Now pinch-hitting for the Phillies....

Here’s a little Phillies hot stove trivia for a cold December morning, along with a more serious question for NHL fans.

What do you think the over-under is on the number of times Charlie Manuel uses newly acquired pitcher Dontrelle Willis as a pinch-hitter?

I’ll go with 5. Feel free to post your own number.

On a more serious note, is anyone else worried about what is going on in the National Hockey Leauge?

The Flyers two best players, defenseman Chris Pronger, and budding superstar Claude Giroux, the NHL’s top point-getter, are both now sidelined with concussion symptoms.

This comes at the same time that reigning “best player in the world” Sidney Crosby has once again been forced off the ice by recurring concussion symptoms.

And isn’t ironic that all this comes at a time when none other than Eric Lindros, whose star-crossed Flyers career was short-circuited by concussion issues, is coming back to Philly for the first time as part of the Winter Classic extravaganza.

Lindros knows better than anyone the dangers that accompany this increasingly brutal game.

It’s time the league take a long, hard look at what is leading to this sudden spike in problems.

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