Tommy Greene

Tommy Greene will throw on the side today. Normally, a pitcher can do that in relative privacy. This workout, however, will be well-attended. The Phils' No. 2 starter left Monday night's game after just three innings, complaining of stiffness in his right shoulder. Greene said yesterday that he felt a little better, but manager Jim Fregosi said his status for his next start remained uncertain. "We won't know a thing until we watch him throw on the side," Fregosi said yesterday.

As soon as Tommy Greene threw that final pitch Thursday, the Week in Review no-hitter desk sprang into action. And we are now prepared to answer every conceivable no-hitter question you could possibly have. Such as: 1. Greene had won exactly six big-league games in his life before he no-hit the Expos. But who are the seven no-hit pitchers who owned even fewer wins, just in the last 40 years? Start with the legendary Bobo Holloman (no wins or starts before his no- hitter in 1953)

Tommy Greene struck out five hitters in two innings during an extended- spring game in Clearwater yesterday. Surprisingly, that performance did not excite Jim Fregosi. Asked what Greene's outing meant, the Phillies manager said: "That he's throwing again. He's pitched in a game, and now he'll continue on. " Fregosi said Greene's fastball was clocked at 83 to 84 m.p.h. One reached 85, although that was still far below Greene's normal velocity. Was that significant? "No," said the manager.

This Tommy Greene saga might one day merit theatrical treatment: Boy gets hurt. Boy gets healthy. Boy loses fastball. Boy is racked by indecision. Greene, who according to two orthopedic surgeons does not need surgery on a right shoulder that continues to hurt him, apparently will try once again to pitch with pain. A source with the Phillies indicated yesterday that the 28-year-old righthander will return to Florida soon and test his pitching shoulder in extended spring training.

No one has said as much yet, but it's easy to get the feeling that the Phillies aren't far from writing off Tommy Greene for this season. Yesterday, when Jim Fregosi was asked whether he believed that Greene could recover from his shoulder ailment in time to contribute in 1995, the manager was uncharacteristically pessimistic. "I have a lot of questions about that," Fregosi said. On Friday, general manager Lee Thomas said he planned to stop worrying about Greene, and, for that matter, Bobby Munoz, who has a sore elbow, until the rehabilitating pitchers were completely healthy.

Tommy Greene is out. Tyler Green is in. For now. The Phillies yesterday placed Greene on the 15-day disabled list and recalled Green from triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, where he was 3-3 with a 3.86 ERA in nine starts. Overall, he was 4-7 with a 4.23 ERA. Green, a 6-foot-5 righthander who was the Phillies' No. 1 pick in the 1991 draft, will make his first major-league start tomorrow against Pittsburgh. Greene, whose stint on the disabled list is retroactive to Wednesday, will miss two starts because of a strained right groin.

Historically, baseball is a city game. Modern baseball is suburban. But the mythical root of the game is in the country, and that is where Tommy Greene, the Phillies righthander in the midst of a dream season, is from. City dwellers and suburbanites tend to romanticize rural life, but Greene has lived in the country all his days and he does not. He says the summer heat in Whiteville, the small town in which he was raised, is oppressive. The gossip, he knows, can be oppressive, too. He says there's little in Whiteville in the way of food and movies and music.

The Phillies finally received some good news about their injury-ravaged pitching staff yesterday: Tommy Greene, on the disabled list with tendinitis in his right shoulder, is making progress and could return later this season. "Tommy is getting better. He does not have the pain that he had in the back of his shoulder," said Phillip Marone, the team's physician. "He's in the healing stage. " Greene, who had been shut down for about six weeks, received permission to start throwing yesterday.

It was tough to walk around Veterans Stadium this weekend without running into a disabled pitcher. The way things are going, it might soon be tough to walk around the Western Hemisphere without bumping into a banged-up Phillies hurler. Ken Howell ran a few laps yesterday. Tommy Greene prepared to return to his Virginia home. Andy Ashby removed a few things from his locker. And, sometime this week, Jose DeJesus will arrive for a checkup. "I'm getting kind of used to it," said Phils manager Jim Fregosi of the pitching casualties.

Tommy Greene, who went 16-4 last season and won the Phillies' pennant- clinching game in the playoffs, signed a one-year, $2 million contract yesterday. By signing Greene, the Phillies avoided arbitration. Greene, 26, was in his first year of eligibility, and he had until tomorrow to file for arbitration. Six Phillies remain eligible for that process. "This was something we had to get done, and we're happy we got it done early," Phils general manager Lee Thomas said. "Tommy is one of the guys we'll be counting on. " Greene, who earned $275,000 last season, has various incentive clauses in his new contract.

This weekend's "Pup Rally" and a 5K with a post-race party mark the start of Paint the Town Red Week, the Phillies' annual build-up to the first games at Citizens Bank Park. Leading this crimson tide of enthusiasm will, of course, be the Red Phanatic, who's expected at every event. Note that Thursday is the deadline to buy tickets for Friday's On Deck With the Phillies Reception. Phillies Charities 5K, Saturday. It's too late to sign up to be one of the 5,000 runners, but fans on hand at 9 a.m. on Phillies Drive at the park will get to see former pitcher Tommy Greene, ballgirls, Phoebe Phanatic and broadcaster/event emcee Jim Jackson, and pick up "Phillies beads and cheercards (while supplies last)

Clearwater, Fla., was not the only place the Phillies made a splash Wednesday. While the players opened spring training at Bright House Field, Paula Bryan of Wallingford was first in line at Citizens Bank Park as Phillies single-game tickets went on sale. Although the ticket office was not scheduled to open until 8:30 a.m., Bryan - with her lawn chair and bundled up in a heavy coat, scarf, and gloves - staked out her spot at 7 p.m. Tuesday. By 8 a.m. Wednesday, about 50 people had lined up behind Bryan, and the Phillies provided a few surprises.

The Phanatic, ballgirls, broadcasters, former players and some media notables will be touring downtown in a trolley today, pumping up Phillies fans and handing out thousands of rally towels and cheer cards. The excursion was to begin by noon at Citizens Bank Park, head up Broad Street, loop around Rittenhouse Square, then take Chestnut toward Old City, before hitting Front and Broad Streets on the return trip home. It's all to build excitement for the decisive Game 5 of the National League Division Series against the St. Louis Cardinals.

It is alumni weekend at Citizens Bank Park, and the Phillies kicked it off Thursday with a luncheon inside the Diamond Club. John Kruk, who'll be inducted onto the team's Wall of Fame before Friday night's game against the Washington Nationals, was in attendance and performed an impromptu sit-down comedy act with Mitch Williams, the most beloved pitcher ever to surrender a World Series-ending home run. Those two, of course, were part of...

THEY WERE lined up in front of him, like duckpins, and Cliff Lee picked them off one by one. Willie Hernandez and Wayne Twitchell in the second inning. Cole Hamels in the third, Hall of Famer Steve Carlton in the fourth, Randy Wolf in the fifth. J.C. Romero and Carlton, again, in the sixth. Curt Schilling and Tommy Greene in the seventh. Grover Cleveland Alexander, HOF, in the eighth, a milestone that had been in the books since 1916. And when it was all over, Cliff Lee walked off the mound at Citizens Bank Park after a 5-0 win over the Boston Red Sox to the delirious applause of yet another sellout crowd last night.

And on the second day, the Phillies filled some needs and drafted some interesting names. Scouting director Marti Wolever followed up the first-day selection of high school outfielder Larry Greene by making 30 more selections Tuesday. Going into the first-year player draft, Wolever identified middle infielders, catchers, and lefthanded pitchers as organizational needs, and his first pick of the day early in the second round was shortstop Roman Quinn from Port St. Joe High School in the Florida panhandle.

What's wrong with me? It's April 27. The Phillies are in first place and own one of baseball's best records. And yet my psyche's third-base coach is signaling me to panic. It's a little early, I know. Normally, I wait until Aug. 1 or until Ryan Madson can pitch three consecutive days without requesting a breather, whichever comes first. But the omens are everywhere. Think of all the worries afoot just 22 games into this season: Roy Halladay's arm may fall off. Danys Baez's won't.

Who: Pirates at Phillies When: 7:05 Where: Citizens Bank Park TV: None Radio: WPHT (1210-AM) Gates: Open at 5:35 p.m. and Ashburn Alley opens at 4:35 p.m. Giveaway: All fans receive a schedule magnet. The big screen: Fans will get their first look at the new massive HD videoboard. For the fans: Players are expected to be at various outposts around the ballparks. Pregame autograph opportunities with Phillies alumni including Bob Boone, Ricky Bottalico, Larry Bowa, Darren Daulton, Tommy Greene and others.

The Phillies left tired Olympic Stadium yesterday probably for the final time. It is the place where they clinched the 1980 division championship. It is where Tommy Greene threw a no-hitter in 1991. Over at old Jarry Park, the Phillies clinched the 1976 division championship. The Phillies beat the Expos yesterday, 2-1, for what is expected to be their final memory in Montreal. The crowd of 12,382 was helped by a promotion in which the first 10,000 fans to arrive were given an Expos winter knit cap. For the Phillies, there will be no more Crescent Street.

Olympic Stadium is where Mike Schmidt hit a dramatic home run on the final weekend of the 1980 season, clinching a division title that was eventually alchemized into the only world championship in franchise history. It's where Tommy Greene hurled a no-hitter in 1991, the last thrown by a Phillies pitcher. And it's where Mike Lieberthal drove in six runs last night in a losing cause because it wasn't enough to overcome a get-the-married-men-off-the-field start by Chad Ogea and four runs allowed by closer Jeff Brantley in the ninth as the Expos rallied to win, 10-9.