Chase Utley

Charlie Manuel is not so sure that playing a position other than second base will alleviate the pain in Chase Utley's chronically injured knees. "If he's going to have pain, he can have pain at first base, left field, right field, wherever. Just like he would have at second," the Phillies manager said. "Getting him healthy and seeing what he can still do is the big thing. " But then there is this: Manuel would not completely shut the door on Utley's playing left field or first base, however unlikely, upon his return.

Ten years later and they're talking about Chase Utley playing third base again. A decade ago, Utley was being groomed at triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre to replace the departed Scott Rolen at the position. Utley, in his second full minor-league season with the Phillies, moved from second base to third in 2002 and skipped a stop at double-A Reading because he was such an advanced offensive player. Then, as now, Utley was willing to do whatever was best for the team. Unlike then, Utley now has enough organizational clout to make suggestions that resonate with the general manager.

Twenty-two hours apart, Cliff Lee and Roy Halladay stood in the middle of the Phillies clubhouse after disappointing weekend losses, but the tone was dissimilar. Halladay was beaten physically and looked drained emotionally. Lee lamented bad luck in a season teeming with it. Then someone asked Lee about Halladay. The pitcher's locker is 15 feet from Halladay's, yet he has the same curiosities of a casual observer. "He's been the best pitcher in baseball for the past decade," Lee said.

The signature play of the 2008 World Series began like a thousand others in the season that preceded it, with Tampa Bay's Akinori Iwamura chopping a J.C. Romero slider slowly up the middle. And though what followed took just an instant to transpire, four months later, as the Phillies prepare to open 2009 spring training tomorrow, memories of it have not yet faded, and are not likely to fade any time soon. This little ground ball was extremely significant, a fact betrayed by the intensified crowd noise it generated and by the chaotic choreography it touched off at every base.

Two weeks ago today, Chase Utley stood in front of his locker at Citizens Bank Park and packed for a West Coast trip. Utley tossed his fielder's glove, batting gloves, spikes, sneakers and sunglasses into a red equipment bag. He then reached into his locker, pulled out five brand-new ebony bats - gamers - and stuffed them into his bat bag. Before zipping the bat bag closed, Utley reached for the one piece of equipment he hadn't left home...

Every pitch of every inning of every game is important for the Phillies these days. They need wins in the worst way. They got one last night at Petco Park after a few tense moments in the bottom of the ninth before Tim Worrell worked out of a jam. The Phillies scored three runs in the top of the seventh inning on their way to a 5-2 victory over the San Diego Padres that moved them within 4 1/2 games of Atlanta - which lost last night -...

You may have heard that Chase Utley returned to the Phillies lineup Monday night at Citizens Bank Park. That accounted for the extra surge of energy that permeated through the clubhouse and the ballpark, but among the reasons you had to like the Phillies to take the first game of their four-game series with the Cincinnati Reds, it only ranked second. The left arm of Cole Hamels was first. If you ranked the Phillies' Four Aces after 10 times around the rotation, Hamels would be second behind only Roy Halladay, the ace of all clubs.

CLEARWATER, Fla. - It may not look that way in the morning box score, but Chase Utley considered Tuesday night's exercise at Bright House Field another step in the right direction on his rickety knees. Playing in his first minor-league rehab game for the single-A Clearwater Threshers, Utley went hitless in five at-bats with three strikeouts and a foul-out against the Tampa Yankees. He was the designated hitter in Clearwater's 4-3, 10-inning loss, and when he swung and missed at an off-speed pitch from Tampa's Rigoberto Arrebato in the bottom of the ninth inning for his third straight strikeout, the sparse crowd taking advantage of dollar-dog-and-beer night booed the Philadelphia icon.

In a Phillies promotion, many fans dressed in colorful 1970s clothes and outlandish wigs last night. Two people flashed peace signs and carried a sign that read "Impeach Nixon. " Perhaps inspired by the leisure-suit atmosphere - and by the '70s music that blared throughout Citizens Bank Park between innings - Phillies first baseman Ryan Howard got into the spirit of the event. He came disguised as Willie Stargell. Howard smashed a two-run, fourth-inning homer to left-center off Greg Maddux - who has been around so long he almost pitched in the '70s - to trigger an 8-1 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers before an animated crowd of 42,620.

It seems like last week never happened. Chase Utley's memorable return from the disabled list on Monday. Aaron Rowand's poke and Ryan Howard's bomb on Tuesday. The controversial interference call on Wednesday. The unforgettable comebacks on Thursday. Gone. Wasted. The Phillies lost yesterday to the Atlanta Braves at Turner Field, 5-1, to fall five games behind the New York Mets in the National League East. It marked their third straight loss after they had used a season-high six-game winning streak - including an unforgettable four-game sweep of the Mets at Citizens Bank Park - to move within two games of New York.