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This is the ballpark Scott Rolen had heard so much about.
The natural turf.
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The packed crowds.
No rats or cats.
It has all that, and a team with a $92 million payroll that is expected to win
the National League East. Rolen, the former Phillies third baseman who leads
the National League in RBIs with the St. Louis Cardinals, takes his first look
at Citizens Bank Park tonight when the Cardinals open a three-game series against
the Phillies.
"Talking to everybody, they said it was beautiful," Rolen said last
week in St. Louis.
For years, the Phillies pictured Rolen as the cornerstone to Citizens Bank Park.
But after their relationship deteriorated past the point of any reconciliation,
the Phillies traded him to St. Louis with pitcher Doug Nickle for second baseman
Placido Polanco and pitchers Bud Smith and Mike Timlin on July 29, 2002.
Opening Day 2004 seemed like forever back then.
Of course, Rolen has returned to Philadelphia twice since the trade. The first
two times certainly seemed a bit strange, even tough for Rolen.
The third?
"I think this year will be a little different," he said. "Just
because the Vet's not there and I haven't seen the stadium. That might change
some things up a little bit. We'll see. I wouldn't say it's easy. But that doesn't
have anything to do with the stadium."
Rolen, like everybody else, knows that Philadelphians have long memories, and
even longer vocal cords.
Think J.D. Drew.
Think Jose Mesa, when he makes his first trip to Philadelphia in September.
In the two series Rolen played for the Cardinals at Veterans Stadium, he was
booed lustily.
"I think now it's kind of the cool thing to do - 'Everybody else is doing
it,' " Phillies pitcher Randy Wolf said, when asked why Phillies fans continue
to boo Rolen. "I didn't like it when he was here, but now that he's on
the other team it's a compliment to him. Usually when the visiting players are
booed, it's because they're good players."
Phillies manager Larry Bowa agreed.
"It's definitely not the way he played," he said. "He's a great
player. He plays the way people here want you to play."
Bowa said he thinks fans eventually will get over their bitterness toward Rolen.
Rolen certainly wouldn't mind. He has been in St. Louis for more than a year
and a half. He has closed that chapter and moved on.
"When you spend 162 games, 180 days with a team, that's a long season,"
Rolen said. "You have a pattern here. You have a house here. You have a
ballpark here. You go back to Philadelphia for three days. That's it. When I
got traded that year, I was probably an ex-Phillie. I probably wasn't a St.
Louis Cardinal. But I have seven more years here. I feel more comfortable this
year as a St. Louis Cardinal, and I'm going to be here a long time.
"Are you a St. Louis Cardinal or are you an ex-Phillie? I'm a St. Louis
Cardinal. Yeah, I played for the Phillies. I don't forget those days, and I
don't regret those days. But I've been here almost two years."
Besides, it's easy to feel at home in a lineup like the one the Cardinals have.
With Albert Pujols, Edgar Renteria and Jim Edmonds, Rolen has found the middle
of that lineup to be quite cozy. He is hitting .330 with eight home runs and
28 RBIs.
Can't forget about his glove work at third base, either.
But will Philadelphians ever get over Rolen?
That remains to be seen. Drew never even put on a Phillies uniform, but he's
still booed. Rolen was a second-round pick in the 1993 draft, and a can't-miss
prospect throughout his time in the minor leagues. He won the National League
rookie of the year award in 1997.
He won Gold Gloves.
He was an all-star.
Now he's just an opponent who is interested to see what the new ballpark in
Philadelphia is like.
"I heard the ball flies a little bit in left field," he said. "Do
they have a jet stream or something going on over there?"
He finds out tonight.
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