Darren Daulton

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

The Phillies led, 5-4, in the eighth. No one, least of all the vocal Mets fans, was leaving Veterans Stadium. The tiny lead, after all, was in the bullpen's hands. And few would mistake those awkward paws for Allstate's. Most of the Phils' relievers are quickly moving past hope, their ERAs past respectability. Not surprisingly, the lead quickly became past tense. By the time manager Jim Fregosi popped out of the dugout with a belated hook for Barry Jones, the Mets had scored a pair of eighth-inning runs off the battered reliever.

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.

NASHVILLE - Twenty years have passed since Lee Thomas pulled off one of the greatest roster overhauls in Phillies history. With a shoestring budget and a barren farm system, Thomas made six offseason additions - four free-agent signings and two trades - that helped trigger the Phillies' transformation from a last-place team in 1992 to National League champions in 1993. It started with a November expansion-draft trade for lefthander Danny Jackson that sent Joel Adamson and Matt Whisenant to the Florida Marlins, and concluded with a mid-January free-agent signing of outfielder Jim Eisenreich for $675,000.

IT'S NO SECRET that the Phillies could use a little help at the plate and on the mound. On Friday night, Mike Schmidt, Steve Carlton and Greg Luzinski will be at the ballpark. So will Larry Bowa, Dick Allen, Tony Taylor, Bob Boone, Juan Samuel, Darren Daulton, John Kruk and Garry Maddox. But don't get your hopes up. They won't be there to add pop to the lineup. Rather, they'll be present to welcome former catcher Mike Lieberthal into their inner circle as members of the Phillies Wall of Fame.

The Phillies again avoided the tumult that would have accompanied Curt Schilling's selection to the team's Wall of Fame. The Phillies announced that catcher Mike Lieberthal will be enshrined on Aug. 10. The announcement comes on the final day of a series with the Dodgers, the only other team that Lieberthal played for. He is the third catcher among the 34 members, joining Bob Boone and Darren Daulton. "What a tremendous honor it is to be added to the Wall of Fame along with some of the greatest players in Phillies history," Lieberthal, 40, said.

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.

John Kruk became the newest Phillie to join the club's Wall of Fame before Friday night's game against Washington. A bronze plaque bearing Kruk's likeness was unveiled by Jim Eisenreich as the Phillies began Alumni Weekend. The 50-year-old Kruk, who played for the raucous 1993 team that lost to Toronto in the World Series, was introduced by Darren Daulton. "This is the greatest place I've ever been," Kruk said as he addressed the crowd at Citizens Bank Park. "I met my wife here.