"It's quite nice," he said of the 2,700-square-foot, 31/2-bath unit. "The views are spectacular. It will be a great transition into the Philadelphia city lifestyle for us. And we'll at least be closer to a lot of players.
Open house
"I used to say, 'Hey, you guys want to come out?' And they'd say, 'How far away do you live?' Then it was like, 'Nope'. Now I can say, 'Hey, I just live on this block.' I can have guys over, bond with them a little bit more. It'll make things easier when family comes. You'd like them to enjoy the city and all the history that Philadelphia has."
Curiously, though, the Hamelses didn't sell their Chester County townhouse. He said he and Heidi love the restaurants, the shops and the people in the bustling Chester County seat and plan to be there often.
That means he'll still occasionally be found in Spence Cafe, where he and Heidi went on game days for the turkey, bacon and fontina cheese sandwiches. But Halladay, a West Chester florist that brought flowers to their home whenever the Hamelses had a milestone on or off the field, won't have quite as many deliveries.
Enjoying West Chester
"We really enjoy that place," he said of West Chester. "From the moment we moved in there, we really took to it. We eat at all the local restaurants and try to use all the local businesses because they've been so generous to us and so accepting. They respect our privacy. It's been great."
There's at least one other set of experiences Hamels will be eager to continue. The postseason, he said, was the most exhilarating stretch of his life.
"It's the enjoyment of the postseason experience that everybody wants," he said. "It's that energy level. During the season there's an energy level but it's nothing like the postseason. That's kind of why you want to play. It's so cool when your adrenaline is pumping even when you aren't playing."
At that point in the interview, Hamels had nearly completed the long walk back to the clubhouse following the photo shoot. Suddenly, Iooss yelled out for him to return. He needed one more "leg-up" shot of the pitcher.
"No problem," said Hamels, doing an immediate 180. "I'm on my way."
Actually, in a lot of ways, he's already there.
Find spring training video, photo galleries, and the Phillies Zone blog, at http://go.philly.
com/phillies.
Inside
The 1981 Phillies found that defending their World Series title was a tough task.
E10. Phillies' roster, exhibition schedule,
and a map of Clearwater. E10.
First order of business: Charlie Manuel names Cole Hamels the starter for opening day. E11.
Contact staff writer Frank Fitzpatrick at 215-854-5068 or ffitzpatrick@phillynews.com.
