseball field, wearing the same uniform, as his brother, P.J. Phillips.
And that has never happened before in the Phillips family.
P.J. was drafted in the second round of the 2005 draft by the Anaheim Angels, but never advanced beyond Class A. The Reds signed him this winter and he is currently on the team's Class AAA Louisville roster.
For most spring exhibition games the Reds invite a couple of players from the minor league camp to dress for a major league exhibition game, permit them to absorb the atmosphere and rub spikes with established players.
On Wednesday, it was P.J. Phillips — and manager Dusty Baker didn't know that P.J. and Brandon are brothers.
"Really? Brandon probably wants to play longer in this game so he can be on the field with his brother, right?" said Baker. When told that's exactly what Brandon said, Baker smiled and said, "I'll try to do just that."
Phillips quickly pulled off his gray pants and grabbed his home whites as he said, "I'm really looking forward to this. It is going to be very interesting to see him out there in a Reds uniform. Even though it's spring training, what a great feeling it will be to be on the same field with your brother."
Brandon is five years older than P.J., so they never played on the same team, not even in high school in Stone Mountain, Ga.
"We've never been on the same field," said Brandon. "The closest we've been to playing together was when he created himself in a video game, that's it."
Phillips was in the starting lineup, which meant he would play no more than five innings, at which time the shock troops, like the minor-leaguers, take over.
"I'm going to see what I can do about staying in there," said Brandon. "But, regardless, I'm staying for the whole game to watch. It is going to be fun. I was thinking about it all of yesterday (Tuesday) when I talked to him.
"I asked him, ‘You ready for tomorrow?' And he said, ‘C'mon, man.' So I said, ‘OK, I'll leave you alone — for now.' I'll just be happy inside."
Hall of Fame shortstop Barry Larkin knows the feeling, only it was in a real game. The Reds once called up his brother, Stephen Larkin, to play first base in one game. Also in that game were the Boone brothers — Aaron Boone at third base, Barry Larkin at shortstop, Bret Boone at second base, Stephen Larkin at first base.
Stephen was 1 for 3 in that game, his only major-league game, and finished with a .333 career average, 38 points higher than his Hall of Fame brother's .295.
Athleticism runs in the Phillips family. Brandon's sister, Porsha, plays for the San Antonio Silver Stars in the WNBA, a third-round draft pick last year out of the University of Georgia. And she spent the off-season playing in Israel.
"She loved it," said Phillips. "It was a great experience for her, the first time she ever played basketball all year round."
Phillips is on the final year of his contract that pays him $12 million for this season and wants to sign a long-term contract extension, but it hasn't happened.
In fact, his agent was in town this week to talk with the Reds, but Phillips said nothing has transpired.
"My agent isn't here anymore," said Phillips. "I told my agent to tell me something when I need to know something."
So Phillips has put himself on the need-to-know basis and there is nothing he needs to know right now. In other words, no resolution.
"I don't worry about things I can't control and he (his agent) hasn't told me anything," Phillips said. "All I want to do is go out there and play and try to win for the team. I need to go out there with a clear head and try to bring a championship to the Queen City. That's basically it."
