Have you ever been on a stakeout?

No, not the police-kind. And if you've actually done that, I'd like your input. Looks like a lot of eating cheeseburgers and carbonated beverages while sitting in a 30-year-old, beat-up car.

The baseball stakeouts are about as exciting.

It was nearly two years ago (22 months, to be exact) that a bunch of us baseball writer-types were huddled down at the Renaissance Vinoy Resort and Golf Club in St. Petersburg, awaiting word on Ryan Howard's arbitration case.

"Resort and Golf Club?" Sounds fancy, right? Well, we got kicked out of the lobby (unless we went in to buy a $5 pack of gum or $9 beer). So we were stuck outside the lobby, in these fancy but not-so-comfortable wicker-ish seats.

Internet access was spotty. I was writing on my iPhone. (iPhone owners realize this isn't exactly ideal for typing more than a couple words).

Anyway, it was a magnificent way to spend a day. From about 9 am until 6 or 7 p.m., a bunch of us, staring at each other, and waiting for some rich dudes in suits to exit.

They finally did. We got some quotes.

But the waiting, as Tom Petty once said, is the hardest part.

Which brings us to present day, Day 3 of Halladay Watch. The mood is tense; I have been on some serious, serious reports but nothing quite like this. I uh... Ching... King is inside right now. I tried to get an interview with him, but they said no, you can't do that he's a live bear, he will literally rip your face off.

Guess the movie line above and win a prize.

Here's apparently why we're all still waiting: someone has failed to pass their physical.

Relax: it's not Halladay. A Phils' team source told me the big guy passed his exam already.

According to some reports out on the world wide web, it's one of four guys: Brett Wallace, the first baseman moving from OAK to TOR, or one of the three minor leaguers leaving the Phils' organization (Drabek, Taylor, D'Arnaud).

Taylor did have a minor ailment this fall, so it might be that.

But here's the good news; according to sources, this isn't anything that's going to hold up the trade.

Wait, more news as we type: the "failed physical" reports may in fact be false. Don't you love when it takes over 48 hours to complete a trade? It causes people to start making stuff up. Sweet.

Now I'm hearing this could be done by dinner time, or if you're a late eater, rush hour time.

That would translate as between 4-7 p.m. We think.

Until then, more waiting....