ROY OSWALT didn't hesitate. Out on the playing surface, a veritable circus was unfolding. Charlie Manuel was contemplating using Jayson Werth at first base. Rich Dubee was trying to make sense of his pitching situation. Ryan Howard was being ushered off the field, his ejection at the end of the 14th inning leaving the Phillies with seven active players for eight positions.
Oswalt? He was sprinting from the dugout to the clubhouse, making a beeline for his glove and cleats.
"I knew it had to be one of us," the veteran righthander said yesterday, less than 24 hours after making his outfield debut in the Phillies' marathon 4-2 loss to the Astros. "At first, they were debating on going to first or the outfield, but [Raul] Ibanez said he could play first, and I'd rather play outfield."
He did not stretch. He did not think. Ibanez moved to first base, and Oswalt trotted out to leftfield to replace him. After a few warmup throws, Shane Victorino approached him.
"Shane actually walked over there and said, 'If there is a high fly ball, do you want me to come catch it and throw it?' " Oswalt said.
He rejected the offer.
"That's what I've been wanting to do forever, is throw somebody out at the plate," Oswalt said. "I was hoping it would be fairly deep so I could show the outfielders, this is how you throw it home."
His former Astros teammates never gave him the opportunity. But they did target him, swinging at David Herndon's sinkers with the obvious intention of sending the ball to leftfield. The first batter, Jason Castro, succeeded, lofting a fly ball directly toward him. Oswalt, in perfect position, gloved it for the first out of the 15th. The crowd erupted.
"It's just a fly ball," Oswalt said. "Everybody makes a big deal out of a fly ball in the outfield, but we catch 50, 60 a day in BP, every day for 162 games, for 10 years. That's a lot of fly balls."
But after he caught that fly ball, his face burst into a grin.
"The fans were going crazy, and I was just kind of out of my element," said Oswalt, still grinning 1 day later.
Dubee and Manuel said they decided on Oswalt because they felt he could run a little bit better than their other option, fellow starter Joe Blanton. Manuel said he was never concerned about his newly acquired righthander spraining an ankle or straining a rotator cuff.
