April 9 -- SWEATING IT OUT

BY SCOTT LAUBER

DENVER -- Landed in the Mile High City a few hours ago, just in time to watch the Boston University hockey team advance to the NCAA championship with a 5-4 victory over Vermont. Definitely got some strange looks from the other ESPN Zone patrons when I applauded after BU scored what turned out to be the game-winning goal. Hey, what can I say? Had to support the alma mater.

Shortly before I boarded my Southwest flight this afternoon, the Phillies signed Tyler Walker to a minor-league contract. Here's the scouting report: He's a 32-year-old right-handed reliever with a 4.52 ERA and 34 saves in 230 career major-league appearances. Once upon a time, he was the Giants' closer, and he racked up 23 saves in 2005. But here's something you can't learn from Walker's Baseball-Reference profile:

He sweats a lot.

A lot.

I covered Walker in 2000 and 2001 when he was in the Mets' farm system, and I've never seen a pitcher perspire so much when he's on the mound. So, one day, I asked him about it. He just laughed and said, "You should see what happens when I play basketball. Nobody wants to guard me."

Ugh.

In fact, Walker's excessive sweat was the focal point of a game story in the New York Times from Sept. 8, 2002 when, then with the Mets, he "sweated out" a victory (pun intended) over the Phillies. At one point in the story, he explains, "When I get nervous, my body gets to a certain temperature, and that's all she wrote."

Seriously, though, Walker could help the Phillies later this season in the event of injuries or ineffectiveness in the bullpen. He'll first go to the Phillies' extended spring training camp in Clearwater, then most likely to triple-A Lehigh Valley. And, as we've heard so often, you never can have enough pitching.

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OK, I have a confession: I love Denver.

Not sure what it is, exactly, about this city. I don't ski. I'm not outdoorsey. I think snow is a nuisance. But, to me, Denver is among the most underrated cities in the country. The air is clean. The streets are spotless. The people are nice. And from the 16th Street Mall (a pedestrian thoroughfare that cuts through downtown) to the restaurants in LoDo (lower downtown), it's one of my favorite cities in which to walk around.

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Please check back before noon (Eastern time) for a post on Cole Hamels and a primer on the three-game series with the Rockies. And don't forget to follow me -- and Philled In -- on Twitter.