Spring Training

CLEARWATER, Fla. - Roy Halladay's spring training ended at 2:20 p.m. Thursday when he dropped the ball into Rich Dubee's hands. He did not immediately leave the mound. Halladay said something to his pitching coach and pretended to throw once more. Then he jogged 23 steps to the dugout, where teammates extended their hands in support. "I'm happy with it," Halladay said. He threw 96 pitches to record 13 outs Thursday - and three of those outs were Toronto baserunning blunders. Only 57 were strikes, but Halladay claimed "a lot of them were strikes.

CLEARWATER, Fla. - Less than an hour before the Phillies' final Florida exhibition, Ruben Amaro Jr. found Delmon Young eating lunch in the clubhouse. The general manager shook the outfielder's hand, wished him luck, and patted him on the back. While everyone else packed, Young faced the likelihood of another month here to recover from ankle surgery. It does not bother him. "They can have April," he said. "I want October. " The Phillies have not assigned a hard timetable to Young's return and Young said he does not have a date in mind.

Here is a look at the key new Phillies: P Mike Adams: The Phillies invested $12 million in this quality reliever. P John Lannan: He struggled in spring training but could be a solid fifth starter. P Chad Durbin: Back for another stint, he could add veteran depth to the bullpen. 3B Michael Young: This seven-time all-star should solidify third base. OF Ben Revere: A young talent in the outfield, he does not have power but can make things happen. OF Delmon Young: Once he is healthy, he should contribute as a consisent hitter.

The Phillies went into the season two years ago with four aces and a sense that something special was about to happen. And they were right. The special wasn't quite as special as they had hoped, and they had no idea that Vance Worley, not Roy Oswalt, would be the fourth ace. Worley didn't even get to pose as one of the five aces when it was inexplicably decided that Joe Blanton should be the ace of something, too. Two years later, the...

LAKELAND, Fla. - The one thing no player or team wants the day before it leaves spring training is an injury. Phillies infielder Kevin Frandsen believes he barely avoided one Wednesday. Facing Detroit's Justin Verlander in the top of the third inning, Frandsen was hit in the left wrist by a fastball. He went to first base and remained in the game through the top of the inning but was removed by manager Charlie Manuel before the Tigers batted in the bottom of the third. "It's not like it's painful, but sore," Frandsen said after revealing the baseball stitch marks imprinted on his wrist.

Chase Utley, Ryan Howard, and Roy Halladay arrived for spring training as a trio of aging stars whose ability to play was limited in 2012 by injuries. The impact on the Phillies could be seen in the standings. After five consecutive division titles, the team finished at .500, and questions arose about the end of perhaps the best era in the franchise's history. The impact on the players carried into the offseason, in which each man in his own way altered his plan of attack with the hope of an improved 2013 for himself and his team.

CLEARWATER, Fla. - Kyle Kendrick was pitching in a minor league game in the last week of March. This year, that is a good thing. Kendrick, who has spent most of the last 4 years in a swing role that has sometimes left him on the precipice of the minor leagues, wrapped up a strong spring training on Monday afternoon. He allowed five earned runs, while surrendering three home runs on a windy day, but he struck out eight and walked only one, and afterward was pleased with his preparation for the regular season.

Crowds at spring-training games are down this year by about 14 percent, the Associated Press reported Wednesday, citing totals compiled by STATS. Several factors are blamed for the decline, including exhibition games starting more than a week earlier this year before fans had arrived in Florida and Arizona on vacation and spring break. Chilly weather also led to empty seats, and fans cited watered-down lineups resulting from players' being injured, taking part in the World Baseball Classic, or wanting to rest.

At Phillies spring training games, some fans' fancy lightly turns to thoughts of glove. That can happen when foul ground is patrolled by Hooters girls, as has been the case for a few years at Brighthouse Field in Clearwater, Fla. Saturday, two remarkable things happened during a game against the Tampa Bay Rays. First, a Hooters girl pretty cleanly fielded a sharp grounder. Second, the ball wasn't foul. "That was a fair ball, right over the bag . . . and the ballgirl, she knocked it down ... She has no idea that she has interfered with the play," coolly stated Tom McCarthy, the Phillies play-by-play man. ( View video below .)