Scott Rolen - The Blue Jay

I miss Scott Rolen. He was a great young player with a good bat and an incredible glove. He just went out and played good baseball and didn't make a scene. He left that to other players. I just wish that Dallas Green and Larry Bowa had just left him alone.

Then, with a good deal of acrimony left behind, he went to St. Louis during the 2002 season and went on to win a World Series ring. To me, this was quite a blow because it was all over the local media that he was unhappy. The inevitability of it left an empty feeling hanging in the air. And it followed on the heels of Curt Schilling's 2000 departure and eventual World Series ring. Again, the departure was with plenty of acrimony.

Philadelphia was a pretty grim place for a few years entering Y2K. It didn't help that the baseball team's two best players were gone shortly after the decade began.

There was no Chase Utley or Ryan Howard or Cole Hamels at that time. Sure, we had Pat Burrell and Jimmy Rollins, but that didn't make up for the loss of Rolen. Placido Polanco was pretty good, but then the Phils traded him to Detroit in 2005. All he's done since then is become a great hitter and play in a World Series.

All I'm saying is that I enjoyed watching Scott Rolen play baseball here. He even said that if things had worked out, he'd have signed with the Phils. That would be neat. What an infield - Rolen, Rollins, Utley and Howard???

But it didn't work out that way. I will look out for Rolen when the Blue Jays come to town. And for every uncatchable ball that he scoops up...I'll remember a time when he did that in red pinstripes.