Jimmy Rollins

DENVER - The tedious process of returning from an oblique injury rambles forward for Chase Utley. He took batting practice with his Phillies teammates Friday and Saturday for the first time since he hurt his midsection on a batting-practice swing in Miami last month. He reported no complications. "Good," Utley said. "Good. " Asked if he had an idea when he could appear in a minor-league game, Utley said: "I do not. " He likely will not return to the Phillies until next weekend, at the earliest.

Second of eight parts It took only 18 days in the spring of 1947 for the Phillies to create a notorious reputation that even now, with African American stars such as Ryan Howard and Jimmy Rollins, they are still struggling to shed. Some of the ugly details about what transpired 60 years ago, when the Phils first encountered Jackie Robinson, have been forgotten or clouded by time. But there's no obscuring the story's unsavory substance: In two early-season series at Ebbets Field and Shibe Park, the Phillies, goaded by racist manager Ben Chapman, cursed, taunted and threatened the Brooklyn rookie who so recently had integrated baseball.

After batting fifth in back-to-back games, Jimmy Rollins returned to his customary role as leadoff hitter yesterday in the Phillies' 5-3, 10-inning loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers. If the Phillies shortstop was pleased about it, he didn't say so. In fact, he said nothing because he brushed off reporters for the second time this week. Anyway, the day couldn't have started much better for Rollins, who ripped Chad Billingsley's first pitch for a double, went to third on Shane Victorino's sacrifice bunt, and scored on Ryan Howard's sacrifice fly. In that at-bat, Rollins was the leadoff hitter that manager Charlie Manuel has come to expect.

ON SATURDAY afternoon, Charlie Manuel was concerned enough about Jimmy Rollins' sore right foot that he pinch-ran for him in the ninth inning of a 4-3 game with Kyle Kendrick. Kendrick was later picked off at second base on a blown call by the umpires, eliminating the potential tying run just before Cesar Hernandez doubled to rightfield. Yesterday, Manuel assumed that Rollins would be out of commission, so he drew up a lineup with Freddy Galvis starting at shortstop. But Rollins informed the manager that he felt well enough to play.

Jimmy Rollins proved yesterday he was the man to beat on the team to beat. The Phillies' shortstop was voted Most Valuable Player in the National League, deservedly beating out Matt Holliday of the Colorado Rockies in one of the closest ballots in the sport's history. Rollins' narrow victory was fitting for a player whose team won its division on the final day of the season. An athlete who is only 5-foot-8, Rollins stood up to pressure all year long. Before spring training began, he predicted that the Phillies were "the team to beat" in the National League East.

CLEARWATER, Fla. - He went from the buzzing crowds in Miami to some 100 people watching a minor-league game under grey skies, and Jimmy Rollins still could not understand why players scoff at the World Baseball Classic. Rollins will be 38 years old in 2017 when the next incarnation of the tournament happens. He is inviting himself. "If I'm still good enough at the time, and I can be brought back in any capacity . . . I'm leaving spring training. I'll tell you that right now," Rollins said.

Jimmy Rollins needs to clear some space for another award. The Phillies shortstop learned Tuesday that he would receive the fourth Rawlings Gold Glove award of his career and his first since the 2009 season. Rollins, who turns 34 Nov. 27, also won the award in 2007 and 2008. His four Gold Gloves rank him third in Phillies history behind third baseman Mike Schmidt (10) and center fielder Garry Maddox (8). Rollins used the occasion to pay tribute to his former manager Larry Bowa and the late John Vukovich.

HARD TO believe, but Jimmy Rollins arrived at the ballpark yesterday uncertain whether it would be his last home game at Citizens Bank Park. Despite a blowout win in Game 1 of the National League Division Series, three straight losses would end the Phillies' season in St. Louis, and the Cardinals got things started with a 5-4 victory last night in Game 2. Fortunes change quickly in a best-of-five series for a player in a contract year. Whenever this season ends, Rollins' focus will turn toward the size of the fortune he will require on the free-agent market.

Folk singer Joni Mitchell once famously summed up the difference between a painter and a performing artist. "Nobody ever said to Van Gogh, 'Paint a Starry Night again, man,'" she observed. What, then, are we to make of the challenge that has been set before Jimmy Rollins as another spring training rolls around? The Phillies' shortstop illustrated a baseball masterpiece in 2007. Statistics can be a trained pet that will perform whatever tricks are asked on command, but his numbers were still astonishing in many ways.

The Phillies continued their week of madcap comeback wins, possibly fueling the belief that hope remains in a season that hasn't provided an abundance of memorable moments. On a day that the Phillies signed lefty Cole Hamels to a six-year, $144 million extension, they also continued their late-game heroics with Wednesday's 7-6 win 10 innings over the Milwaukee Brewers at Citizens Bank Park. It was the Phillies' first three-game series sweep of the season. The three wins over the Brewers were by identical scores, and each came in its own dramatic way. Trailing, 6-5, in the 10th, the Phillies tied the game on Carlos Ruiz's sacrifice fly and finished matters with Jimmy Rollins' second walk-off hit in the last four games, all wins.

DENVER - The tedious process of returning from an oblique injury rambles forward for Chase Utley. He took batting practice with his Phillies teammates Friday and Saturday for the first time since he hurt his midsection on a batting-practice swing in Miami last month. He reported no complications. "Good," Utley said. "Good. " Asked if he had an idea when he could appear in a minor-league game, Utley said: "I do not. " He likely will not return to the Phillies until next weekend, at the earliest.

DENVER - After Friday's game, the Phillies will play 38 more times before July 31, a day that is once again viewed as the reckoning. One of baseball's most expensive payrolls has underachieved for the second straight season. The general manager is steadfast in affirming his commitment to the current players, but what else should Ruben Amaro Jr. say in mid-June? Reality crept upon these Phillies in the form of candid comments Thursday by Cliff Lee after a 3-2 victory in Minnesota.

MINNEAPOLIS - The Phillies were out-hitting the Twins 11-1 after six innings last night. Cliff Lee was dominant. Lee allowed one baserunner in the first six innings. And the nine players behind him were regularly getting on base when he was keeping the Twins off of them. It was the kind of game the Phillies should have won going away, ending a five-game losing skid by throttling Minnesota on the way out of town. Instead, it was a game the Phils led by just one run after six, lost the lead in the seventh and tested their lefthanded ace's overall patience.

FOR SEVEN innings, Cole Hamels kept the Phillies in position for a win. He struck out a season-high 11. He walked one. He allowed his only run on a solo homer in the fourth inning. And just when it looked like he would again be forced to simmer in a postgame stew, his offense came through. Jimmy Rollins connected on a go-ahead single, Ryan Howard knocked in two more with a triple to the wall, and Domonic Brown hit his 18th home run of the season as the Phillies used a five-run seventh inning to finish off a sweep of the Marlins with a 6-1 win at Citizens Bank Park yesterday.

THE REBUILDING of the organizational middle infield depth continued yesterday as the Phillies selected southern California high school standout J.P. Crawford with the 16th pick in the Major League Baseball draft. Crawford was widely regarded as one of the top middle infielders in the nation, a 6-3, 175-pound athlete with rare polish for a high school player. "Physically, I just think he has to fill out a little bit and grow into his body a little bit more," said Phillies assistant general manager Marti Wolever, who leads the organization's draft effort.

The Phillies did not need another majestic Domonic Brown blast to secure a victory Wednesday. Tortured Miami reliever A.J. Ramos threw Brown a 3-1 change-up on the outside edge in the seventh inning. Brown smashed it deep to right for his National League-leading 18th home run. That made it 6-1, the final score, and served as an exclamation point on the Phillies' fourth straight win, one that boosted them to .500 for the first time since April 14. But Brown's teammates - from Delmon Young to Jimmy Rollins and Ryan Howard - provided the heavy lifting.

The competition to see who replaces Jimmy Rollins as the Phillies' future shortstop got a little more crowded Thursday night when the team selected J.P. Crawford of Lakewood (Calif.) High School with the 16th overall pick in the first-year player draft. It is the same high school attended by righthander Shane Watson, the Phillies' first selection in last year's draft. Freddy Galvis is the leader in the clubhouse to replace Rollins because he is already in the big-league clubhouse.

ON SATURDAY afternoon, Charlie Manuel was concerned enough about Jimmy Rollins' sore right foot that he pinch-ran for him in the ninth inning of a 4-3 game with Kyle Kendrick. Kendrick was later picked off at second base on a blown call by the umpires, eliminating the potential tying run just before Cesar Hernandez doubled to rightfield. Yesterday, Manuel assumed that Rollins would be out of commission, so he drew up a lineup with Freddy Galvis starting at shortstop. But Rollins informed the manager that he felt well enough to play.

By William C. Kashatus Most gifted athletes eventually fall victim to one of two ills: father time or complacency. The former reveals itself in repeated injuries and diminished skill, the latter in a refusal to make the adjustments needed to perform at a highly competitive level. Jimmy Rollins, Chase Utley, and Ryan Howard - the core players of the 2008 World Championship Phillies - have reached this painful denouement in their careers. It's time for the Phillies to part ways with them while they still have some value on the baseball market.

Add Jimmy Rollins to the list of walking wounded for the Phillies. Rollins didn't start in Saturday's 4-3 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers at Citizens Bank Park because of a right foot injury. He did have a pinch-hit single in the ninth, but was lifted for pinch-runner Kyle Kendrick, who was then picked off second on a call that crew chief Tom Hallion admitted afterward was incorrect. As for Rollins, he didn't say much after the game, except that he hopes to play Sunday. Manager Charlie Manuel said that Rollins is day-to-day.