Jim Thome

NEW YORK - Eleven months ago, he smiled for the cameras at Citizens Bank Park, ready to rejuvenate his career with an old friend, signing a one-year contract to join Charlie Manuel and the Phillies, and perhaps, give first base a try, too. Seven months ago, Jim Thome sat at his corner locker stall inside Bright House Field in Clearwater, Fla., with an icepack strapped to his jersey in an effort to ease his now-42-year-old back. In June, he hit a walk-off home run against the Tampa Bay Rays to prevent the Phillies from losing for what would have been the 14th time in their last 19 games.

TORONTO - It's entirely possible that Jim Thome made his final Phillies start on Sunday. He made it a memorable one. With a second-inning blast to right field as a designated hitter, Thome became the fourth player in baseball history with at least 100 home runs for three teams. Thome homered in the second inning of a 6-2 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays at the Rogers Centre. The others who have hit at least 100 homers for three teams are Alex Rodriguez (Seattle, Texas, New York)

Reunions can be fun. Watching Brian Dawkins hug his former Eagles teammates and fight back tears as he talked about the late Jim Johnson's profound impact on his career was one more grand moment for the man who used to serve as the needle that inflated the energy level at Lincoln Financial Field. Reunions can be painful. Watching 41-year-old Jim Thome play baseball this season has been excruciating. Thome, of course, was the man who by simply signing a contract restored enthusiasm for a franchise that had fallen into a dark abyss.

The reality of it all is still sinking in for Jim Thome. No, not the reality of leaving the Cleveland Indians after 12 years, 334 home runs, and enough good memories to stretch across Lake Erie and back. He has come to terms with that. No, not the reality of being the one player to score huge dollars in a winter in which free-agent salaries have fallen from the breathtaking heights of previous years. Thome is keenly aware of what has happened to the market, and he appreciates every dollar and every bit of faith the Phillies have lavished upon him as they hitch their hopes of becoming a perennial contender to his broad shoulders.

CLEVELAND - Delmon Young awoke Tuesday in Louisville, Ky., knowing his time as a minor-league player was over. A day earlier, general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. had called and asked Young whether he was ready to play the outfield for the Phillies. "Yes," Young said. He hopped a flight to Baltimore and another to Cleveland, where he was activated from the disabled list and inserted into the middle of Charlie Manuel's lineup. The 27-year-old former No. 1 overall pick arrived as a great unknown.

Listening to the people who know Jim Thome well, one would think the Phillies signed a saint, not a slugger. "You tell the Philadelphia fans they got a great player and a great guy," Charlie Manuel said last night. "They're going to love this guy. He'll make the Phillies' offense better, and he'll do whatever he can in the community. " Manuel has known Thome for more than a decade, first when Manuel was a hitting coach and then as when he managed the Cleveland Indians. To this day, Manuel remains Thome's baseball godfather.

CHARLIE MANUEL'S relationship with Jim Thome dates back to when the future Hall of Fame slugger was an anonymous 19-year-old minor leaguer who few thought had the tools to develop into an everyday big-leaguer. In fact, Manuel, who was a coach in the Indians' minor league system, initially paid more attention to another first-base prospect named Mike Davis. "I used to work with Mike Davis every day, and Jimmy would always hang out with him," Manuel said. "Really, I just kind of wondered, because I didn't think Jimmy was real good at that time.

Jim Thome and Charlie Manuel have always enjoyed a special relationship, and the slugger thought it was fitting that he and the manager shared more milestones together on an eventful Saturday afternoon in South Philadelphia. Thome's pinch-hit home run to lead off the ninth inning against hard-throwing lefthander Jake McGee provided the Phillies with a 7-6 win over the Tampa Bay Rays at Citizens Bank Park It was Thome's 609th career home run, tying him with Sammy Sosa for seventh on the all-time list.

CLEVELAND - Jim Thome has swung back to the Cleveland Indians. The slugger accepted a trade from Minnesota last night to return to the Indians, the team he started with and one hoping its career home-run leader can help them run down first-place Detroit in the AL Central. An unexpected season full of surprises and comeback wins for the Indians now has the most improbable return of all. As he's done on more than 600 career homers, Thome has rounded the bags and is coming home.

The Milwaukee Brewers were too worried about centerfielder Chuckie Carr's badly damaged right knee to fret over their 2-0 loss to the Charles Nagy and the visiting Cleveland Indians last night. Nagy became the American League's first nine-game winner and the Indians snapped a three-game skid. But Carr's injury dominated quiet talk in the Brewers' clubhouse. Carr was seriously hurt while making a sensational, leaping catch of Julio Franco's deep fly ball in the fourth inning.

CLEVELAND - Delmon Young awoke Tuesday in Louisville, Ky., knowing his time as a minor-league player was over. A day earlier, general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. had called and asked Young whether he was ready to play the outfield for the Phillies. "Yes," Young said. He hopped a flight to Baltimore and another to Cleveland, where he was activated from the disabled list and inserted into the middle of Charlie Manuel's lineup. The 27-year-old former No. 1 overall pick arrived as a great unknown.

NEW YORK - Eleven months ago, he smiled for the cameras at Citizens Bank Park, ready to rejuvenate his career with an old friend, signing a one-year contract to join Charlie Manuel and the Phillies, and perhaps, give first base a try, too. Seven months ago, Jim Thome sat at his corner locker stall inside Bright House Field in Clearwater, Fla., with an icepack strapped to his jersey in an effort to ease his now-42-year-old back. In June, he hit a walk-off home run against the Tampa Bay Rays to prevent the Phillies from losing for what would have been the 14th time in their last 19 games.

MIAMI - As the Phillies dressed after another loss Saturday, Jim Thome said his goodbyes. The room was quiet, except for a few players trying to catch up on the news. "Where is he going?" one asked. "Baltimore," another said. They both nodded. "It's bittersweet, to be honest," Chase Utley said. "Jim is a great teammate. I think we're all sorry to see him go, but also we're excited he'll get opportunities to get at-bats daily and still do a lot of damage. " Phillies general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. took the same diplomatic stance in discussing Thome's trade to the Orioles for two minor-leaguers.

Antonio Bastardo had one bad inning. Cliff Lee had two bad innings. As a result, the Phillies suffered through one extremely bad day, and night, suffering a split-doubleheader loss Sunday to the Tampa Bay Rays at Citizens Bank Park. Lee allowed three runs in the second inning and two in the sixth during the Phillies' 7-3 evening loss to the Rays. After Cole Hamels had thrown seven shutout innings in Game 1, Bastardo came on in the eighth and allowed two walks and Carlos Pena's three-run home run in a 3-2 defeat.

Jim Thome and Charlie Manuel have always enjoyed a special relationship, and the slugger thought it was fitting that he and the manager shared more milestones together on an eventful Saturday afternoon in South Philadelphia. Thome's pinch-hit home run to lead off the ninth inning against hard-throwing lefthander Jake McGee provided the Phillies with a 7-6 win over the Tampa Bay Rays at Citizens Bank Park It was Thome's 609th career home run, tying him with Sammy Sosa for seventh on the all-time list.

Jim Thome and Charlie Manuel have always enjoyed a special relationship, and the slugger felt it was fitting that he and the manager shared more milestones together in an eventful afternoon in South Philadelphia. Thome's solo, pinch-hit home run to lead off the ninth inning off hard-throwing lefthander Jake McGee provided the Phillies with Saturday's 7-6 win over the Tampa Bay Rays at Citizens Bank Park It was Thome's 609th career home run, tying him with Sammy Sosa for seventh on the all-time list.

TORONTO - Jim Thome stood in the center of the room with his white dress shirt still untucked and took one look around as his Phillies teammates dressed for a plane ride home. "We've got winners," Thome said. "We've got guys who have been through it in big, big games. How do you explain that? It's hard to, sometimes. Baseball is a weird game. " That is a season spiraling toward irrelevancy in the middle of June. Sunday spawned more Phillies frustration in the form of a listless 6-2 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays, who capped a three-game sweep at the Rogers Centre.

TORONTO - It's entirely possible that Jim Thome made his final Phillies start on Sunday. He made it a memorable one. With a second-inning blast to right field as a designated hitter, Thome became the fourth player in baseball history with at least 100 home runs for three teams. Thome homered in the second inning of a 6-2 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays at the Rogers Centre. The others who have hit at least 100 homers for three teams are Alex Rodriguez (Seattle, Texas, New York)

MINNEAPOLIS - For a few innings after Jim Thome clobbered the 607th home run of his Hall of Fame career, fans in right field searched for the ball. It flew so high into the Minnesota sky Thursday that when it landed, it plopped deep into a flower bed at Target Field and vanished. Eventually, once a Twins grounds crew member fetched the ball following a Phillies' 6-1 victory, it would belong to Thome. The slugger tries hard to recover all of his home run balls - he had procured his two previous ones in 2012 after fans threw them back onto the field - and they will forever serve as his souvenirs.