By FRANK WARD
DailyPhiladelphian.com Editor

God forbid baseball players have a life. According to tweets and numerous reports based on hearsay, Phillies Jayson Werth and Chase Utley were spotted gambling in St. Louis casinos until at least 4 a.m.

The nerve of those two. Assuming the story is true, and I am skeptical as I’m not sure Utley is even on the road with the team as he rehabs from surgery, it’s not really a big deal. Their 4 a.m. is like most people’s 10 or 11 p.m. Walk into any Atlantic City, Parx or Las Vegas casino at 11 p.m. or midnight and you’ll find people who need to be up and at the office by 9 the next morning. And, those people are productive.

Jayson Werth displays his poker face before heading to St. Louis for some riverboat gambling.

Sure, I can see the outrage given the fact that Werth hits as well as David Bell these days. However, aren’t baseball players supposed to have lives? Shouldn’t they do things to get their minds away from their job.

When you or I have a bad day at the office — or in the classroom in my case — don’t we sometimes hit the local watering hole for a beverage or two? Don’t we sometimes hit the golf course, race track or casino?

That’s all the guys were doing, assuming the story is true. Now, you could make the argument that bad things happen in the wee hours of the morning and you’d be accurate. Would I be there until 4 a.m.? Honestly, if I was Werth or Utley, I may have been. Who hasn’t left an AC casino when daylight was breaking?

Those guys don’t need to be at the ballpark until maybe 2 or 3 p.m. If they go to bed at 5 a.m. and sleep until 1 p.m., that gives them eight hours of sleep.

The rumor is overblown, assuming it’s even true.