Could this happen again?

It seems as if it was just yesterday that the Phillies selected a fast-talking, cocky, high-school kid from Jacksonville, Fla., in the first round of the major-league baseball draft.

"I want to meet Pat Burrell, Scott Rolen, Curt Schilling and Desi Relaford," the 18-year-old pitcher said that day. "I want to play with them now. Just put me in the big show!"

In reality, it has been more than 10 years since Brett Myers spouted those words in a conference call with reporters on the day of the 1999 draft.

Over that decade, he has been both exciting and infuriating.

He was the guy who threw the final pitch and jubilantly flung his glove skyward when the Phillies broke a torturous 14-year playoff drought by winning the National League East on the final day of the 2007 season.

He was the guy who brought sellout crowds at Citizens Bank Park to their feet late last season, first with a gutsy, Sunday-night two-hitter against the Milwaukee Brewers (on three days' rest) and later with an amazing and wildly entertaining plate appearance against CC Sabathia in the playoffs. Featuring the swing of a lumberjack, Myers worked Sabathia for a nine-pitch, two-out walk, which kept the inning alive for the Shane Victorino grand slam that left many fans thinking, "This is our year."

But Myers, who learned to box as a youngster because, as he explained on draft day 10 years ago, "my dad wanted to toughen me up - he didn't want me to be one of those kids with no heart," has had as many downs as ups in his time as a Phillie.

As a low-level minor-leaguer in 2000, he angered upper management something fierce when he spat, "Who's going to teach me how to pitch now, Omar Daal?" in reaction to Schilling's being traded to Arizona.

As a young major-leaguer, he once cursed at pitching coach Joe Kerrigan in front of reporters in the clubhouse.

Myers' worst transgression came in June 2006, when he was charged with assaulting his wife, Kim, on a Boston street after a night of partying. The charges eventually were dropped.

Along the way, Myers found himself in other tempests - a verbal altercation with a reporter in August 2007, and most recently missing a minor-league rehabilitation start because of an eye injury that he said occurred when he fell getting out of the backseat of his family's Cadillac Escalade. Myers, at first, lied to a team athletic trainer and said he suffered the injury while playing catch with his 4-year-old son.

Good times.

Bad times.

Brett Myers, 29, has experienced plenty of both as a Phillie.

And now, it might all be close to over.

Myers will be a free agent at the end of the season. He can see the end of his tenure with the only professional team he's ever been part of rising on the horizon.

He can see it.

But he refuses to dwell on it.

The man who alternately has energized and enraged said he believes he still has much to offer his team, even if it's for only a month or two. And the funny thing is: As Brett Myers possibly heads for the door, he might be more important than ever to the team.

"I'm not looking at it as the first day of the rest of my career," he said of his imminent return from the disabled list during a lengthy interview Thursday. "I'm looking at it as the last month before we go try to win another freaking World Series. I just want to help us do that."

Ruben Amaro Jr. didn't plan on this. When Myers went down with a hip injury - he had torn cartilage and bone spurs - that required surgery on June 4, Amaro, like most, figured Myers was done for the season.

"We were not counting on him at all," the Phillies' general manager said. "It's a pleasant surprise. He's well ahead of schedule, and that's great. It'll be even better when he's out there performing on a major-league level healthy."

Myers has nearly completed a minor-league rehab assignment. He is expected to be activated by the end of this week. He has not had enough time to build the endurance needed to start, so he will pitch out of the bullpen, a role he relished during a stint as closer in 2007.

Myers came up as a starter but moved to closer out of necessity when Tom Gordon was injured in 2007. Myers moved back to the rotation when the team acquired Brad Lidge before the 2008 season.

Lidge, of course, was one of the MVPs of the Phils' magnificent 2008 season. He was a perfect 48 for 48 in saves, his biggest coming Oct. 29, when he wrapped up the second World Series title in franchise history.

No one expected Lidge to be perfect again in 2009.

But no one expected him to have the most blown saves (nine, going into last night's game against the Braves) and highest ERA among major-league relievers (7.17) on the cusp of September, either.

Lidge's struggles have many wondering whether the Phillies can succeed in October again if the closer doesn't get back on track. On Tuesday night, after Lidge blew a save in Pittsburgh, radio broadcaster Larry Andersen stated emphatically that the team cannot survive in October with Lidge pitching the way he has.

The Phils have options if they decide to remove Lidge from the closer's role or give him a temporary respite. Ryan Madson has the stuff, but maybe not the stomach, for the role. Pedro Martinez could be an intriguing possibility in October.

But most of the speculation has fallen on the man who had the job before Lidge arrived.

Myers insists that he is not looking to take Lidge's job.

By the same token, he will be ready if Lidge continues to give it away.

"Can I solve something that I haven't done in two years?" Myers said. "I don't know. I'm hoping and praying that there's no issue. I want to see everyone on the team do well. I want to see Brad shut teams down. We're not competing with each other. We're competing against the other team. It's all about winning, and I just want to help in whatever role they give me. If they ask me to close a game, I can do that. I've closed before. It's nothing new. But it's not something I'm looking for. I just want to help."

Though he would not specify Myers' bullpen role, Amaro is excited to have the righthander back.

"Any time you can add an experienced guy late in the game, it's a plus," Amaro said. "I would rather use young guys as starters and veterans who can handle being in there late in games. It's great having that experience helping us in the 'pen in whatever role. But the decision on how Brett is used is up to [manager] Charlie Manuel and [pitching coach] Rich Dubee. We win as a team and we lose as a team. It's up to Charlie to put the team in the best position he can to win."

Manuel continually has supported Lidge, saying, "He's our closer." Manuel is not one to deal in what-ifs, but it is worth noting that he set a performance-matters precedent when he replaced Jamie Moyer, a major contributor in 2008, with Martinez after Moyer hit hard times this season.

Lidge is a thoughtful, introspective guy. Former Houston teammate Billy Wagner recently called him a "pleaser," because that's just what he likes to do, "please the people close to him." Confidence is an important ingredient for any athlete, and Lidge's no doubt has been bruised this season. All this leads to the question: Will Myers' return put pressure on Lidge? And if it does, will it translate positively or negatively for the beleaguered closer?

"I don't think [Myers' return] will put pressure on anyone," Amaro said. "If Brett makes us better, there's no pressure. Everyone on the field puts pressure on themselves to perform. Brett will be there to help us win baseball games in some capacity. That's a positive for us. It's a positive for Brad. It's a positive for Chase [Utley]. It's a positive for Ryan [Howard] and Charlie and the whole organization."

Myers' hip injury was serious enough that he could have packed it in for the season and set his sights on 2010. But he wanted to pitch again this season, so he pushed himself physically during his rehab.

"I wanted to set the record for the fastest recovery ever from hip surgery," he said.

There are those who will say that Myers was eager to return only because he will be a free agent and wanted to prove his health and effectiveness to teams that might have an interest in signing him over the winter. Myers strongly disputed that.

"People say I'm doing this for free agency, but that's just not true," he said. "I see an opportunity to pitch and compete and win a World Series with this team right now. I don't care what's going to happen next year. I only care about getting back on the field. I wanted to be part of the team again. I didn't want to be the guy that showed up at the end of the year to celebrate something I didn't contribute to. 'Hey, guys, thanks for letting me come to your party. Thanks for letting me ride on your float.' If I have anything to prove, it's that we can win again this year."

Nonetheless, Myers realizes that his work in the final month will be a bit of an audition for any team, including the Phillies, that might want to sign him. He is not sure whether he will go on the free-agent market as a starter or a closer, but he acknowledged that closing, with its short bursts of excitement and energy, better fits his fiery personality. Myers also acknowledged that he may have to take a one-year contract because he missed so much time this season.

Asked about Myers' future with the team, Amaro said that he hadn't begun to consider the makeup of next year's club, that he was too concerned with the team's defense of its World Series title.

There are signs that point to the Phillies letting Myers go. Cliff Lee, Cole Hamels, and J.A. Happ will return to the rotation next season. Moyer is also under contract, and there seems to be a desire to retain Joe Blanton, who is eligible for salary arbitration. In the bullpen, the Phils have Lidge, Madson, and J.C. Romero under contract.

The Phillies could find room for Myers if they wanted to. The question is: Do they want to? He is making $12 million this season and probably won't command much less next season. Though the Phils are clearing significant money from their payroll (they are paying Adam Eaton and Geoff Jenkins about $17 million not to play for them this season), they are set to give a number of core players large raises. They already have more than $103 million committed to 12 players for next season, and that's before the $8 million to $9 million they might have to pay Blanton. The Phillies are paying more than $130 million in salary this season and, despite the revenues that a wave of sellouts has brought, frequently have let it be known that there are limits to what they can and will do financially. All this could make Myers the odd man out, and he knows it.

"The Phillies have been my family for 10 years," he said. "There's part of me that really wants to stay. But I realize what could happen, and I won't be afraid of leaving if I have to."

Finances aren't the only matter the Phils have to consider with Myers.

After all the tumult, the team has to weigh the worth of investing more millions in a pitcher who, because of off-field incidents and injury, has at times been unreliable.

"Yeah, I can understand that," Myers said of the dilemma the team faces regarding his future.

It was a mature disclosure from a guy whose maturity often is questioned.

Myers shrugged.

"I don't know what it is," he said. "Dramas have followed me my whole life. I'm the guy who messes around and throws a peanut at someone and it hits them in the eye. When I was a kid, I broke my wrist riding my bike over a little wooden ramp. A hundred other kids rode over it, but I'm the guy that flips and breaks his wrist. I'm the guy that falls out of the Escalade."

Ah, the Escalade incident. Though no team official has said so, that might have been the proverbial last straw, putting into peril Myers' future with the team beyond this season. Two weeks ago, after having dinner and "two or three" beers with his wife and some friends at a restaurant in Jacksonville, Myers said he did a one-and-a-half out of the backdoor of the Escalade when he arrived home. The fall caused his left eye to swell shut. Myers said his feet got tangled in some headphones and children's toys, and that caused him to trip. Freak accident, he said. And about that widely reported dustup back at the restaurant? Myers says he was not involved, and so do the police.

The matter may be closed, but it still is reasonable to question the wisdom of Myers' leaving the Phillies' Clearwater training facility on the night before his first rehab start to return to Jacksonville for a night out with friends. Myers said it was his birthday, and he wanted to see his parents and his friends. For some, a trip home would be no big deal. But as Myers said, "Dramas have followed me my whole life."

Have the Phillies had enough of the drama? Amaro would not say.

"Brett's had his ups and downs, obviously, but at the same time he's done a lot to help the organization," Amaro said. "He adjusted and went to the bullpen when we asked him to. He went back to the rotation when we asked him to. He went to the minors when he struggled. He's made some sacrifices. At the same time, we've treated him well with a multiyear deal. But there's no doubt he's shown a lot of flexibility."

The drama involving Myers that people remember most was the incident in Boston when he and his wife scuffled. A few facts: The charges were dropped. The couple completed counseling. They love each other dearly, have two young children, and had been planning for a third until Kim miscarried (for the third time in two years) in May.

While the Myerses have put the incident behind them, others have not. Myers hears wifebeater from the stands when he warms up in the bullpen. The couple were at dinner in West Chester last year when a man jumped in front of their car and asked Myers to hold on a second.

"I want to go home and get my wifebeater T-shirt for you to autograph," the man told Myers.

Myers understands the comments. He knows that the incident is part of his life's resume. He says he has been accountable. He's not sure why people can't move on, as he and his wife have, but he deals with it.

"It bothers me," he said. "But I can't dwell on what people who don't know me as a person think. We had a great marriage forever - even before [the Boston incident] happened. We're best friends. We're not animals. I'm an animal when I play the game, because I want to be as aggressive as possible. But at home . . . we have a loving family. We try to raise our kids right.

"People make mistakes. Mine have gotten attention because I'm an athlete in a large media city. I'm not saying I was right. I'm just saying everyone makes mistakes."

Through his mistakes, the ball field has been Myers' haven, his getaway.

He loves rearing back and trying to strike out a batter. He's done it for eight seasons with the Phillies, and now could be down to his last month or two.

"If that's the case, I gave everything I had," Myers said. "I didn't go out there to the mound to take a break. When I went home, I asked myself, 'Did I bust my rear end making this start or closing this game?' I can say yes. Not one time did I lay low. I only know one way and that's full-throttle. From the first pitch, it was game-on."

It's almost game-on again for Brett Myers.

All he wants to do is provide help.

The Phillies might need some.