It is the inability to pinpoint a recovery time that has kept the Phillies and their third baseman on the fence. Even though general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. has said he'd miss 4 weeks, he also recognizes that's only a guesstimate. And with 6 weeks left in the regular season, there's not much margin for error.
"It may take much longer, like Raul [Ibanez] did," Amaro conceded. "I don't think his issues are as drastic or severe, but there's no guarantee it will be 4 weeks. It could be much beyond that. So we'd rather take this route and see if he can get through the season and then deal with it after the season."
Polanco, who left the game with the injury last Saturday at San Francisco, said he's feeling better since taking an injection but doesn't know how much more his condition will improve, if at all.
So he continues to wait. But not for much longer.
Up against the wall
Former first baseman John Kruk was officially added to the Phillies Wall of Honor before last night's game and gave a brief speech that had the sellout crowd roaring. Among his applause lines:
* On what Philadelphia means to him: "I met my wife here. My children were born here. I was diagnosed and cured of [testicular] cancer here."
* On being traded to the Phillies from the San Diego Padres in 1989: "I stunk. They took a chance on me. And apparently it paid off."
* On the magical 1993 season: "We came up short [of winning the World Series], but it was a party every day, and 50,000 people joined us every night. We killed a lot of brain cells, but y'all were right there with us."
* On hearing Philadelphia is too tough on its athletes: "To those people I say, you didn't have the guts to succeed here."
Paging Matt Stairs
