Before yesterday’s game a bunch of us had a chance to catch up with Aaron Rowand over in the Giants’ clubhouse, who, as Phillies fans know, is one of the all-time good guys in sports.
Certainly Rowand’s time with the Phillies was eventful to say the least. During his first season with the club the team essentially folded up stakes and wrote off the season when Bobby Abreu and Cory Lidle were traded before the deadline. In announcing the trade general manager Pat Gillick said he couldn’t see the team contending for another two years.
He was kind of right.
With Rowand the Phillies took the wild-card race all the way to the final weekend of the season. In 2007 they finally broke through for their first postseason appearance in 14 years. Better yet, Rowand had a career year in ’07 with 27 homers, a .309 batting average and an out-of-character .889 OPS.
But when the contract expired and he became a free agent, the Phillies couldn’t compete with the five-years, $60 million deal he got from the Giants. Those two years were short and sweet for Rowand in Philly and when his former teammates won the World Series last October, their biggest fan might have been the team’s former centerfielder.
“I told those guys that I hoped they won every game except for when they faced my cousin [Ray’s starting pitcher James Shields],” he said, noting that he would have been jealous about the Phillies’ run had he not already got a ring with the White Sox in ’05.
Nevertheless, in two years filled with over-the-top hustle and meaningful games, nothing tops this:
About this year's Phillies' club, Rowand gave kudos to general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. for bolstering the pitching staff and admits a possible Phillies-Giants playoff series could be a blast.
"When you look at that team over there it's tough to say you could see them struggle against anybody. They have an opportunity to win every game," he said. "They have that offense, but look at their pitching."