Halladay

Watching Roy Halladay shake off his manager's hook in the ninth inning left Shane Victorino in wonder. But later, just thinking about it made him upset. "He's an absolute gamer," said Victorino, the Phillies' centerfielder. "That's why it makes it more frustrating that we lost. " Halladay threw 132 pitches, the most by any pitcher in the majors this season and one shy of his career high. He pitched a complete game and allowed just two runs. The Phillies still lost to Pittsburgh, 2-1. "We couldn't get no runs, of course," Phillies manager Charlie Manuel said.

Neither Roy Halladay nor CC Sabathia will last much beyond two innings Thursday. But that doesn't mean all of the luster from the Phillies' Grapefruit League opener will be diminished. It's a rematch of the World Series. Halladay is scheduled to make one of the most anticipated spring debuts in Phillies history. And, well, it's finally some actual baseball after weeks of workouts. Yesterday, pitching coach Rich Dubee mapped out the Phillies' pitching plans for the first week of Grapefruit League play.

LET'S HOPE Roy Halladay doesn't try to imitate the stance of the bobblehead featured on MLB.com on Thursday.   According to the site, the figurine in the photo was never really offered. The site used the wrong photo of the item, taken from a prototype. But that won't stop us from poking fun at the flawed bobblehead. First off, Halladay is righthanded and his glove is on the wrong hand. Also, the ball is in his left hand, but he's using a left-leg kick. Finally, the beard is light brown, but the hair on its head is black.

The Phillies' Roy Halladay has been named The Sporting News' National League Pitcher of the Year in a vote by the players. Halladay, in his first season in the NL and with the Phillies, led the big leagues in complete games (nine) and shutouts (four), won 21 games in the regular season, struck out a career-high 219 and pitched a perfect game against the Marlins. This likely is the first of several awards Halladay will collect for his performance. Halladay was the only Phillie honored.

When Roy Halladay is at his best he can frequently help overcome the offensive inefficiency of the Phillies. These days if the righthander isn't totally on his game, winning can be an iffy proposition. For the second straight outing, Halladay wasn't his usual dominating self, and coupled with another lackluster offensive effort it equaled the end of the Phillies' modest two-game winning streak. Halladay allowed three runs in seven innings as the Chicago Cubs defeated the Phillies, 5-1 on Friday in the first of a four-game series at Citizens Bank Park.

When Roy Halladay is at his best he can frequently help overcome the offensive inefficiency of the Phillies. These days if the righthander isn't totally on his game, winning can be an iffy proposition. For the second straight outing, Halladay wasn't his usual dominating self, and coupled with another lackluster offensive effort it equaled the end of the Phillies' modest two-game winning streak. Halladay allowed three runs in seven innings as the Chicago Cubs defeated the Phillies, 5-1 on Friday in the first of a four-game series at Citizens Bank Park.

On paper, this seemed like a serious mismatch. In this instance, the paper didn't lie. The Phillies vs. the Washington Nationals? Sure, that one looks lopsided, but not as much as the Phillies against John Lannan. Or Roy Halladay against the Nationals. With Thursday night's 7-3 win over Washington at Citizens Bank Park, Halladay improved to 5-1 this season, and he is now 10-1 lifetime against the Nationals. Lannan, who was sent to an early shower, allowed six runs, all earned, in two-plus innings to take the loss.

MILWAUKEE - When Roy Halladay first arrived at Phillies spring training, those around him in the clubhouse marveled at his work ethic. What time did he get here? 5:30 a.m.? Seriously? Halladay was busy. He followed the same demanding workout routine he had for years with Toronto - except many were noticing only now because he was on a winner, a big-market team with plenty of attention surrounding it. This was lost in the commotion: Quietly one day, Phillies pitching coach Rich Dubee introduced Halladay to a split-finger grip for his change-up.

WASHINGTON - When the Phillies paid Roy Halladay $60 million to pitch in the spotlight, they never anticipated he'd be so good at avoiding it. The Cy Young winner's debut as a Phillie and a National Leaguer was supposed to be a big deal, transforming opening day into a Halladay holiday, especially for all those red-clad Philadelphians who formed a traffic clot on southbound I-95 Monday morning. Instead, by the time the Phillies' 11-1 rout of the Nationals began, Halladay's name had come off the marquee, supplanted by Donovan McNabb, President Obama, several wounded war heroes, even Bud Selig.

Roy Halladay's trip down rehab road has officially started after Wednesday's surgery in Los Angeles went as well as could be expected, according to Phillies team physician Michael Ciccotti. Neal ElAttrache, the team physician for the Los Angeles Dodgers, repaired Halladay's shoulder and rotator cuff in an arthroscopic procedure. ElAttrache also removed the bursa that cushions the shoulder. A bone spur that was found in Halladay's shoulder did not need to be removed. "The major attachment sites of the rotator cuff - the cable, we call it - in the front and the back, they were still attached," Ciccotti said during a news conference Thursday at Citizens Bank Park.

THE MAGIC WORD during the near-15- minute-long briefing of Roy Halladay's recent surgery and upcoming rehab from Phillies team physician Dr. Michael Ciccotti? Possible. As in, all things are possible. Is it realistic to expect Roy Halladay back on a major league mound this season? According to Ciccotti, "It's very possible. " Would more time to recover - and thus, being shut down for the remainder of the season - help Halladay in the long run? "Very possible," Ciccotti said.

PHOENIX - A surgeon will cut into Roy Halladay's shoulder Wednesday, one day after the pitcher turns 36. Halladay, a self-labeled optimist, refuses to focus on the possibility he will never pitch again, not for the Phillies or any major-league team. He insists he will return before 2013 is over. "It's too easy to look at the bad stuff," Halladay said. But, if this is how it ends, Halladay had something he wanted to say. He called an impromptu meeting with reporters before Friday's game at Chase Field and spoke for eight minutes.

A SHOULDER like the one that Roy Halladay described to reporters yesterday does not just occur over the course of a month or 2. What we have witnessed over the last year is the culmination of years of abuse, and if you think that is not the appropriate word for it, spend a few minutes studying the physiology of a pitcher's delivery. Delivering a ball in an overhand motion at 90-plus mph is not a task the human body was meant to perform, and over the last decade few pitchers have performed it as often as Halladay.

SAN FRANCISCO - The first positive sign came on Tuesday night, when Roy Halladay checked back into the clubhouse at AT&T Park and was wearing his regular Phillies workout gear following the team's win over the Giants. He didn't look like a guy preparing a retirement speech. The next came about 12 hours later, when an upbeat Halladay wore both his game uniform and an ear-to-ear grin as he greeted reporters a couple of hours before his scheduled news conference. "Are you guys going to grill me?"

SAN FRANCISCO - Roy Halladay slouched on a couch Wednesday morning and kept a large cup of coffee at his side while the rest of the Phillies clubhouse stirred before another day of baseball. He watched Atlanta against Cincinnati on TV. They played the game to which he has dedicated his life. A surgeon will soon cut a small incision in Halladay's right shoulder, and it will be months before he can pitch again. Still, he smiled Wednesday. He vowed that it would take more to pry baseball from his prized but defective arm. "I have no regrets at any point in my career," Halladay said.

PHOENIX - A day after his 36th birthday, Roy Halladay will undergo arthroscopic surgery on his right shoulder. The Phillies announced the news before last night's game against the Diamondbacks. Halladay had been mulling his options but decided to have the procedure done in Los Angeles on Wednesday by Neal ElAttrache, the doctor who examined him earlier this week. "I liked him, I thought he was spot-on," Halladay said on Wednesday in San Francisco, when he announced that he would need surgery.

SAN FRANCISCO - A week from his 36th birthday, Roy Halladay sat in a doctor's office in Los Angeles and couldn't escape wondering about his future. Halladay was examined by Dr. Neal ElAttrache at the offices of Dr. Lewis Yocum yesterday, a day after being placed on the 15-day disabled list with right shoulder inflammation. Before last night's game in San Francisco, the Phillies said there would be no update on Halladay's test results until today. And so, they wait. "I expect to hear something before we go home tonight," said a hopeful Charlie Manuel.

"[Family members] are under strict orders to speak up if they think I am not writing well any longer, because at this point I could write the telephone directory and get money for it. " - Author John le Carré, 81, to the New York Times   MUHAMMAD ALI'S last fight was a loss to Trevor Berbick in a 10-round decision. That isn't the one I remember, though. It was the fight before that, against Larry Holmes, that will forever endure. The fight was in 1980, with Ali coming out of retirement to try to beat the champion.

SAN FRANCISCO - If the Phillies had information Tuesday regarding Roy Halladay's health, they were not sharing it with the world. A cloud of uncertainty remained over their rotation and the star righthander's future. Halladay saw a doctor Tuesday, this much is sure. But the Phillies did not release any further updates. It was unknown exactly when during the day Halladay saw Neal ElAttrache, the Dodgers' team physician, in Los Angeles, and what tests were performed. An MRI examination was expected.