The two sides of Utley's injury

CLEARWATER, Fla. - The Chase Utley Watch goes on. For another day, it was conducted in silence. All we know about his status is quo.

No news is almost certainly not good news in this case. If Utley has patellar tendinitis, as the Phillies are telling us, he must have a wicked case. After two weeks of rest and four days with cortisone doing its work, there is no outward sign of progress. And you have to wonder how the knee will respond when he resumes pounding it every day.

If it is more serious, either the medical people haven't figured it out yet, Utley is seeking extra opinions, or the Phillies simply are choosing not to say anything at this point. With all the expectations surrounding this team, with all the excitement, their silence is getting pretty loud.

There is no map for the injury quagmire, unfortunately. No one wants to make a career-threatening mountain out of a rest-and-rehab molehill. If Utley is playing second base and batting third on opening day, no one wants to be the guy who proclaimed his season over on March 9.

"I'm counting on Utley to be in there," manager Charlie Manuel said Tuesday afternoon. That has been Manuel's position all along.

But here's the thing. The Phillies and Utley have established their untrustworthiness when it comes to injuries. That's their prerogative, but it comes with a price. They forfeit the right to be self-righteous or outraged when speculation outruns reality. If you don't explain the math, you can't blame people for adding 2 and 2 and getting 5.

Utley has evaded questions about his health his entire career. He will say he's fine and the team will say he's fine and then, come the offseason, he's having surgery on his hip. This does not make him unique among elite athletes, by any means. They are human, and no doubt anxious about any injury that disrupts or threatens their ability to compete.

But more than 3 million people will walk through the turnstiles at Citizens Bank Park this summer, having paid a considerable price for the privilege. They have a right to know whom they are paying to see. If you ordered tickets for U2 at the Linc, you'd want to know in advance if Bono wasn't going to be there.

In fairness, this stuff isn't always neat or obvious. Diagnosis and treatment aren't always clear-cut. One possible reason the Phillies aren't saying much is that they don't know for sure what's happening inside Utley's knee - which, by itself, would be a bad thing.

Another possibility: If the prognosis is worse than announced, general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. may have to think about a trade to fill the considerable hole Utley would leave in the lineup. If the world knows he's desperate, that trade will be tougher to make. Of course, the moment he called another general manager to inquire about an infielder, the secret would be out. Everyone in baseball has Internet access - even the Royals - and knows Utley has been in dry dock.

If the Phillies or Utley are bothered by the level of interest in this tender tendon, they must understand that it comes with those 3 million-plus fans in the ballpark and the big TV ratings. With their success, the Phillies have created a monster here that needs to be fed almost constantly via newspapers, radio, TV, the Web, Twitter, and any other means available.

This brings to mind Stan Van Gundy's take on the Miami Heat's recent travails. The Orlando Magic coach noted that Heat guard Dwyane Wade's complaints about negative attention were a bit hypocritical after the Heat all but pronounced themselves champions of the universe upon signing LeBron James and Chris Bosh.

"I do chuckle a little bit when they complain about the scrutiny they get," Van Gundy told reporters in Orlando. "My suggestion would be if you don't want the scrutiny, you don't hold a championship celebration before you've even practiced together. It's hard to go out yourself and invite that kind of crowd and celebration and attention, and then when things aren't going well, sort of bemoan the fact that you're getting that attention."

Now the Phillies most assuredly did not herald their acquisition of Cliff Lee with an ostentatious public ceremony (although the mental image of Lee and Roy Halladay preening like rock stars on a stage is kind of amusing). Their five-man news conference last month was a bit unusual, but it hardly compared with the Heat's travesty.

The similarity is in the level of excitement and expectation created by the teams' offseason moves. Phillies fans have been ready for this season to begin since December. They've also been watching the skies for signs of trouble.

An injury to Utley counts as significant trouble. So the watch goes on. And on.