"I felt better than I even expected," Ibanez said. "It was pretty noneventful."

Ibanez made his first appearance for the Double A Reading Phillies yesterday afternoon since he was put on the disabled list on June 18 with a strained left groin.

He played five full innings in his usual leftfield spot. At the plate - batting in the leadoff position - he was 0-for-2 with a strikeout, a walk, and a deep fly to rightfield.

"I'm really pleased with how it went," Ibanez said. "When I was playing everyday, there were certain things you could do but had to grind through the pain. That was going on for a while. [Yesterday] I was able to move to my left without feeling anything."

The next step for Ibanez is expected to be Triple A Lehigh Valley. With Reading heading to Akron, he will suit up for the IronPigs this afternoon and is expected to play six innings. If all goes well, Ibanez could be available for the Phillies' weekend series against Pittsburgh.

Ibanez, who admitted he felt rusty at the plate, scored the R-Phils' second run after walking in the third inning. He didn't need to test his groin as he reached second and third easily - on a bunt and a ground out - and trotted home on a single by Brian Stavisky.

"Of course I felt rusty," Ibanez said. "I hadn't seen a live ball in 3 weeks. Now it's just timing. The big thing was to check the health.

"Obviously, I didn't need to run down any balls in the gap, but . . . I was able to get to second pretty easily when we laid a bunt down. I didn't have to really test it . . . there was nothing to run 100 percent on."

Although he didn't get any chances in the field, he was able to gauge his groin on the stops-and-starts that usually wreak havoc on muscles in the outfield.

"Every time a guy fouls a ball off, in the outfield you're running. Every time someone takes a swing, you're moving," Ibanez explained. "Every time I moved [previously], I would feel it. [Yesterday] I didn't feel anything."

Reading ended up dropping the game, 4-3, to the first-place Connecticut Defenders. Ibanez played behind Phillies ace pitching prospect Kyle Drabek, who gave up two runs over seven strong innings. It was Drabek's father, Doug, a former Cy Young winner, that Ibanez got his first major league hit off on Aug. 16, 1997.

That hit was the beginning of an All-Star career.

On Sunday, Ibanez, 37, was named a starter in the 80th All-Star Game. He was hitting .312 with 22 home runs and 59 RBI in 62 games with the Phillies before he was sidelined with the injury. The game is 1 week from tonight in St. Louis.

Ibanez has made it clear that he needs to be activated by the Phillies and feel fully healthy before he considers a trip to Busch Stadium.

"You're one step closer to getting back on the field, which will hopefully make that [All-Star] opportunity happen," Ibanez said. "I'm going to be smart about it. I want to be on the field for the rest of the season with the Phillies. But the first step is to keep progressing." *