Lee, Ruiz Among 2009 NL Champion Phillies Not Scheduled to Appear at 10th Anniversary Celebration

By Matt Rappa, Sports Talk Philly editor

When the Philadelphia Phillies hold a special 10-year anniversary celebration of the 2009 National League championship team this Sunday, one of the most important players that led the team to success will not be in attendance, Cliff Lee, along with his battery-mate, Carlos Ruiz.

The Phillies announced on Monday the following players, manager and coaches from the team scheduled to appear at the ceremony (subject to change):

Manager & Coaches:

• Charlie Manuel
• Mick Billmeyer
• Rich Dubee
• Pete Mackanin
• Sam Perlozzo
• Milt Thompson

Players:

• Paul Bako
• Joe Blanton
• Eric Bruntlett
• Clay Condrey
• Greg Dobbs
• Chad Durbin
• Scott Eyre
• Pedro Feliz
• Ben Francisco
• Ryan Howard
• Raúl Ibañez
• Kyle Kendrick
• Brad Lidge
• Pedro Martínez (Hall of Famer)
• John Mayberry Jr.
• Jamie Moyer
• Brett Myers
• Jimmy Rollins
• Matt Stairs
• Jack Taschner
• Chase Utley
• Shane Victorino
• Tyler Walker
• Jayson Werth

Players in addition to Lee and Ruiz not scheduled to appear include: Antonio Bastardo, Miguel Cairo, Drew Carpenter, Chris Coste, Sergio Escalona, Cole Hamels, J.A. Happ, Paul Hoover, Rodrigo Lopez, Ryan Madson, Lou Marson, Chan Ho Park, Steven Register, J.C. Romero and Andy Tracy.

Since his final pitches in Major League Baseball in 2014, Lee has lived a mostly private life; he earned $25 million in 2015 and $12.5 million in 2016 from the Phillies, despite not appearing in a single game.

In 118 total regular season starts with the Phillies in 2009 and 2011-14, the Benton, Arkansas, native went 48-34 with a 2.94 ERA and 1.089 WHIP. Additionally, Lee went a perfect 4-0 in five postseason starts with the 2009 Phillies, but two years later he struggled in his only NLDS appearance opposite the eventual champion St. Louis Cardinals, allowing five runs on 12 hits and two walks through six innings.

Ruiz, a 2012 NL All-Star, attended the 2008 Phillies reunion last summer. It is not clear why he cannot attend the 2009 team reunion this weekend. Lee finished as a four-time All-Star and one-time Cy Young Award winner.

Starting at noon on Sunday, fans are invited to watch members of the team partake in a live pregame NBC Sports Philadelphia broadcast from Ashburn Alley, which will also be shown on PhanaVision.

The ceremony will commence at 12:30, highlighted with an on-field introduction of the 2009 team.