This team is a major loss leader

Penthouse magazine picked the Philadelphia Phillies to win the World Series this year, which once again proves that Penthouse is to baseball predictions what the Phillies are to baseball.

Eleven games into the new season, the Phillies are down to business as usual -- 3-8 record, 4 1/2 games out of first in the National League East.

Such consistency -- one World Series championship since 1883 -- is something to be celebrated, PhiladelphiaWeekly.com has decided. With the Phillies having begun the 2007 season with 9,956 defeats, the site is running a regular feature entitled “The Road to 10,000 Losses,” highlighting every new defeat with a cheerfully written loss report.

Said the site, “To put this in perspective, the Washington Generals, the team who used to play the Harlem Globetrotters, lost roughly 13,000 games. Yes, a team founded simply to lose games didn’t lose that many more games than the Phillies.”

Trivia time

The Phillies have lost the most games in the major leagues. Which franchise is No. 2?

The Philly way

Maybe there’s something in those Philly cheesesteaks.

At the same time the Phillies are closing in on their unprecedented piece of ignominy, the Eagles tossed their hat into the laughingstock ring when they put their salary-cap status in jeopardy by accidentally paying running back Brian Westbrook his roster bonus twice in 2006.

ComcastSportsNet.com reported that because of an accounting error, Westbrook last year was twice paid the $3-million bonus that was built into the five-year contract he signed in late 2005. Team officials confirmed the mistake to ESPN.com.

Westbrook reportedly has agreed to repay the money, but until the reimbursement is made official, the gaffe could negatively affect the team’s salary cap.

Westbrook rushed for 1,217 yards and seven touchdowns on 240 attempts in 2006.

Or, if the Eagles’ accounting department is doing the statkeeping, 2,434 yards, 14 touchdowns and 480 carries.

Pepperoni rage

They were giving away beer and pizza in the Fenway Park stands Monday afternoon, although for the surprise recipient, they did not come without a price.

In the sixth inning of the Angels’ 7-2 loss to the Boston Red Sox, Angels left fielder Garret Anderson chased a foul pop by J.D. Drew, reached into the crowd and knocked a beer all over a fan’s Red Sox jacket.

The fan was then delivered a giant slice of pizza in a manner seldom attempted by Domino’s. Another spectator, from two rows behind, pelted the still-dripping fan with a $6 slice purchased at the Papa Gino’s concession stand.

Afterward Red Sox Manager Terry Francona told reporters he thought the flying pizza incident “helped us.” “Whatever turns them on, I don’t care,” he said. “As long as they’re not throwing at me or us, it’s OK.”

The pizza-tosser, a right-hander who could definitely throw the high cheese, was ejected. The victim was named “Fan of the Game” by the New England Sports Network.

Be careful what you wish for

Golfer Tim “Lumpy” Herron told Golf Digest that his idea of a perfect final meal would be “a sausage pizza and an Oreo-cookie milkshake. That would be the last thing I taste.”

And he’d get to eat all of it, provided the meal wasn’t served at Fenway Park.

Trivia answer

The Pittsburgh Pirates began the 2007 season with 8,992 losses, 964 behind the Phillies.

And finally

New Kentucky basketball Coach Billy Gillispie, to the Lexington Herald-Leader, when asked if he was worried about the team’s fans second-guessing him:

“They didn’t tell you? I was married before.”

mike.penner@latimes.com