JOHN MIDDLETON, one of the Phillies ownership partners who remained in the shadows for decades, with nary a public comment in both good times or in bad, has emerged as maybe the signature voice of the franchise in the last four months.
Middleton's voice is an impassioned one, one of a billionaire who happens to be a Phillies fan at heart - and a fan of all of the local sports teams, in the interests of full disclosure. The 60-year-old, lifelong Philadelphian rattled off many of his childhood memories - from Chuck Bednarik to Kate Smith, Billy Cunningham to Cookie Rojas - when he introduced a man 25 years his junior as the new general manager of his and his city's baseball team late Monday morning.