CLEARWATER, Fla. - The man who Ryan Howard put out of a job in Philadelphia six years ago can relate to the pressure of being a team's power hitter.
"I think the one thing you really learn to appreciate is when you have really good hitters around you, like [Chase] Utley and [Jayson] Werth," Jim Thome said. "That's the one thing I can say through my career. Having guys around you that are good players, they make you better, and you're pushing them to be better."
It was an interesting assessment from the slugger now in the twilight of his career with the Minnesota Twins, because we all know that for the last half decade Howard has been baseball's quintessential power hitter - with some sensational complementary parts around him.
Despite only briefly being teammates with Howard, Thome has admired the Phillies cleanup hitter from afar.
"I love how every year he gets better and better," Thome said. "He's a middle-of-the-order guy, and he's a guy that every team's scouting report says, 'Don't let him beat you.' Even though that's the case, he continues to do well, and he continues to be patient. That's the sign of a superstar player."
The superstar first baseman, however, is going to have his patience tested more than ever in 2011 because the players Thome mentioned - Utley and Werth - will not be hitting in front of and behind him. When the regular season opens Thursday, Utley will still be rehabilitating his right knee, and Werth will be preparing for his first game in a Washington Nationals uniform.
Also, Howard's first at-bat in the Phillies' season opener Friday against Houston at Citizens Bank Park will be his first official plate appearance since he looked at a called third strike against San Francisco closer Brian Wilson in October, triggering a National League pennant celebration by the Giants.
Inside the home clubhouse afterward, Howard was visibly disappointed by the Phillies' failure to reach a third straight World Series.
"I guess when you make the last out, you probably would be disappointed for a little while," Howard said, recalling that failure. "It took me a little while to let it go. I had a sick feeling in my stomach. Once the season was over, it stuck with me a little bit, but I tried to focus on this season."
Thome, in his final years with Cleveland before signing with the Phillies as a free agent in 2003, had to learn how to live without the protection provided by Manny Ramirez.
