Lou Capozzoli, 86, of Southwest Philly, a dive bar owner and band front man with a penchant for telling jokes, died Sunday, Feb. 1, after battling a brief illness at Mercy Fitzgerald Hospital while surrounded by family.
Mr. Capozzoli, born April, 4, 1939, was just one year younger than the bar he would eventually take over at the intersection of East Passyunk Avenue and Federal Street, then called Ray’s after the nickname bestowed on his father, Anthony.
Almost immediately, the bar became the center of Mr. Capozzoli’s life. He grew up in the apartment upstairs and as a toddler would sit quietly on the bar downstairs, eating cornflakes, while his mom poured beers. His dad, meanwhile, would wish every customer a happy birthday, even if it wasn’t theirs to celebrate.
It was a gesture that stuck with Mr. Capozzoli, who would go on to spend the rest of his life doing whatever he could to earn smiles from strangers, whether it meant serving birthday shots of cake-flavored vodka with a candle or performing to crowds as a singer and saxophonist across Las Vegas, the Jersey Shore, and South Philly.
Mr. Capozzoli with a drawing of his father, Anthony “Ray” Capozzoli, who opened Ray’s Happy Birthday Bar in South Philadelphia in 1938. Mr. Capozzoli took over the bar when his father died in 1997.
“That’s all he wanted, for his father to be proud of him,” said Rose Capozzoli,Mr. Capozzoli’s wife.
As a boss, Mr. Capozzoli was “pretty silly,” said bartender T.C. Cole, who also played guitar in Mr. Capozzoli’s band. “He would call you at 1:45 in the morning when you’re trying to close just to tell you a joke.”
The inside of Ray’s Happy Birthday Bar. Mr. Capozzoli was known for calling regulars on the mornings of their birthdays.
If jokes were a currency, Mr. Capozzoli was a billionaire, friends and family said. He’d fire them off incessantly — during closing shifts, band performances, family dinners — and had enough discretion to whisper the most risqué in your ear. Mr. Capozzoli’s style was modeled after that of Buddy Hackett and Rodney Dangerfield, his favorite comedians, but the punch lines didn’t matter as much his delivery.
Mr. Capozzoli “would laugh with the person he was telling the joke to,” his son Anthony Capozzoli, 55, said. “If you weren’t laughing with the punch line, you were laughing at how much he enjoyed getting to it.”
More recently, Anthony said, his father would call him just to workshop material, most of which isn’t fit to print. Mr. Capozzoli’s favorite jokes were set to music in 2023 for a five minute-long comedy track as part of a studio EP for the Rage Band, the seven-piece group that Mr. Cappozoli sang with for 41 years alongside a rotating cast of characters.
Low Cut Connie front man Adam Weiner recorded the EP. He and Mr. Capozzoli grew close after Weiner played a gig at Ray’s in 2012, bonding over their shared love of captivating a crowd.
“Not everyone is about joy when they perform … People care about their ego, people care about fashion,” Weiner said. “But Lou was always about fun, just radiating 100% joy.”
Mr. Capozzoli started performing professionally when he was 14, sneaking into clubs to accompany bands on the alto sax. The stage was a calling that helped him fall in love. It also took him to the edge of celebrity.
After serving in the military in the early 1960s and playing for Sophia Loren as part of an army band, Mr. Capozzoli told jokes and sang standards at the Stardust and Flamingo casinos in Las Vegas. At the peak of his fame, he opened for Diana Ross at the Riptide Club in Wildwood in 1965. That same year Mr. Capozzoli met his wife, Rose, who was charmed by his talents at another Wildwood concert. They wed three years later.
Mr. Capozzoli bonded with Low Cut Connie’s Adam Weiner over their shared love of performing.
Mr. Capozzoli’s steadiest gig began in 1984 with the Rage Band, once the house act for Sea Isle City’s now-shuttered Springfield Inn. There, Mr. Capozzoli settled into his larger-than-life style, commanding a crowd of roughly 1,000 people a night on summer weekends. He’d serenade Burt and Ernie puppets for a medley of Sesame Street songs and show tunes, or don outlandish masks for a Mummers tribute.Both brought down the house, but never as much as when Mr. Capozzoli would cover “Those Were The Days” or ”Sweet Caroline,” which were always punctuated with jokes.
“I call him the showman’s showman,” said Brian Saunders, one of band’s saxophonists. Tony DiMattia, a bassist for the band, concurred: “He didn’t just entertain the crowd. He entertained us as musicians.”
The Rage Band stopped their Sea Isle residency in 1999, only to pick up at new one at Ray’s in 2003, where they have performed on the first Saturday of every month from October through April ever since. The band never rehearsed, DiMattia said. Mr. Capozzoli’s stage presence could smooth over just about any kink.
Mr. Capozzoli played in The Rage Band for 42 years, performing for packed houses at the Springfield Inn in Sea Isle City and Ray’s Happy Birthday Bar.
“There is no Rage Band without Lou,” Saunders said. “He was the glue that kept us together.”
Outside of music, Mr. Capozzoli’s greatest loves were his wife and children. He was a dedicated father who enjoyed cooking large French toast breakfasts, organizing tee ball games, and ensuring the family always had a rescue dog to snuggle. Laughter — and his wife’s minding — kept Mr. Capozzoli going, even as the decades of working in a smoking bar wore on him.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen Lou angry,” said Saunders. “I don’t think he’d ever not had a smile on his face.”
Mr. Capozzoli was an accomplished saxophonist who started playing professionally when he was 14 years old.
In addition to his wife, Rose, and son, Anthony, Mr. Capozzoli is survived by his daughters, Dyan Wixted and Luann Capozzoli, and three grandchildren: Louis, Daniel, and Delaney.
Visitation with the family will be held from 6 to 9 p.m. Feb. 6, and from 9:30 to 11 a.m. Feb. 7 at Pennsylvania Burial Company, 1327-31 S. Broad St., Philadelphia, Pa., 19147. Services will follow Saturday at 11 a.m.
A man died Thursday morning in a fire inside a North Philadelphia home.
The fire started around 5:15 a.m. on the 2500 block of North 12th Street, where crews found heavy smoke and fire coming from the two-story rowhouse, according to the Philadelphia Fire Department. Firefighters witnessed fire coming from the second floor, where they found a person dead inside the home.
Philadelphia fire department personnel at scene of fatal fire 2500 block N. 12th Street, early Thursday, Feb. 5, 2026.
Firefighters placed the fire under control by 5:45 a.m. The cause of the fire remained under investigation.
The Thursday morning blaze followed a fatal house fire in Kingsessing on Wednesday morning, which the fire marshal’s office determined was intentionally set, and another fatal fire in early January that claimed the life of a woman in the Ogontz section.
The Democratic primary to replace N.J. Gov. Mikie Sherrill in Congress remains too close to call as of Friday afternoon, but the early results already signal a major breakthrough for progressives in the state.
Analilia Mejia, a progressive who’s worked for U.S.Sen. Bernie Sanders and the Working Families Party, led former U.S. Rep. Tom Malinowski byless than 1 percentage point, with more than 91% of votes tabulatedin the crowded primary.
Some outlets, including Decision Desk, called the race for Malinowski, who dominated mail ballots, Thursday night before issuing retractions as Mejia gained ground. The Democratic National Committee had even issued a premature congratulations to the former House member before Mejia took the lead.
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Sherrill represented North Jersey’s 11th CongressionalDistrict, which includes parts of Essex, Morris, and Passaic Counties, and stepped down after being elected governor. A field of 13 Democrats competedin the special election for the open seat from various factions of the Democratic Party.
Only two broke through as serious contenders, and they represent two sides of the New Jersey Democratic Party: the establishment and progressives.
Democrats were so invested in the race, turnout exceeded the 2024 primary for the seat, which signals the high level of motivation for Democratic voters going into this year’s midterms.
Sherrill stayed neutral in the race
Analilia Mejia, center, speaks during a rally calling for SCOTUS ethics reform, May 2, 2023, in Washington.
Analilia Mejia is supported by national progressives like AOC
Mejia, 48, is the daughter of Colombian and Dominican immigrants. She has called to “abolish ICE” and spoke in both English and Spanish at a news conference Friday.
The progressive candidate has most recently worked as the co-executive director of Popular Democracy, a network of organizations across the country that call for “transformational change for Black, brown and low-income communities,” according to its website. She worked as the national political director for Sanders’ 2020 presidential campaign, the state director of the New Jersey Working Families Party, and as a union organizer before launching her bid for the seat.
Mejia was endorsed by national progressives, including Sanders (I., Vt.), U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D., N.Y.) and U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D., Mass.). She also had the backing of Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, whose progressive campaign landed him in second place behind Sherrill in the six-way gubernatorial primary last year.
Mejia leaned into her underdog status Thursday night when addressing supporters, noting the race had been called for her opponent before she took the lead.
“Here’s the bottom line,” she said. “We know that our movement, this party, this moment, calls on every one of us to be big and bold and brave. And that is what we are about.”
She later declared: “I think we’ll listen to some Bad Bunny!”
Democratic Rep. Tom Malinowski, center right, arrives during his election night party in Garwood, N.J., Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2022.
Tom Malinowski was backed by the local party apparatus
Malinowski, 60, started as a freshman House Democrat alongside Sherrill in 2019 before losing his seat to Republican U.S. Rep. Thomas Kean Jr. in the 2022 election afterhe faced pushback for undisclosed stock trading and his area was redistricted to be less favorable to Democrats.
His former district is right next to the 11th District and encompasses parts of Union, Somerset, Morris, and Sussex Counties, and all of Hunterdon and Warren Counties.
He recently chaired the Hunterdon County Democratic Committee and previously worked as former President Barack Obama’s assistant secretary of state for democracy and human rights.
The Essex and Passaic County parties backed other candidates who were far behind Malinowski and Mejia.
DNC Chair Ken Martin said in the premature Thursday night statement that Malinowski has “the experience to serve New Jersey once again.”
AIPAC’s involvement in the race backfired
Malinowski faced attacks from a super PAC funded by American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), a pro-Israel national lobbying group, even though the group supported him in the past, The New York Times and other outlets reported.
Those attacks likely pulled support away from Malinowski, who is far less critical of Israel than Mejia.
Mejia called AIPAC’s tactics against Malinowski “disgusting” in a news conference on Friday and said it underscores her broader concerns about money in politics.
“Big money can actually silence voters … In many ways, I’m glad that NJ-11 voters got to see the terrible tactics so that we could reject it in the future,” she said.
The district, which used to be Republican, is now viewed as safely blue
Sherrill flipped the 11th congressional district blue as a first-time candidate in 2018, defeating Republican Assemblymember Jay Webber after the GOP incumbent retired. The incumbent, former U.S. Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen had held the seat since 1995. The district went from leaning Republican to leaning Democratic when its lines were redrawn in 2022.
Sherrill won her last general election race for her House seat with 56.5% of the vote in 2024.
The nonpartisan Cook Political Report rates the district as solidly Democratic. Former Vice President Kamala Harris won the district decisively by nearly 9 points in 2024, but it still swung to the right from Biden’s 2020 victory in the district by almost 17 points, according to Cook data.
Joe Hathaway, the former mayor of Randolph in Morris County, was unopposed in the Republican primary.
Hathaway, 38, said in a video on social media Thursday that the election brings an opportunity for “a new generation of leadership …one focused more on the hard work than the headlines.”
He is a former aide to former Republican Gov. Christopher J. Christie and has worked in various roles in the private sector, and has branded himself as a “workhorse” throughout his campaign.
Hathaway and the winner of the Democratic primary will face off on Thursday, April 16, less than two months before the regular primary election on June 2 for the midterms.
When will the race be called, and will there be a recount?
It’s unclear when the race will be called by The Associated Press (which The Inquirer relies on for election results), but it may not be this week.
Mail ballots that were postmarked by Election Day on Thursday and received by the county Board of Election by next Wednesday can be counted in New Jersey.
Provisional ballots in the state cannot be officially counted until after the eligible mail ballots are received to ensure the voter has not voted by mail. These ballots are used in specific situations, such as when a person registered to vote moves within the county without updating their address.
Voters also have until the following Tuesday, Feb. 17, to cure a ballot flagged by election officials. This happens when there is a potential issue with a voter’s signature, which can happen when someone forgets to sign their ballot or whose signature has changed over time. The voter then has to verify their identity for their ballot to be counted.
As for a recount, New Jersey doesn’t have an automatic recount system, so a candidate would have to request one and cover the expenses. The candidate would receive a refund if the result changed.
The Flyers nearly headed into the Olympic break with a whimper after they managed just 13 shots through three periods.
After what looked like a lifeless effort for much of the first two periods, the Flyers stormed back late to tie the game with their net empty. Jamie Drysdale scored in his second consecutive game, after scoring the game-winner on Tuesday.
But ultimately, Travis Konecny missed the net on another overtime breakaway, and Ottawa’s Tim Stützle came back to deliver the win for the Senators. Dan Vladař made 25 saves in the loss.
“We had the two-on-one, last game against [the Los Angeles Kings], we hit the post,” Tocchet said. “We had another two-on-one, and we missed. They get it. It’s execution, Stützle goes around and scores. It’s hard to work on that stuff. We’re getting some chances.”
Former Flyer Nick Cousins scored the first goal of the game just over halfway through the second period. Ottawa’s Shane Pinto took the first shot on Vladař, who made the save, but the puck bounced off his pad right toward Cousins, who scored in an empty net to take the 1-0 lead.
The Flyers got their best offensive possession of the game late into the second — with a little assist from Senators’ center Dylan Cozens’ skate blade, which fell off on a blocked shot, making it basically a power play.
The Flyers took eight shots on goal and missed 15 shots through two periods. Against Senators goaltender James Reimer, who entered Thursday’s game with an .862 save percentage in six appearances, the Flyers couldn’t generate enough traffic to take advantage of the weak matchup.
In the third period, Rick Tocchet put the Flyers’ lines in a blender, moving Trevor Zegras back to wing to play with Christian Dvorak and Konecny, moving Denver Barkey to center to play with Carl Grundstrom and Garnet Hathaway, and slotting Nikita Grebenkin with Sean Couturier and Owen Tippett.
Couturier drove to the net and got a one-on-one with the Ottawa goalie deep in the crease, but couldn’t get the puck past Reimer. His goal drought extended to 29 games.
“There was just a lack of support, puck support, a lot of one and dones,” Drysdale said. “They did a good job defending as well. We were able to break through at the end, but just too little too late.”
But struggling with offensive ineptitude for most of the game, the Flyers finally put it together on the 6-on-5, with Drysdale delivering on a low shot from the point, just like his game-winner on Tuesday.
Ultimately, though, the Flyers’ luck didn’t last for long. After Sanheim took down Brady Tkachuk to give the Flyers their first breakaway of overtime, Konecny could not deliver on the two-on-one, and Stützle beat Sanheim and Vladař for the win.
Breakaways
The Flyers’ two shots in the first period were tied for the fewest they’ve had in a period all season. The last time that happened was on Dec. 13 against Carolina … Drysdale scored in consecutive games for the first time since March 9 and 11, 2025, against Seattle and Ottawa … The Flyers played their third one-goal game against the Senators this season, after losing 2-1 on Oct. 23 and 3-2 in overtime on Nov. 8.
Up Next
The Flyers will break for three weeks for the Winter Olympics in Milan Cortina. The men’s hockey tournament will begin Feb. 11, with Rasmus Ristolainen and Finland taking on Slovakia (10:40 a.m. ET, USA Network).
The team returns to play on Feb. 25 against the Washington Capitals (7 p.m. ET, NBCSP).
Independence Hall, the Rocky statue, the Liberty Bell, and … a 2016 Honda Civic parked in Fishtown?
That odd appendage at the end of the list just became one of Philadelphia’s newest tourist attractions on Google Maps.
How does a silver two-door get minted a must-see site in the birthplace of America?
It gets completely covered in ice.
In photos of the car now seen around the world, a sheet of ice wrapping around the roof and hood of the car extends all the way down to the pavement. Paralyzed windshield wipers propped up perpendicular to the dashboard look like a pair of arms flailing frantically for help as the car suffers a frigid death. Passersby might easily mistake the sight for an ice sculpture of a car rather than a real one.
A screenshot of the frozen car in Fishtown on Google Maps.
The journey from plebeian commuter vehicle to local celebrity has been a source of both humor and headache for 24-year-old Tianna Graham, the car’s owner.
At first she wasn’t terribly worried about the situation.
“It’s fine. I’ll figure it out,” she remembered thinking.
Then the shock wore off.
“Now I’m like, ‘OK, what do I actually do now?’”
The saga starts at the intersection of North Front and East Allen Streets, under the El tracks, where Graham first parked her car on Jan. 23. She knew a major snowstorm was looming, so when she found an open spot near her apartment, she leaped at it.
When they returned, they found the spot still vacant, so Graham parked there again.
A car parked in Fishtown becomes completely encapsulated in ice.
On Wednesday, Graham, a fifth-grade math teacher at Community Academy of Philadelphia, noticed the street she had parked on was cordoned off with caution tape.
She asked a nearby police officer if she should move her car, she said, and he advised her to leave it there.
What happened next, Graham, the city, the people of Philadelphia, and frozen-car fanatics worldwide may never fully know.
On Thursday, the Philadelphia Water Department repaired a leak on a six-inch water main at North Front and East Allen Streets around 2:30 p.m., said department spokesperson Brian Rademaekers.
The department did not receive any reports of water gushing dramatically from the pipe, Rademaekers said. It is not clear if water from the pipe, from the highway overpass, or from another source led the car to become enveloped in ice.
But, when Graham returned from work last Thursday around 3:30 p.m. during what turned out to be a weeklong Arctic freeze and checked on her Honda, she saw it frozen absolutely solid.
A car parked in Fishtown becomes completely encapsulated in ice.
“I was freaking out a little bit,” Graham said. “I was just like, ‘I don’t even know where to start.’”
So she started where many Gen Zers start — on Instagram.
Graham posted the photo on her private Instagram story, asking friends what she should do.
Her first instinct was to try to break apart the ice. So she and her friend came at it with a small shovel and an ice pick but quickly found it a futile effort.
Graham was, however, able to pry open the passenger-side door and look inside.
“There was water everywhere,” she said. “The inside of my car is soaked. The floors are soaked. My seats were soaked. Everything is wet inside.”
On Friday, she was able to turn on the ignition, she said, but had no such luck when she tried again this week.
She filed a claim through her insurance company, Geico, which dispatched a tow truck Monday, she said. It is now awaiting inspection.
A car parked in Fishtown that got covered in ice gets towed.
“It’s really just overall inconvenient,” she said. “I understand that it’s like hilarious and everyone’s loved it, but nobody has been offering any kind of valid help at this point.
“I don’t really know where to go from here,” she said.
As Graham was dealing with the logistics of trying to save the car, the car itself was skyrocketing toward social media stardom.
Photos and videos of it began circulating online. Area residents began posting clips of themselves visiting the car, some even climbing on top of it.
When 23-year-old Abbigail Erbacher came up to Philly to visit her friend on Sunday, the frozen car was quickly added to the day’s itinerary.
The Egg Harbor Township, N.J., resident had seen the videos of the car on TikTok, identified the location with her friend based on landmarks around it, and headed to Fishtown.
“My first thought was, ‘Oh, my god, this is real.’ And then my next was, ‘I feel so bad for her,’” Erbacher said. “It had to have been encased in anywhere from an inch to two inches of ice.”
Her video starts with her screaming upon seeing the car and gently knocking on the frozen solid driver’s-side mirror. The overlaid text: “philadelphias newest monument.”
As of Wednesday the video had 22 million views.
Erbacher was surprised to see her clip become so widely viewed, but was not at all shocked to see the story itself gaining traction.
“I think our generation is so unserious,” she said. “These sort of things feel like the type of things that only happen to our generation.”
Between the political climate and the pandemic, Erbacher said, she and many others Gen Zers feel particularly prone to bad luck.
“I think we definitely feel a bit victimized,” she said. “And so when things reinforce that, we’re like, ‘OK, cool. That would only happen to us, so we just kind of got to go with it.’”
And Graham did, indeed, go with it. She started documenting the journey on TikTok herself late last week beginning with a simple video featuring the camera panning around the frozen car to the Rob49 song “WTHELLY.” That post got 8 million views.
and there she goes! yes it is totaled btw! if you feel inclined to help, go fund me in bio! no i’m not begging for money, but people have been asking how they can help and anything is appreciated to help w rental (which is not covered) and the difference to a new car! btw yes, the inside it soaked. yes, it did start but now will not (even after a jump)
On Monday, she posted two more videos: one of her girlfriend and friend gingerly cracking the ice off the car with hammers to the No Doubt song “Just a Girl,” which was viewed more than 27 million times, and another of the car getting towed away to the song “Vroom Vroom” by Charli XCX that was watched more than 12 million times.
“Bye ice car!” she wrote over the video of its immobilized tires cutting through hefty chunks of ice as the tow truck dragged it across the street.
My chatty Uber driver was born and raised in South Philly and so, as we threaded our way through the cozy rowhouse blocks east of South Broad Street, he reveled in reciting the personal histories behind every deli, seafood market, corner taproom, and red-gravy pasta joint we passed. But even he seemed to be momentarily flummoxed as we pulled up to Tesiny, on the 700 block of Dickinson Street.
A century-old corner brick building that for much of its life was an auto-repair shop had been completely transformed. Its garage doors were replaced with broad paned windows that glowed amber with the inviting tableau of a bustling restaurant inside. Diners clinked glasses of pink martinis. Chefs were illuminated by the flicker of a live-fire grill in the central open kitchen, where oysters were being shucked at the U-shaped counter, to be dispatched on icy plateaus to date-night duos across the room.
Large seafood plateau with shrimp cocktail, clams ceviche with peach and jalapeño, three types of oysters, scallop crudo with melon water, and bluefin tuna with corn vinaigrette. Sauces are cilantro tarragon aioli and rosé mignonette, at Tesiny.
The long bar near the entrance, deftly lit to illuminate its soigné design touches — the rich walnut wood accents, the purple-and-white tiled floor, the smooth curves of a backbar stocked with uncommon sherries — radiated a magnetic glamour.
“Let me know how it is!” he said, as I exited the Uber. I promised a full report.
In a dynamic old city constantly reinventing itself, we could do far worse than watching an industrial space be reborn as such a lovely restaurant. More specifically, you should be so fortunate to have Lauren Biederman be the one to do it.
The exterior of Tesiny on Wednesday, Jan. 21, 2026 in Philadelphia.The bar at Tesiny on Wednesday, Jan. 21, 2026 in Philadelphia.
Biederman, 30, is a bright talent who knows how to turn her quirky hunches into success. She’s best known as the area’s lox-and-caviar queen, after pursuing a “weird idea that popped into my head while driving” — that what Philly really needed was an old New York-style boutique market for hand-cut smoked salmon, fresh bialys, and brunch boards. In fact, we did. Five years after opening Biederman’s in the Italian Market, she’s now also serving caviar bumps from a kiosk beside the Four Seasons Hotel and about to open another Biederman’s near Rittenhouse Square, where Jewish prepared foods will be sold alongside the smoked fish.
But Biederman was a restaurant person before her retail success. The Vermont native worked at Oloroso, where she found her passion for wine, then got into bartending, working at Zahav and several Schulson Collective restaurants, including Osteria, where she met Devon Reyes-Brannan, 30, now her longtime boyfriend and partner at Tesiny. (The name, pronounced “TESS-iny,” is a reference to her late grandmother’s address in Connecticut. The two shared a love of seafood.)
Co-owners Lauren Biederman and Devon Reyes-Brannan at Tesiny on Wednesday, Jan. 21, 2026 in Philadelphia.
Biederman designed the room and nailed the elegantly sultry mood, with the dark brown ceiling and light floors keeping it cozy while the mellow soundtrack shifts throughout service from Sinatra to Sadé, then to hip-hop beats for the livelier later hours. Good spacing between tables keeps conversation possible.
There’s an admittedly amorphous, on-trend quality to Tesiny — the raw bar, craft cocktails, and a chef’s-counter grill turning out shareable plates that resist easy classification as appetizers or entrees — that could just have easily landed in a buzzier restaurant district like Fishtown or Rittenhouse Square. But there’s an extra pulse of intimacy in finding this polished 50-seat oasis in the heart of residential Dickinson Narrows, a hotly debated neighborhood within a neighborhood just east of East Passyunk. It’s upscale, averaging $80 per person for food and drinks, but already resonating as a destination, with up to 100 diners on busy nights.
The Iberico pork at Tesiny on Wednesday, Jan. 21, 2026 in Philadelphia.Chef Michael Valent works in the open kitchen at Tesiny on Wednesday, Jan. 21, 2026 in Philadelphia.
It succeeds on its posh vibes, but also the skill of its players to strike the right tone, from the well-informed (but never pushy) servers to chef Michael Valent, 36, with whom Biederman worked at Zahav. There’s nary a noodle on his menu — a rarity in this neighborhood.
Valent instead deftly draws on an array of multicultural influences without the food ever feeling overly contrived, largely due to the breadth of his experience, including time in Boston, New Orleans, and Philly (at the French-themed Good King Tavern, Superfolie, and Supérette). One moment you’re savoring a tuna crudo dusted with coconut and aji chile spice. The next you’re savoring a tender grilled Ibérico pork collar with silky pureed squash and smoky collards that recall Valent’s stint in New Orleans working for Donald Link at Cochon. Another favorite, a crispy-skinned branzino fillet over a Basque-style pipérade of Jimmy Nardello peppers, is an inviting jaunt to the Mediterranean.
The branzino at Tesiny on Wednesday, Jan. 21, 2026 in Philadelphia.
The raw bar is always a smart place to start. The trio of ever-rotating East Coast oysters, from Canadian Eel Lakes to Sunken Meadows from Massachusetts, comes with a classic mignonette that benefits from being composed à la minute every time, so the shallots retain their bite (rather than pickle) in the rosé vinegar and still-fragrant fresh-cracked peppercorns. The shrimp cocktail was notably tender and flavorful from a citrus-scented poach. And the crudos were also tasty, although I preferred the juicier early version of the scallop crudo, bathed in jalapeño-spiced honeydew-cucumber water, to the more sparely dressed current setup, with smoked olive oil and Korean chile flakes.
A starter of creamy crab salad laced with chorizo oil conveniently cradled in endive spears was solid, but also perhaps a bit boring in a passed-hors d’oeuvres kind of way. It reflected an occasional finger-food aesthetic here, a propensity to lend familiar favorites extra polish for elevated, no-fuss nibbling; that never, however, came with any culinary shortcuts.
The tidiness impulse is especially clear with Tesiny’s labor-intensive chicken lollipops. Drumsticks of Green Circle chicken are “Frenched” to offer a clean bone handle for the poultry mallets that are double-crisped in rice flour, like Korean fried chicken. Glazed in an orange hot sauce made with Fresno chilies and infused with seafood trim (shrimp shells and scallop “feet”), the lollipops are visually appealing. But for a dish that also wants to evoke Buffalo wings, the sauce’s subtle flavors aren’t quite punchy enough for the maximum impact.
The chicken lollipops at Tesiny are double-fried and glazed in a chile-tomato sauce that’s also infused with seafood trim.The broiled oysters at Tesiny on Wednesday, Jan. 21, 2026 in Philadelphia.
Restraint was not the issue with my favorite seafood starter here: a platter of charbroiled Indian Cove oysters that arrive in a pool of Calabrian chile butter, which requires at least one order of Mighty Bread sourdough to mop up from the shells. Whatever crusts are left over, you can swipe through the silky white bean purée that sits beneath the tender grilled octopus topped with harissa-spiced olives and fennel.
Valent’s winter green salad was also remarkably and unexpectedly delicious, its crunchy Little Gem and frisée greens dressed in a citrusy Champagne vinaigrette balanced by toasted almonds and the nutty Alpine richness of shaved Comté.
The bar at Tesiny on Wednesday, Jan. 21, 2026 in Philadelphia.
What to order from Tesiny’s gorgeous bar to accompany all this food? The well-crafted cocktails, many infused with fortified wines, are the most popular place to start. I especially enjoyed Not a Fender, a briny pink riff on a Gibson martini made with pickled red onions, olive oil-washed gin, and a splash of manzanilla sherry. And Tesiny’s thoughtful nonalcoholic offerings were so appealing that we ordered the blood orange-thyme fizz topped with creamsicle foam — and loved it — after spotting another couple order it across the chef’s counter.
The pink Gibson: Olive-oil washed vodka and gin, pickled red onion brine, manzanilla sherry.The Return of Saturn cocktail and Fizz mocktial at Tesiny on Wednesday, Jan. 21, 2026 in Philadelphia.
To pair with the handful of larger plates clustered at the bottom of the menu, it’s worth exploring the wines, an interest of both Biederman (who’s passed her Level 3 Wine and Spirits Education Trust exam) and Reyes-Brannan, a front-house veteran from Tria and Laser Wolf. Reyes-Brannan is partial to the food-friendly acidity of high-altitude wines from Europe, but he’s also been an enthusiastic ambassador for a Mexican version of nebbiolo from Casa Jipi. Lighter and juicier than Italian iterations, it’s a fine match for the juicy Wagyu culotte steak topped with cornmeal-fried oysters. It works equally well with the earthy grilled mushrooms that came dusted with chimichurri over a plate of warm polenta (recently updated to farro risotto).
The nebbiolo was also a good match for Tesiny’s single best bite: a 5-ounce burger special called the Lil’ Kahuna, made from the trim of bluefin tuna belly and Ibérico pork shoulder. It’s a remarkably meaty patty with a subtle shade of rich tuna on the finish that shows off Valent’s ability to experiment with something new. It’s limited to just eight or so per night, which means it’s worth coming early. The effort also bodes well as Tesiny prepares to grow its menu and take some chances with larger plates for two, perhaps as soon as this spring.
The Lil’ Kahuna burger from Tesiny, a blend of bluefin tuna and Ibérico pork.
Dessert for two here is already a thing. And you’ll likely be dueling spoons for the espresso-chocolate mousse that Valent serves like a sundae topped with a wave of whipped cream, caramel cocoa nibs, and real maraschino cherries. Order a raisiny sweet pour of Pedro Ximénez from the impressive list of fortified wines — another quirky passion of Biederman’s, rooted in her days of studying abroad in Mallorca and her time at Oloroso.
Is Philly ready for a renaissance of Bual Madeira and vintage Kopke Port? If Lauren Biederman has a hunch, I wouldn’t bet against her. Tesiny is more proof she has a vision worth paying attention to.
The Chocolate Coffee Mousse at Tesiny on Wednesday, Jan. 21, 2026 in Philadelphia.
At least 75% of the menu is gluten-free or can be modified.
Drinks: Creative and well-crafted takes on classic cocktails, frequently made with fortified wines, are the main draw. The wine program is deliberate in its focus on oyster-friendly Euro classics (Sardininian vermentino; muscadet), with an appealing collection of sparklers (try Red Tail Ridge from the Finger Lakes). Finish with a pour of vintage port or Madeira from one of the city’s better collections of fortified wines.
The logo on the door at Tesiny on Wednesday, Jan. 21, 2026 in Philadelphia.
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HARRISBURG — A long-simmering dispute over who owns digital copies of millions of Pennsylvania’s treasured historical records landed before a state appellate court this week.
The ruling could determine whether those belong to the public or are under the control of a privately owned genealogy powerhouse.
On Wednesday, Pennsylvania’s Commonwealth Court heard legal arguments in the case, in which a New York City-based professional genealogist faces off with a little-known but important state agency, as well as online genealogy giant Ancestry. The latter is a private company used by millions of people to search for family and other records.
The genealogist is Alec Ferretti, a director at Reclaim the Records, a nonprofit that advocates for governments to make genealogical documents more accessible. In 2022, he submitted a public records request to the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission (PHMC), the state’s “official history agency” that is responsible for collecting, conserving, and safeguarding the commonwealth’s historical records and objects.
At the time, Ferretti sought all records the state agency had provided to Ancestry as part of a 2008 agreement that, up until Ferretti’s request, had attracted sparse attention. That agreement allowed Ancestry to digitize a long list of Pennsylvania historical documents belonging to the commission and make them available on its website.
According to the agreement, those documents include birth and death certificates, veterans’ burial cards, records about enslaved people, and naturalization forms, as well as Civil War border claims and muster rolls. Those records would then be free to Pennsylvania residents who create user profiles with Ancestry, which requires a paid subscription to access the breadth of its records. An Ancestry lawyer on Wednesday said it has about 18 million digitized images in all.
Since Ferretti is a New York state resident, he requested the information directly from PHMC. He also asked for the metadata on the digitized records, as well as any index lists that Ancestry created when performing that work.
PHMC denied the request, saying it didn’t have any responsive records in its possession. Ferretti appealed, arguing that the state agency was required to obtain them from Ancestry under a section of Pennsylvania’s Right-to-Know Law that allows public access to documents held by a private contractor hired to perform a governmental function on behalf of a government agency.
Lawyers for Ancestry soon intervened in the fight, contending the company was not carrying out a government function for PHMC. They also argued that although Ancestry had agreed to license back the digitized records to the state, its work product is proprietary.
Translation: It owns the digital records.
The case has spent nearly four years in a complicated spiral of appeals before the state’s Office of Open Records, which sided with Ferretti. The matter could wind up in front of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, depending on Commonwealth Court’s decision.
During oral arguments on Wednesday, Commonwealth Court judges asked both sides pointed questions about whether the digital images constitute a public record accessible under the state’s Right-to-Know Law, as certain archival materials (while public) don’t fall under the law’s jurisdiction. They also asked whether maintaining digitized copies of historical records amounted to a governmental function.
The judges seemed to agree on one thing: The case raised interesting dilemmas.
“We just love Right-to-Know Law, so this is great,” President Judge Renée Cohn Jubelirer told lawyers when legal arguments came to a close.
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Over a year ago, former UFC champion Eddie Alvarez stepped inside the bare knuckle ring and competed against Jeremy Stephens at KnuckleMania V in front of Philly fans at what was then called the Wells Fargo Center. Although the Kensington native lost in the main event, he considered the night a big steppingstone for the city of Philadelphia.
“The biggest thing about Philadelphia and combat sports is that no big promoter or big name would come here,” Alvarez said. “It was disappointing because the culture of Philadelphia is fighting. It’s not baseball. It’s not hockey. It’s fighting. So, the fact that we didn’t have a large promotion to bring our local talent and showcase it was sad to me. Bare Knuckle was one of the first promotions to take that shot and take that risk, and it was barely a risk at all.”
Conor McGregor (left) applauds as Philadelphia fighter Eddie Alvarez steps on the scale during the Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship weigh-ins for Knucklemania V at Xfinity Live! on Jan. 24, 2025.
Before Knucklemania V, the last time a major MMA promotion made its way to Philly was in 2019 for Fight Night at the Wells Fargo Center, headlined by Edson Barboza and Justin Gaethje. The card featured no hometown talent.
Now, BKFC is making its return on Saturday with KnuckleMania VI after last year’s edition was such a success — setting a modern-day combat sports record with 17,762 people in attendance. And with its return brings plenty of local talent.
“Last year’s event was just an unbelievable moment for us,” said BKFC CEO David Feldman. “For all the hard work that we put in, we were able to break the combat sports attendance record in Philadelphia last year. Now, there’s only one way to go, and we have to do that again this year. … We’re hoping to eclipse 18,000. It’s great numbers to do in the city of Philadelphia, the fight capital of the world.”
Alvarez seconds that notion. The former fighter, who now owns and manages his own gym, Underground Kings, in Newtown, hosted KnuckleMania’s VI media open workouts two weeks ahead of fight day.
BKFC fighter, Patrick Brady takes part in a training session at the Eddie Alvarez’s Underground Kings Gym in Newtown on Wednesday.
“I feel like me, Dave Feldman, and the crew of Bare Knuckle, we’re the guys to bring Bare Knuckle and introduce it to Philadelphia,” Alvarez said. “This sport to me is the greatest show on earth, and it was my pleasure to introduce it to the Philadelphia fans.
“I see the future of BKFC in Philadelphia as them coming here quarterly. I don’t think once a year is enough. I think it should be every quarter. We can fill up an arena here. That’s not too much to ask. I think the fans’ demand has proven that. Philadelphia fans want and need fighting.”
On April 7, Alvarez will get his wish: more bare-knuckle fighting in Philadelphia. They’ll be launching a new series called Bare Knuckle Fight Club, hosting 12 shows a year at the 2300 Arena.
Former UFC champ Eddie Alvarez poses inside his Underground Kings gym on Wednesday. Alvarez aided the exposure of the Bare Knuckle Fighting Championships in Philly.
“It’s going to be gritty,” Feldman said. “It’s going to be brutal like bare knuckle is. It’s just going to have a different look and feel to it. And I think it’s going to get people very excited. We’re only allowing like 400 people to come to it. So, it’s going to be very elite, and it’s going to be amazing.”
Feldman is also planning on opening a bare knuckle training facility in South Philly.
“I just want to put Philadelphia on the map as a fighting city and I think this will really solidify that,” Feldman said. “I’ve been to 18 different countries now. I’ve been in almost every state and Philly is the realest place I’ve ever been to in the world. Philadelphia’s real people. They will tell you if they like you and they’ll tell you if they don’t like you. If you can succeed in Philly, you can succeed anywhere in the world.”
Super Bowl LX will monopolize our attention Sunday as only the Big Game can. But once the buzzer sounds on Patriots-Seahawks, mitts will be poppin’ across Florida and Arizona.
With Phillies pitchers and catchers set for workouts beginning Wednesday in Clearwater, Fla., LX baseball notes:
I. Before the continuation of the “Is Bryce Harper still elite?” debate, another note from last season: Only one of the Phillies’ 43 biggest hits, based on Win Probability Added, belonged to Harper. He had four of their 13 biggest hits from 2019-24.
II. So, whatever you thought of Dave Dombrowski’s assessment that Harper “didn’t have an elite season like he has had in the past,” can we agree that 2025 was un-Bryce-like?
III. It’s probably giving Dombrowski too much credit to suggest he was being calculated. But the last time anyone publicly poked Harper, he homered twice in Game 3 of the 2023 division series and stared a hole through Braves shortstop “Attaboy” Orlando Arcia. A chip on Harper’s shoulder wouldn’t be the worst thing for the Phillies.
IV. Fact: Harper faced a lower rate of strikes (43%) than any hitter in baseball last season.
V. Another fact: Harper swung at 35.6% of pitches out of the strike zone, 129th among 144 qualified hitters and far above his career mark (29.3%), according to Statcast.
VI. It’s about Harper’s swing decisions, then, as much as lineup protection. “If he gets that [chase] number down to 32, just drop it 3%, now he’s swinging at better pitches, he’s going to do more damage,” hitting coach Kevin Long told The Inquirer’s Phillies Extra podcast. “The onus falls on me to make sure he’s swinging at the right pitches and him to make sure he’s not expanding. No matter what, he has to control his at-bats.”
Kyle Schwarber batted in front of Bryce Harper for most of last season, when he hit 56 homers and was runner-up for NL MVP.
VII. Still, don’t be surprised if Rob Thomson puts Kyle Schwarber behind Harper in the batting order. It was the other way around for most of last season.
VIII. A month before the Mets signed Bo Bichette — out from under the Phillies’ nose, by the way — they pushed hard for Schwarber, league sources said. The Phillies re-signed Schwarber to a five-year, $150 million contract, the biggest deal ever for a full-time designated hitter.
IX. Speaking of Bichette, set a calendar reminder for June 18-21, the Mets’ first visit to South Philly.
X. The Mets lost 18½ games in the NL East standings in 108 days, missed the playoffs, then overhauled the roster … and fans bemoaned not bringing back Pete Alonso, Brandon Nimmo, Jeff McNeil, and Edwin Díaz. The Phillies won another division title, had a bad week in October, then ran back the core of the roster … and fans bemoaned keeping the band together. Strange days.
XI. BetMGM set the Phillies’ over/under win total at 90.5. Same as the Mets’.
XII. July will be a big month for business at the corner of 11th & Pattison: Futures Game (July 12), Home Run Derby (July 13), All-Star Game (July 14), Mets (July 16-19), Dodgers (July 20-22), and Yankees (July 24-26).
XIII. Schwarber has 340 homers. If he hits 32 per year — and a work stoppage doesn’t wipe out part of the 2027 season — he would reach 500 homers before his new Phillies contract runs out in 2030.
XIV. Harper has 363 homers and would need to hit 23 per year to reach 500 before the expiration of his 13-year contract in 2031.
XV. Players who hit their 500th homer with the Phillies: Mike Schmidt, on April 18, 1987.
Zack Wheeler is recovering from thoracic outlet decompression surgery in September.
XVI. After being diagnosed with a blood clot in his upper right arm, Zack Wheeler had venous thoracic outlet decompression surgery in September. The recovery for a pitcher typically takes up to eight months, Thomson said, which would put Wheeler on a May timetable.
XVII. Bet on Wheeler to beat that projection. He began throwing from a mound this week, a source close to the 35-year-old righty said. The Phillies won’t push Wheeler, but he’s motivated to make as many starts as possible in what he has said will be his second-to-last season.
XVIII. Not every pitcher recovers at the same rate, but Diamondbacks starter Merrill Kelly had vTOS surgery in September 2020 and started Arizona’s second game of the 2021 season.
XIX. If Wheeler isn’t ready, top prospect Andrew Painter almost certainly will occupy a spot in the season-opening rotation. Painter, who turns 23 on April 10, could be the Phillies’ youngest starter since Ranger Suárez on Aug. 16, 2018 (22 years, 355 days).
XX.Justin Crawfordturned 22 on Jan. 13. If he makes the team out of camp, as expected, he will be the youngest position player on a Phillies opening-day roster since Freddy Galvis in 2012 and the youngest outfielder since Greg Luzinski and Mike Anderson in 1973.
XXI. Crawford’s ground-ball rate in triple A last season (59.4%) would’ve easily led the majors, topping Christian Yelich’s 56.7% mark.
XXII. But Crawford also would’ve ranked fifth with 67 bolts, defined by Statcast as sprints of at least 30 feet per second. (Trea Turner led the majors with 117 bolts.)
XXIII. Is it really so bad, then, that Crawford tends to hit a lot of balls on the ground? “Hopefully it doesn’t matter,” Lehigh Valley hitting coach Adam Lind said. “His approach works right now. He’s super fast. His swing works to where he can hit the ball all over the yard. Whenever a defender has to take one step away from first base, that usually means he’ll be safe.”
XXIV. Quiz: Crawford could be the Phillies’ eighth different opening-day center fielder in nine years. Name the others. (Answer below.)
XXV. Upon stepping down as Twins president last week, Derek Falvey cited ownership’s “different plan” for the team’s direction. If Minnesota enters a full rebuild, All-Star center fielder Byron Buxton would be widely coveted, including by the Phillies. Buxton, 32, has three years and $45 million left on his contract, plus no-trade rights.
XXVI. The Phillies’ projected luxury-tax payroll is $316.3 million, according to Cot’s Baseball Contracts, trailing the Dodgers ($402.5M), Mets ($376.6M), and Yankees ($335.5M). For a second consecutive year, the Phillies will pay a 110% tax on every dollar spent above $304 million, the highest of four thresholds.
XXVII. In 2025, the Phillies paid $56,062,903 in luxury taxes on a $314,329,912 payroll, the Associated Press reported. Their tax bill has risen from $2,882,657 in 2022, $6,977,345 in 2023, and $14,351,954 in 2024.
XXVIII. Owners will gather Wednesday in Palm Beach, Fla., for their quarterly meetings. Many owners are pushing for a salary cap in the next collective bargaining agreement. The players’ union has historically opposed a cap. It would take eight of 30 owners to block a salary-cap proposal. The existing CBA expires Dec. 1, with a lockout likely to follow.
XXVIX. Last month, commissioner Rob Manfred told a New York radio station that MLB has discussed schedule changes, including an in-season tournament similar to the NBA Cup. The players would need to agree to any new formats.
XXX. The Phillies will send 11 players from their 40-man roster to the World Baseball Classic: Schwarber, Harper, and Brad Keller (U.S.); Cristopher Sánchez and Johan Rojas (Dominican Republic); José Alvarado (Venezuela); Taijuan Walker (Mexico); Aaron Nola (Italy); Garrett Stubbs and Max Lazar (Israel); Edmundo Sosa (Panama). Preliminary round games begin March 5, with the final set for March 17 in Miami.
XXXI.Jesús Luzardo was invited to pitch for Venezuela and Team USA but declined. “It’s very important for my family, for me, to represent Venezuela,” Luzardo told Phillies Extra. “But just in terms of intelligent decision-making, after a long last year and looking forward to a long this year, I thought the correct decision would be to take a slow spring training and make sure everything’s along the right line to be prepared for the year.” Luzardo is eligible for free agency after this season.
XXXII. Left-handed pitcher A: 3.59 ERA, 544 strikeouts, 1.287 WHIP, 117 ERA-plus in 588⅓ innings since 2022.
XXXIII. Left-handed pitcher B: 3.83 ERA, 602 strikeouts, 1.186 WHIP, 116 ERA-plus in 529⅓ innings since 2022.
XXXIV. Suárez (Lefty A) signed a five-year, $130 million contract with the Red Sox last month that will cover his ages 30-34 seasons.
XXXV. Luzardo (Lefty B) will pitch at age-28 this season.
XXXVI. Quiz answer: Brandon Marsh (2025), Rojas (2024), Marsh (2023), Matt Vierling (2022), Adam Haseley (2021), Roman Quinn (2020), Odúbel Herrera (2019), and Aaron Altherr (2018).
Jesús Luzardo posted a 3.92 ERA in a career-high 183⅔ innings in his first season with the Phillies in 2025.
XXXVII. Sánchez threw the most changeups (1,084) in baseball last season. Among 72 pitchers who threw at least 300, he ranked ninth in opponents’ batting average (.170) and slugging (.243) against his changeup.
XXXVIII. Changeup artist Cole Hamels on why Sánchez’s is so dominant: “One thing I’ve noticed is you cannot recognize the spin. It’s the same [as the two-seamer]. So, it’s a coin flip: Am I going to try to hit 97 [mph] with sink, or am I going to hit 87 with drop-off-the-table [action]? And he’s not scared to throw it in any type of count, with anybody on.”
XXXIX. By finishing second in the Cy Young voting last year, Sánchez’s club options for 2029 and 2030 increased by $1 million apiece to $15 million and $16 million.
XL. The automated ball-strike system is coming to MLB after being tested last year in spring training and the minors. Each team is allowed two challenges per game. Thomson prefers that challenges be initiated by the catcher or batters, with specific hitters getting a green light to challenge.
XLI. Opinions about ABS are varied. “There’s a human element pitchers like with umpires,” reliever Tanner Banks said last month. “Maybe you steal [a strike] because the catcher does a great job. But at the end of the day, you want consistency. The umpires I’ve talked to are for it if it helps make the right call.”
XLII. Imagine if the Phillies could’ve challenged umpire Mark Wegner’s missed strike call on Sánchez’s 2-2 pitch to Alex Call with one out in the seventh inning of Game 4 of last year’s NL division series. Call walked on the next pitch and scored the tying run. Sánchez said Wegner admitted that he got it wrong.
XLIII. A catcher’s game-calling is among the last skills that are largely immeasurable through analytics, which explains why it took so long for the Phillies and J.T. Realmuto to reach an agreement in free agency. At 35, amid three years of declining offense, Realmuto’s value is tied to his intangible impact on the pitching staff.
XLIV. Since 2023, opponents had a .682 OPS and Phillies pitchers had a 3.75 ERA with Realmuto behind the plate. The major-league averages were .722 and 4.18.
XLV. “In my opinion, catchers are undervalued as far as contracts and dollars go,” said Realmuto, who eventually accepted a three-year, $45 million offer. “I truly believe it’s one of, if not the most important position on the field, and I just enjoy fighting for that.”
XLVI. Quiz: Realmuto started a career-high 132 games behind the plate last season. In the last 80 years, how many catchers started that many games at age 34 or older? (Answer below.)
XLVII. Player A: .260/.306/.426, 121 doubles, 82 homers, 100 OPS-plus in 2,477 plate appearances.
XLVIII. Player B: .237/.296/.441, 118 doubles, 110 homers, 107 OPS-plus in 2,473 plate appearances.
LIX.Nick Castellanos (Player A) in four seasons with the Phillies (ages 30-33).
L.Adolis García (Player B) in the last four seasons with the Rangers (ages 29-32).
LI. Castellanos ranked last among all outfielders in defensive runs saved (minus-41) since 2022; Garcia was tied for ninth (plus-23).
LII.Bryson Stott lowered his hands, moved them closer to his body, and batted .294 with an .855 OPS after the All-Star break last season. It’s one reason Phillies officials are confident in running back almost the same lineup.
LIII. Here’s another: Marsh batted .303 with an .836 OPS after May 1.
LIV. If depth is a factor, and it usually is, the open seats in the bullpen could go to Rule 5 pick Zach McCambley and Zach Pop, who is out of minor league options. But Thomson is talking up Kyle Backhus, a lefty with a low arm slot who was acquired in a trade with Arizona.
LV. Righty-hitting outfielder Bryan De La Cruz will be in camp as a nonroster invitee after signing a minor-league contract in November. De La Cruz, 29, has major-league experience, mostly with the Marlins. He was MVP of the Dominican Winter League, batting .301 with eight homers and an .888 OPS in 46 games.
Chase Utley is getting closer to being elected to the Hall of Fame.
LVI. Lefty reliever Génesis Cabrera also will be in camp as a nonroster invitee. Once a promising reliever with the Cardinals, Cabrera hit Harper in the face with a 97 mph fastball in 2021. The Phillies will be his sixth team since 2024.
LVII. It’s clear that Chase Utley will eventually get elected to the Hall of Fame after reaching 59.1%, 68 votes shy of the requisite three-quarter majority, in his third year on the ballot. But will it take one more voting cycle or two for him to get to the 75% mark?
LVIII. The electorate changes each year, depending on how many writers join the process upon reaching 10 years of membership in the Baseball Writers’ Association of America. But consider Carlos Beltrán’s path to election: 57.1% in 2024, 70.3% in 2025, and finally 84.2% this year. So, pencil in Utley for the Class of 2028 … and maybe book a hotel in Cooperstown for 2027 just in case.
LIX. Quiz answer: Six. Realmuto (2025), Yadier Molina (2017), Jason Kendall (2008), Tony Peña (1991), Elston Howard (1964), and Bob Boone (1982-86).
When Taylor Wray made the move from coaching St. Joseph’s men’s lacrosse team to Penn’s squad this past summer, he got to bring in a whole new staff.
Longtime Hawks assistant Scott Meehan had the option to follow, but he decided to throw his name in the candidate pool to be the next Hawks head coach.
“Jill Bodensteiner our [athletic director] basically called me up after she heard from Coach Wray that he was going to be taking the UPenn job,” Meehan said. “I was very fortunate because I was definitely preparing for an interview process. Other candidates are coming in, and [I] have to put my best foot forward in the interview process. But fortunately, [I] didn’t have to go through that.”
A few hours after Wray’s announced departure, Meehan was promoted to take over on Hawk Hill. He spent the next 30 minutes talking about the role with Charles Giunta, a former St. Joe’s player Meehan brought on as associate head coach.
Now, with the season opener set for Saturday at Syracuse (noon, ACC Network Extra), Meehan is feeling more “comfortable” in his role and hopes to cultivate a winning culture.
“Our goals are generally pretty simple,” Meehan said. “We want to qualify for the Atlantic 10 tournament every year — that gives us a shot to win an A-10 championship. With an A-10 championship, you get a berth to the NCAA Tournament. … One wants to be able to play late into May. You want to have a chance at it all.”
Meehan played attack, at Washington and Lee University in Virginia. As a senior in 2012, he led the team in points (53), assists (23), and was second on the team in goals (30).
When his playing career ended, Meehan says he wanted to combine his love for lacrosse with teaching.
“I think education has always kind of been in my blood,” said Meehan, whose parents are retired teachers. “It just kind of felt right to get into coaching. The game of lacrosse, and team sports in general, has done a lot for me over my lifespan, and I learned a lot in the classroom with sports, and [I] definitely wasn’t ready to be done with athletics.”
He landed at Franklin & Marshall College for three years and oversaw the Diplomats’ offense and picking the brain of head coach Todd Cavallaro, who became a mentor.
After three other coaching stops, Meehan arrived on Hawk Hill in 2019 as an offensive coordinator.
During his first year, Meehan met Giunta, who was the team’s graduate assistant. They lived together for a few months in Manayunk and became close friends.
Giunta left for Fairfield after the 2019 season. He spent six seasons there, until he got that call from Meehan.
“As soon as I got that phone call, it took me a couple of days to really think it over, but it was an easy decision to come back and to join him,” Giunta said. “He’s an awesome friend of mine. I think he’s a great coach.”
Meehan also added Jack Tortolani to his staff as an assistant. Tortolani played five years at Denver, where he made the Final Four in 2024. He initially was hired before Wray left, but Meehan made it one of his first orders of business to officially bring Tortolani aboard.
Jared McMahon, who played at Mount St. Mary’s and spent last year on Michigan’s staff, rounded out Meehan’s staff.
St. Joe’s is two years removed from an NCAA Tournament appearance, after winning the A-10 tournament championship in 2024. Last season, the Hawks finished 9-6 and were eliminated in the first round of the conference tournament by High Point.
“He was here before; he’s not coming in and implementing entirely new systems,” said senior defenseman Liam Quinn, “and trying to reinvent the wheel and create a new team culture. I think Coach Meehan knows exactly what makes our program go and what separates us from other people.”
