Aaron Rowand

PHILLIES fans now adore Aaron Rowand. He's established himself as the ultimate team player, the hard way. He put himself in harm's way for the team, casting aside the inevitable pain. With the game on the line, his goal was to catch that fly ball from Nady's bat at all costs. Bravo! Can you imagine what the season would bring if all of the Phillies players took that quality on the field each and every game? I wish I had a squad full of Aaron Rowand-like soldiers during my tour in Vietnam.

DUNEDIN, Fla. - Aaron Rowand left Philadelphia more than four years ago after the San Francisco Giants lured him away with a five-year, $60 million contract that is finally going to expire this season. Speculation that the gritty outfielder could return to the Phillies seems to be almost as old. Consider it relevant again. One look at the Phillies' injury-riddled roster makes you realize it is a move at least worth considering. With Ryan Howard finally bootless but still recovering from Achilles tendon surgery and Chase Utley consulting a knee specialist, the Phillies are obviously a team with a lot of offensive holes.

The Chicago White Sox were supposed to be a fourth-place team. Better than the sad-sack Kansas City Royals, worse than everybody else. "Same old same old," said Phillies centerfielder Aaron Rowand, who spent his career with the Sox before they traded him and pitching prospects Gio Gonzalez and Daniel Haigwood to the Phillies in November for Jim Thome and $22 million. "They said we didn't have enough offense. The pitching was pretty solid, but we didn't have enough in the bullpen.

Hate to start thinking about next winter just as summer is about to arrive. But have you seen that crop of centerfielders that could be available in the coming free-agent season? Andruw Jones, Torii Hunter and Ichiro Suzuki have a combined 21 Gold Gloves and 12 all-star berths. Although this threesome is clearly at the head of the class, there is another potential free-agent centerfielder who is making himself attractive with a strong 2007 season: Aaron Rowand of the Phillies.

The Phillies are about to finish April with a thud. But have they hit bottom yet? The Phillies lost last night to the lowly Pittsburgh Pirates at PNC Park, 3-2. The Pirates are the worst team in the National League but have won the first two games in this three-game series and have the opportunity to sweep the Phillies this afternoon with only Gavin Floyd in their way. "If you've given up on us, sorry," righthander Cory Lidle said....

PHILLIES brass is telling us how our outfield will be fine without Aaron Rowand. Instead of taking the next step to a championship by adding pitching and keeping Rowand, they're going to stay almost good enough. Why can't they add in Rowand as a thank you to all of us who've filled the stadium every year? Go $10 million over budget to show us you care about a championship as much as we do. Keith E. Callan, Philadelphia

AARON Rowand knows how to impress Phillie fans. Smash into fences. Crash into teammates. Rowand has paid a price for his misadventures: A broken nose and smashed face in May, out two weeks. And a broken ankle on Monday that'll keep him off the field four to six weeks. Between these painful moments, the former Chicago White Sox outfielder hasn't exactly been the most productive player in the lineup. But sometimes injury in the pursuit of glory can be the best redemption.

The Phillies and San Diego Padres are the leading contenders in the Geoff Jenkins derby, according to a report. "Things are definitely heating up with Philly and San Diego," Jenkins' agent Damon Lapa told FOXsports.com. "We are in active negotiations and offers are going back and forth. " If the Phillies move Shane Victorino to centerfield for Aaron Rowand, the lefthanded-hitting Jenkins could platoon with righthanded Jayson Werth in rightfield. Rowand, a free agent, signed a 5-year deal worth an estimated $60 million with the Giants on Wednesday.

THE PHONE CALLS usually follow something embarrassing. Paul Konerko fell on his face running out a ball in Toronto last week, and Aaron Rowand hit the speed dial on his cell phone. Rowand swung at a Tim Wakefield knuckleball this spring and it hit his elbow, and . . . "I got a few phone calls that day," Rowand said last night. Last night was about Jim Thome's return to the town he once owned. The way Aaron Rowand owns Chicago, right now. Yes, right now. As the Phillies prepared their interview room for the inevitable Thome news conference, Rowand stood in a hallway behind the home dugout and watched the crowd in front of him swell.

Phillies second baseman Chase Utley and centerfielder Aaron Rowand were named to The Sporting News' prestigious National League All-Star team in a vote of 488 major leaguers announced yesterday. Manager Charlie Manuel finished second to Arizona's Bob Melvin by one vote for NL Manager of the Year. Melvin received six votes from the 16 NL managers and Manuel received five. Cleveland's Eric Wedge was the AL Manager of the Year, beating out the Angels' Mike Scioscia by two votes. Utley hit .332 with a franchise-record 48 doubles, 22 home runs and 103 RBI. Rowand, who can be a free agent, hit .309 with 27 homers and 89 RBI. New York Yankees shortstop Alex Rodriguez was the overwhelming choice for Player of the Year.

DUNEDIN, Fla. - Aaron Rowand left Philadelphia more than four years ago after the San Francisco Giants lured him away with a five-year, $60 million contract that is finally going to expire this season. Speculation that the gritty outfielder could return to the Phillies seems to be almost as old. Consider it relevant again. One look at the Phillies' injury-riddled roster makes you realize it is a move at least worth considering. With Ryan Howard finally bootless but still recovering from Achilles tendon surgery and Chase Utley consulting a knee specialist, the Phillies are obviously a team with a lot of offensive holes.

Last in a series   MAYBE Jayson Werth knew what he was doing, after all. A year removed from his decision to take the money and run from the powerhouse Phillies to the power-starved Nationals, Werth's total postseason deficit is one crushing NLDS defeat at the hands of the Cardinals. And no, the Nationals will not have a Holy Trinity like Halladay, Lee and Hamels in their rotation. But, despite a purge of recognizable if unproductive veterans, they might have a formidable club.

You hear it all the time. Philly likes its heroes dirty. We like our idols to wear their hearts on their sleeves, to show some emotion, tell a funny tale afterward, maybe even make an incendiary comment now and then. Do a face-plant into a wall as Aaron Rowand once did; play on two bad knees the way Dutch Daulton did; spit a wad of who-knows-what between your cheek and gum as you round third as Lenny Dykstra once did, and we'll understand when you bypass the autograph line on your way to the dugout every day. Take your beatings with no complaint or regret the way Michael Vick has, we might even work harder to forget your past.

Eight years ago, the Phillies had to woo free-agent Jim Thome with a tour of their still-to-be-completed ballpark, a night out at a Flyers game, dinner at a fancy center-city restaurant and, of course, millions of dollars. This time, the courting was much easier. All the 41-year-old Thome wants is a chance to win his first World Series, and his old buddy Charlie Manuel manages one of the few teams with a terrific chance of fulfilling his career-long pursuit. It was no secret at the trade deadline last season that Thome wanted to return to the Phillies as the Minnesota Twins faded from the playoff race.

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. - He won't call it a platoon, because Phillies manager Charlie Manuel believes in respect, and Raul Ibanez has earned that, in his eyes. But when John Mayberry Jr. started Friday for the 11th time in the last 12 times the Phils faced a lefthanded pitcher, the split in left field was evident. "Would I call it a platoon? Not really," Manuel said. "Because I look at Raul, he can hit lefties. " The numbers in 2011 say otherwise. Entering Friday, Ibanez and Mayberry had the same number of hits (23)

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. - He won't call it a platoon, because Phillies manager Charlie Manuel believes in respect, and Raul Ibanez has earned that, in his eyes. But when John Mayberry Jr. started Friday for the 11th time in the last 12 times the Phils faced a lefthanded pitcher, the split in left field was evident. "Would I call it a platoon? Not really," Manuel said. "Because I look at Raul, he can hit lefties. " The numbers in 2011 say otherwise. Entering Friday, Ibanez and Mayberry had the same number of hits (23)

SAN FRANCISCO - As the visitors' clubhouse at Coors Field cleared 2 days ago, the Phillies insisted they did not believe in regular-season statements. Nothing, Roy Halladay said, could atone for the loss they suffered last October at the hands of an upstart Giants team. But even if the Phillies do not put much big-picture stock into the four-game series that began at AT & T Park last night, their fans certainly will be looking for some sign that what thus far has been a magical 2011 season won't end in a fashion similar to 2010.

With two of the game's top starters matched against each other on a midsummer night Wednesday at Citizens Bank Park, the margin for error figured to be razor-thin and a magnifying glass would be held up to just about every play. That's precisely the way it played out. Even though Cole Hamels again pitched well enough to win, Matt Cain and the devastating back end of the San Francisco bullpen - Javier Lopez and Brian Wilson - beguiled the Phillies, sending them to a 2-1 defeat.

At-ten-tion: Here's one measure of how much trouble the Phillies have had mounting a consistent attack this season. They've reached double figures in hits just 33 times in their first 88 games. That's just 37.5 percent of the time. As recently as 2007, they had at least 10 or more hits 48.8 percent of the time. If there's a silver lining here it's that the Phils had 10 or more hits just 38.3 percent of the time in 2008 . . . and won the World Series. Homer, sweet homer: Of course, teams can score runs without a bunch of hits if they're mixing in a fair amount of home runs.

Kyle Phillips doesn't know how long he will have to impress San Diego manager Bud Black. Phillips did a good job of it yesterday in Atlanta. The rookie catcher broke a 2-all tie in the 10th inning with a pinch-hit homer and the Padres held off the Braves, 3-2, for their third straight win. "It's a huge deal," said Phillips, who has a .167 average in 30 at-bats. He is on the 25-man roster as Rob Johnson's backup while Nick Hundley recovers from a strained muscle in his right side.