Phil Hughes Replacing Biden as Icon of Scranton

By now, he knows the restaurants, the bars, the streets, the zip codes and the car dealers. He's still never been to the Coal Museum. He's heard the Harry Chapin song about the bananas 50 times. He's got a favorite TV anchor, a Blockbuster membership, circle of friends and maybe a library card -- no longer using Eric Duncan's.

Phil Hughes is starting Year III in Scranton.

This is good. This is what he needs. This is where the blogger suck-ups and publicists get replaced by the old Asian ladies at the flea market. This is right.

Supposedly, a guy named Archibald "Moonlight" Graham played for Scranton in the New York State league, after having a cup of coffee with the New York Giants in 1905. He led Scranton to the pennant in 1906. The Scranton papers called him "Doc," because he was studying to be a doctor. That tidbit morphed into a character in"Shoeless Joe" by W.P. Kinsella and later the movie, "Field of Dreams."

In 1786, Scranton's first European settlers -- the Abbott brothers -- founded a gristmill. In 1800 the Slocum brothers took over and named the area Slocumville. In 1840, the Scranton brothers arrived. In 1984, the Hudson Brothers burst onto the scene, but that's a different story.

In 1902, Lackawanna Iron and Steel Company left Scranton for Buffalo, pissing off everybody in Scranton. If Hughes ever pitches against Buffalo, he better bean a few.

In the early 1900s, Scranton won the highly coveted nickname "Anthracite Capital of the World." Wheeling never recovered.

According to a city news release: "Each year, more and more visitors discover this hidden gem at the foothills of the Poconos Mountains."

Our hidden gem: Phil "Moonlight" Hughes.

Mr. Scranton.