Nearly unwatchable due to Joe Morgan and Jon Miller's ego-driven dribble, ESPN's weekly airing of Sunday Night Baseball will now include former Mets GM, and fan favorite Steve Phillips.

According to this site, Phillips said in a statement,"It's a tremendous honor to join Sunday Night Baseball, the preeminent MLB game of the week. Jon and Joe have set the standard for baseball telecasts over the last 19 years, and I look forward to being a member of their team."

Set the standard? Wow. Hall Of Famer Peter Gammons will be in the studio at least, phew. His debut comes on the Braves-Phillies opener. Even more of a reason not to watch.

The guys at Baseball-Fever have new, depressing pics of the demolition of Shea Stadium. If you're a masochist like myself, it's definitely worth a look

According to the Atlanta Journal Constitution, Derek Lowe has agreed to a four-year, $60 million deal with the Atlanta Braves.

I fully expect boos to rain down on him every time he takes the mound at Citi Field next year, as was the case when Carlos Delgado chose the Marlins over the Mets. However, if Omar & Co. don't get at least Ben Sheets or Oliver Perez, I hope they get booed even louder for letting these three slip through their butter-fingers.

The deal the Braves gave Lowe is more generous than I would be willing to go as well, but the Mets better have a contingency plan in place for this very situation, which honestly, didn't surprise me all that much. I just wonder what the Mets will now have to offer Ollie and if the difference between their offer to Lowe will have been worth letting him go to the Braves.

Tomorrow, the official announcement of the National Baseball Hall of Fame's 2009 election results will air on MLB Network and online at MLB.com starting at 1:30 p.m. EST.

The perennial controversy over Jim Rice being elected on his last chance will be interesting, but I want to take this chance to revisit some of the excellent quotes from tomorrow's Hall shoe-in and former Met, Rickey Henderson.

“I like playing for Oakland, they have a very colorful uniform”

“Listen, people are always saying, ‘Rickey says Rickey.’ But it’s been blown way out of proportion. People might catch me, when they know I’m ticked off, saying, ‘Rickey, what the heck are you doing, Rickey?’ They say, ‘Darn, Rickey, what are you saying Rickey for? Why don’t you just say, ‘I?’ But I never did. I always said, ‘Rickey,’ and it became something for people to joke about.”

In 1996, Henderson’s first season with San Diego, he boarded the team bus and was looking for a seat. Steve Finley said, “You have tenure, sit wherever you want.” Henderson looked at Finley and said, “Ten years? Ricky’s been playing at least 16, 17 years.”

“Lou Brock was a great base stealer but today I am the greatest.”

He called San Diego GM Kevin Towers and left the following message: “This is Rickey calling on behalf of Rickey. Rickey wants to play baseball.”

“I think playing cards gave me the opportunity to relax in the game.”

Rickey struck out and as the next batter was walking past him, he heard Henderson say, “Don’t worry, Rickey, you’re still the best.”

“Do I talk to myself? No, I just remind myself of what I’m trying to do. You know, I never answer myself so how can I be talking to myself?”

When asked if he had the Garth Brooks album with Friends in Low Places, he said, “Rickey doesn’t have albums. Rickey has CDs.”

During a contract holdout with Oakland in the early 1990s, Henderson said, “If they want to pay me like Mike Gallego, I’ll play like Gallego.”

A reporter asked Henderson if Ken Caminiti’s estimate that 50 percent of Major League players were taking steroids was accurate. His response was, “Well, Rickey’s not one of them, so that’s 49 percent right there.”

PS Omar, sign Lowe already! We don't need him in a Braves uniform with a chip on his shoulder toward the Mets 5 times next year.