Phillies Christmas 2015: Naughty or Nice?

While the 2015 Philadelphia Phillies team saw a bunch of players make Santa’s “Naughty” list, some actually made his “Nice” list for Christmas.

When a team finishes with the worst overall record in Major League Baseball, it’s easy to see why so many will be receiving a lump of coal in their Christmas stockings from the right jolly old elf this year.

But for a handful of the team’s players, enough positives were provided, enough thrills given to the loyal fans who stayed with the team through a third successive dismal campaign, that they earned their Christmas gifts.

Not every player made it to either list. In fact, most of the players had performances or roles that were so inconsequential that they will be receiving neither coal nor great presents. Maybe the man in the red suit will leave them a little something as a future incentive.

So who specifically found themselves relegated to this year’s “Naughty” list, and who made that “Nice” list? 

Well, I just happen to have contacts at the North Pole who provided this year’s list, faxing it down to me this afternoon.

I promised that I would not reveal the entire list. But I was given permission to reveal the status of a half-dozen key members of the 2015 Philadelphia Phillies ball club. 

So here are those six members of the team, and on which list their name appears.

NEXT: Phillies Santa List: Naughty or Nice?

Our Last Christmas Together

USS Russell at Pearl Harbor, Christmas 2007

For many of us there will be much to celebrate this Christmas. Family, friends, parties, dinners. Gifts, food, drink, music. Trees, Santa Clause, Rudolph, Frosty. And of course, the celebration of the birth of the Christ child. For many of us this will be a very happy time of year.

But for some of us, this will be our first Christmas without a very special person in our lives. In fact, there are a probably a few of us, and one day this will be all of us, for whom this will be our own final Christmas. Even more tragically for some, even at this late date, last year will prove to have been our final Christmas.

Today is December 7th, and it marks the 68th anniversary of the Pearl Harbor attacks which drew America directly into World War II. For many around the world at that time, it had already been a time of loss, and for many more it was a time of concern for loved ones fighting in the war.

For Americans waking up and heading out to church on that fateful Sunday morning it was a time of growing concern. And yet to that point, we were not directly involved in the fighting that was happening in Europe. Most were still looking forward to the coming of Christmas in a few weeks. For some, it would mark the return home, even if just briefly, of their family members and friends serving on the naval base at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii.

What many of those brave soldiers, sailors, airmen, medical and other personnel stationed at Pearl did not know was that they were waking up to their final moments in this life. They had already celebrated their final Christmas here on earth, and not a single one of them realized it at that point.

Santa, Frosty, and Rudolph

Tonight is one of the most holy nights of the year. As we move from today's Christmas Eve preparations into tomorrow's Christmas Day celebrations, we will be rejoicing in the moment of the birth of our Lord, Jesus Christ.

Over two millennia ago in a small room in the little town of Bethlehem, Mary and Joseph brought their child, our Saviour, into the world. Over the next three decades or so his life would change all of ours.

So it is not only appropriate, but it should also be obligatory, that we keep those circumstances and that meaning as first and foremost in our hearts and minds these next couple of days.

But the celebration of the Christmas holiday has grown into much more over the years, decades, and centuries. So much is incorporated into our holiday celebrations now: Christmas trees, wreaths, candles, cards, gifts, drinks. Characters such as Santa Clause, Frosty the Snowman, and Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer have grown into beloved symbols of the Christmas season.

It is just as important for Christians to know and accept that we have nothing to fear from these as it is for secularists to understand that Jesus Christ is the true 'reason for the season.' Every reasonable Christian understands that it is not likely that the baby Jesus was actually born on December 25th, and that in fact he almost certainly was not.

Twelve Days of Christmas

The 'Twelve Days of Christmas' is actually that time between Christmas Day and the Epiphany, the period after the holiday itself.

So this is more appropriately your warning of the 'Twelve Days 'Til Christmas'.

This is your fair warning folks. Beginning tomorrow there will be just twelve more days until Christmas.

If you haven't yet decorated, put up your tree, done some shopping, mailed out those cards and gifts then now is the time.

There is not much more to this posting other than its functioning as that warning to you. Also the fact that today has been real busy for me, so I don't have much more time to devote.

It's Friday, so TGIF and get up, out, and get things done this weekend. The time to procrastinate is over. It is the time of doing. It will be fun.

All the stores and malls and shops, and many streets and homes, are fully decorated, playing Christmas music, crowds hectically maneuvering around one another.

Don't think of it as work, Santa. It is supposed to be the most wonderful time of the year. So get out and enjoy yourself this weekend, but make productive use of your time. Merry Christmas to all.

Santa Beats the Recession

So the American economy has been in a recession since late last year? Now there is a shocker to most people in the country. One thing that we can at least be thankful for this year is that gas prices have dropped by more than half in most areas since their summer peak, just in time for the winter heating season.

So your retirement fund has taken a hit, you are thinking more about running up credit card debt, and you really would like to cut back a bit on your holiday spending. What can you do that will still enable you to feel more like Santa Clause than Ebeneezer Scrooge this Christmas? Plenty.

The first thing that you can do is what might seem like an easy place to cut back, but in fact you should not, and perhaps you should consider expanding. That would be your Christmas card list.

The fact is that Christmas cards have become extremely affordable if you just shop around. You can go lavish and spend $20 or more for a box of 18 cards. But why do that when you can also find nice ones of twice that number for half the price?

You can hand them out at work and school, and even to most of your family members and neighbors. But make sure that you mail a bunch out to those who live far away. A Christmas card is your opportunity, perhaps the only such opportunity that you will have during a year, to let people know that they matter to you.