Darren Daulton

Darren Daulton has split from Lynne Austin-Daulton, his wife of less than five years. In an interview in yesterday's Daily News, she didn't give a reason but said the couple hasn't filed for divorce and indicated that it was a trial separation. The Phillies catcher couldn't be reached for comment yesterday. His agent confirmed the split calling it "amicable," but said neither he nor Daulton would have anything further to say about it for at least a week. A source inside the Phillies organization said Daulton had recently spoken of trouble in the marriage but the source refused to be specific, citing confidentiality.

A step back from baseball may turn out to be Darren Daulton's first step toward returning to the game. Although he has been in Clearwater, Fla., working with rehab trainer Hap Hudson since mid-April, Daulton began hitting and throwing only in the past week. The results have been encouraging enough to start talk that Daulton could be back sometime after the all-star break. "I would say that's accurate," Hudson said yesterday. "That's almost two months from now. I would say the next three weeks are going to tell us a lot more.

There has been, at least, a strange sort of consistency to the course the Phillies have charted this season. If there's a banana peel, they slip on it. If there's a pothole, they drive smack over it. If there's a way to lose, they unearth it. If anything can go wrong, in short, it assuredly will. And so it came to pass yesterday that the Phillies announced catcher Darren Daulton will miss the rest of the season with a broken right hand. It seems that, after being called out on strikes in the bottom of the ninth Saturday night, Daulton disagreed with home plate umpire John Kibler.

Bill Giles had hoped today would come and he'd don his favorite straw hat and sit in the sunshine and enjoy nine innings of opening-day baseball in sold-out Dodger Stadium. He'd hoped the two hot-copy issues that dogged his Phillies like a stalker throughout spring training would be resolved by now. They are not. Curt Schilling is still unsigned beyond this season, and Darren Daulton is still a Phillie. Giles, the club president, had hoped to complete Schilling's proposed three-year contract extension yesterday, the day the pitcher had set as his deadline.

One of the curious things about the Phillies' 45-17 start, and there are many, is the fact that they've compiled baseball's best record on just an average payroll. Next year, however, that $27 million salary figure will rise substantially. Darren Daulton's new contract kicks in and that will raise his salary by more than $1 million in the first year of his back-loaded four-year, $18 million deal. Dave Hollins' pay will increase by almost $2 million. More significant in inflationary terms, nine and possibly 10 Phils, including Terry Mulholland, Tommy Greene and Curt Schilling, will be eligible for arbitration between seasons.

Opening day, regardless of the locale, always comes with a fair amount of pomp and circumstance. So yesterday, with the smell of suntan lotion and popcorn perfuming the air, the Phillies returned to charming Jack Russell Stadium to begin their 51st exhibition season in the land of grouper burgers and Scientologists. Under sunny skies, Mayor Rita Garvey gave her traditional welcome-back pep talk to the boys from Philadelphia. Club owner Bill Giles took the mike and hoped aloud for a worst-to-first season.

A catcher earns his paycheck by what he does behind the plate. If he can catch the ball, throw the ball and call pitches, he can win a job in the majors. If he can hit, too, that's nice. Darren Daulton can hit. He proved that all season long. But in the playoffs and the postseason, he has struggled with the bat. He's 2 for 14 with runners in scoring position in the postseason. He's batting .211 in the World Series. Nobody's complaining - not now. Last night, when the Phillies most needed it, the veteran catcher coaxed a great game from Curt Schilling.

The Phillies' quartet of general manager Ed Wade, adviser Dallas Green, assistant GM Ruben Amaro, and scouting director Mike Arbuckle formulated their first list of managerial candidates yesterday. By the end of the afternoon, they had a dozen names that interested them. The only candidates Wade revealed were longtime Phillies coach John Vukovich and former Phillies catcher Darren Daulton. "We've got a group of guys who have some level of experience in the major leagues, we have Darren who has no major-league staff experience, and we have guys with big-league managerial experience on the list," Wade said.

After watching rookie sensation Scott Rolen's umpteenth spectacular performance of the year, Phillies manager Terry Francona made a prediction last night. "Pretty soon, people aren't just going to be talking about the rookie of the year," Francona said of Rolen. "They're going to be talking about the MVP. That's how special this kid is. " Rolen, 22, thrilled a Veterans Stadium crowd of 17,664 with an electrifying two-homer performance in leading the Phils to a dramatic 8-7 win over the Florida Marlins.

Every morning for the past few weeks, Matt Wilson, 10, would wake up his dad at 6 with a question. "Did Dave call? Did Darren?" Dave would be Dave Daulton, a friend of Matt's dad. And Darren would be Darren Daulton, Phillies catcher - and Matt's idol. The answer - sadly for Matt - would always be "No. " So Matt's dad, Steve Wilson, finally got tired of waiting. "I promised him if Darren was ever in the World Series I'd take him," explained Steve. In the sixth inning of Game 5 - with the Phils leading, 2-0 - Steve Wilson turned to Matt.

ROOSEVELT Darby Jr. made it clear to Darren Daulton what it took to deal with the city's frustrating homeless problem. "It's an inside job," he said, tapping his chest. What it took, he was trying to say, was heart. And Darby had heart to spare. In 1994, Daulton, the Phillies' catcher, was touring the facilities of the Philadelphia Committee for the Homeless — to which he was a major contributor — at Broad and Brown streets. Daulton contributed $100 to PCH every time he knocked in a run. Darby, a peer counselor at the time and later deputy director of the committee, and other staff members took Daulton on a tour.

CLEARWATER, Fla. - Another day of spring training passed Thursday without an appearance from second baseman Chase Utley. The Phillies have played 15 Grapefruit League games and an exhibition against Florida State University without their five-time all-star second baseman, a player whose presence in the middle of the lineup will be more important than ever because of first baseman Ryan Howard's anticipated prolonged absence. You may be of the opinion that the only way to get ready to play the game of baseball is by playing the game of baseball, but at least in Utley's case, Phillies general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. does not agree.

CLEARWATER, Fla. - If Cole Hamels really believes everything he said Monday - and there is no reason to think otherwise - then the youngest of the Phillies' three aces should have a contract extension in place by opening day in Pittsburgh. In his first public comments heading into his free-agent season, the Phillies' only homegrown pitching ace said all the right things after his team's second workout at Bright House Field. He also said something more and, in the process, provided another pleasant reminder of how different things have become for this team in the 21st century.

As another spring training draws near, we offer a bit of warm news in the midst of this mild winter: The Phillies should never stink again. To anyone not yet old enough to legally consume an alcoholic beverage, that might not seem like such a big deal. All you have are memories of a beautiful ballpark overflowing with fans eager to watch a team perpetually in contention. It has been a decade since the Phillies last had a losing season and a dozen years since they finished lower than third in the division.

As we near the end of 2011, the Year That Wasn't in Philadelphia sports, it is natural to look back and wonder just what hit us. How did we get from August, when the Phillies and Eagles had us dreaming of two parades, to today, when we can't wait to hang that new calendar on the wall? The answer: Oct. 2. No, neither of the teams actually was eliminated on that bleak day. But it was on that Sunday that the die was cast for both of them. The Eagles played the San Francisco 49ers at Lincoln Financial Field in the afternoon.

ST. LOUIS - The tone was conversational, the posture casual. But if you listened to the words that Charlie Manuel said, really listened, there was more than just the usual afternoon banter. The Phillies manager doesn't call out his players in public. That doesn't work anymore, not with the security that comes with high salaries and long-term contracts. But his frustration with the team's sputtering, stuttering offense has been bubbling just below the surface for a while now. So as he sat in the dugout before last night's 4-0 win over the Cardinals at Busch Stadium, his core message was strikingly similar to the look-in-the-mirror challenge hurled so effectively by Dallas Green 30 years ago. Don't look at him. Don't look at hitting coach Greg Gross.

For the second year in a row, the Phillies will induct a member of the 1993 National League champions into the team's Wall of Fame. John Kruk is the newest member, the team announced Wednesday. He will be honored before the Aug. 12 game against Washington. He follows Darren Daulton, who was honored last season. They are the only two players from the '93 team to make the wall. So which other players from that beloved squad will be honored? There's Curt Schilling, who is all but a shoo-in.