July 8, 2007

Rowand's All-Star year comes at right time
By SCOTT LAUBER, The News Journal

DENVER -- The call, a long-distance motivational speech from one friend to another, came late last December.

"Get your [butt] to Philadelphia," Aaron Rowand said, his voice booming over the phone.

Greg Jacobs listened, thought for an instant, then packed up his Southern California home and bought a plane ticket because, well, that's what you do when your best pal from college, a center fielder in the majors for the past seven years, offers to help revive your sputtering career.

But Rowand needed Jacobs, too. Determined to prove his injury-filled 2006 season was a fluke and to have a big year for the Phillies before becoming a free agent, he planned to train feverishly for 2 1/2 months until spring training. And that meant reuniting with Jacobs, his former teammate and workout partner at Cal State-Fullerton.

Jacobs had spent the past two seasons with a team in the independent Northern League, batting .340 and dreaming of someday getting another shot in affiliated baseball. Rowand recommended him to the Phillies, who signed Jacobs to a minor-league contract in November, one month after his 30th birthday.

"Aaron put his butt out there for me," Jacobs said Friday in a telephone interview before a game at Class AA Reading, "and I wasn't going to let him down. He wanted somebody to push him and get all he can out of himself. I told him, 'I'll get that ticket. I'll see you in a couple days.' "

Six months later, Jacobs is heading to the Eastern League All-Star Game on Wednesday night in Norwich, Conn.

And Rowand? For the first time, he's an All-Star, too, tabbed last week by St. Louis Cardinals manager Tony La Russa to represent the Phillies on Tuesday night in San Francisco.

Funny, isn't it, how things work out?

Sweet redemption

Rowand sat in the Phillies' clubhouse at Wrigley Field last Aug. 22, his left foot propped on a chair and crutches by his side, when he heard his name spoken during the "Happy Trails" segment of ESPN's "Pardon The Interruption."

The night before, while chasing a pop-up in shallow center field, Rowand collided with second baseman Chase Utley and pinwheeled in the air. Upon landing, he broke his ankle, an injury that required season-ending surgery Aug. 25.

Two months earlier, Rowand famously crashed face-first into an unpadded, metal strip above the center-field wall at Citizens Bank Park to make a game-saving catch. He broke his nose and several bones around his left eye, causing him to miss 13 games at a time when he was batting .310.

In 52 games after his return, he batted .215. When his season ended so abruptly, he was batting .262 with 12 home runs and 47 RBIs, far below his career averages of .284, 16 homers and 63 RBIs.

And, after a winter of hearing trade rumors to the Padres for reliever Scott Linebrink or to his old team, the White Sox, for seemingly anybody, Rowand has been the Phillies’ most consistent right-handed hitter, batting .315 after a 3-for-4 performance Friday night.

"It's satisfying in the fact that I feel like I'm playing more to what I'm capable of doing," said Rowand. "People have always looked at me as more of a defensive outfielder. I've always felt like I can swing the bat, be a run producer."

Rarely has he swung better, and the Phillies have needed it. Pat Burrell has been in a brutal slump since April, and Wes Helms hasn't produced the power they expected when they signed him as a free agent, leaving Rowand as their lone formidable right-handed hitter.

“He’s picked us up a lot,” general manager Pat Gillick said. “It’s important that Aaron’s been able to supply us with some power from the right side. He really has played exceptionally well.”

And at the perfect time in his career, too.

Cashing in

After the season, Rowand can become a free agent for the first time, and he's setting himself up for a big payday.

Rowand, 29, grew up in Southern California, owns a home in Las Vegas and loved playing in Chicago until he got dealt for Jim Thome on Nov. 25, 2005, one month after helping the White Sox win the World Series. But he and his wife are so fond of Philadelphia that they bought a house in Boothwyn, Pa., last winter.

They'd like to return next season, but Rowand's agent, Craig Landis, said the Phillies haven't initiated contract talks. Last winter, Rowand avoided salary arbitration by agreeing to a one-year, $4.35 million deal, and he'll certainly get a raise, even though the free-agent market may be flooded with center fielders, including Torii Hunter, Andruw Jones and Ichiro Suzuki.

Landis suspects the Phillies may prefer younger, less expensive center-field options Michael Bourn ($380,000) or Shane Victorino ($410,000), neither of whom will be arbitration eligible.

“Aaron would certainly consider the Phillies, but we haven’t had that choice thus far,” Landis said Friday by telephone. “If it happens, it happens. But they are blessed to have what they view as replacements. There’s a good chance they might have Bourn or Victorino in center next year. If they have to spend money elsewhere, they have an inexpensive replacement.”

Asked if Rowand's performance makes the Phillies more inclined to consider re-signing him, Gillick said, "It sure does. He's a real ballplayer, a gamer. He's a guy you love to have out there."

Enjoying the moment

For now, though, Rowand is looking forward to the All-Star Game, an event to which he never imagined he'd be invited. Jacobs, however, knew it was possible as soon as he joined his old friend six months ago.

"He started hitting in December," Jacobs said. "Full swing, full everything. I told him, 'Man, you're nuts.' He wanted to bust his butt and prove he could hit for average, drive in runs, put the ball in the gap and hit home runs."

But Rowand's value always has gone beyond numbers. Even in college, Jacobs said Rowand's biggest contribution came in immeasurable intangibles. He ran into walls to catch fly falls and slid hard to break up double plays, earning the nickname "Rock Head." Landis calls him a "throwback to the old-school guys."

Jacobs just calls him "the best teammate there is."

"He told the Phillies, 'This Jacobs guy, you really should take a look at him,' " said Jacobs, batting .325 with 13 homers and 54 RBIs through Friday. "He took me [to Citizens Bank Park] to have the staff see me throw and hit. I took a few pictures and put them in my locker. It makes me work harder to get where Aaron's at."

On Monday night, Rowand will be at AT&T Park with his 2-year-old son, McKay, watching teammate Ryan Howard in the Home Run Derby and videotaping the moment for posterity.

"That's going to be the best part of the whole thing, sitting on the sidelines with my son," Rowand said. "He's going to want to run around and play with stuff. I don't think he's going to grasp the whole thing yet. To be recognized by people like that. It's awesome.

"Sure, it's good timing in the sense that I'm going to be a free agent, and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't thinking about setting up my family. But I want to get another ring. I want to try to help this ballclub win."