Sam Donnellon: Second time the charm for Polanco with Phillies

HE CAME to us the first time on the other end of a forced trade, Scott Rolen begging his way out of hell and into heaven, Placido Polanco willing to play anywhere.

He played here quietly, efficiently, for two seasons and parts of two others, until a different sort of deal sent him to Detroit for a relief pitcher now serving a 14-year prison sentence in Venezuela for attempted murder.

"We traded him for a reliever who almost got us into the playoffs," Phillies general manager Ruben Amaro reminded me after Polanco had ignited another victory yesterday. And while Ugueth Urbina did in fact solidify a balky bullpen that season, it is also true that the Phillies were unable to trade well-paid and unproductive third baseman David Bell and unwilling to bench him in favor of a lineup that would have included both Chase Utley and Polanco - in 2005 and beyond.

So, with each of Polanco's at-bats, it's natural to wonder about what might have been. Would the Phillies have been more selective sooner, more slump-resistant sooner, had the man now universally described as "a professional hitter'' stayed? Would the Phillies have reached the postseason sooner than they did, won another pennant, another World Series?

Would it have looked the way it has over the first seven games of this season, the offense less a matter of "if" than "when"?

"He's just so [bleeping] good," said Shane Victorino, the man whose spot in the order Polanco took. "He centers balls better than anybody here."

In their home opener, Polanco drove a two-out single to centerfield to flip a 4-3 deficit into a 5-4 lead, igniting the Phillies to a 7-4 victory. It was their sixth victory in seven tries, and it came despite Jimmy Rollins pulling up lame before the game and Jayson Werth doing so during it.

Polanco has reached base in all seven games this season. He is hitting .500 with runners in scoring position, has driven in 10 runs and scored 10. His grand slam and six runs batted in highlighted Roy Halladay's Opening Day victory. In the home opener, he scored two and drove in two and had two hits to help Cole Hamels scrape to his second victory.

"He kind of flies under the radar and yes, he doesn't draw a lot of attention," said Phillies manager Charlie Manuel, repeating an oft-cited refrain.

"Honestly, I don't even know what that means," Polanco said when told of this. "Does it mean underrated?"

Underappreciated might be the better word. Moments before he gave the Phillies the lead, it was announced that Halladay had won National League Player of the Week.

Not Pitcher of the Week. Player of the Week.

"Polly's not a guy who's going to hit 30 home runs," Victorino said. "He's not a guy who's going to steal 30 bases. So those two parts are gone."

Said Manuel: "What Polly does is go up there and hit three or four balls hard a day. Even when he makes an out, seems he hits the ball hard. He's a consistent, contact hitter. And in situation baseball he knows how to move the runners. He knows how to play the game."

"He's overlooked because he doesn't bring that flashy aspect out there," Victorino said. "But he does something good almost every game. Great, not good. It's unbelievable.

"He's overlooked because he just flat-out hits."

Polanco entered this season with a .303 average in a major league career that began in 1998. Since becoming an everyday player in 2000, his season average has ranged from .285 to .341, and he's never struck out 50 times in any of those seasons. He has flirted with the batting title a couple of times, was the MVP of the 2006 ALCS, yet he might be better known for going hitless in 17 at-bats that year, in his only World Series.

He hit .295 that season, .341 the next. Yet there were a slew of Tigers more popular than him. And he was deemed expendable in St. Louis. And this is his second stint in Philadelphia.

Under the radar?

"Honestly, I don't even care," Polanco said. "I just show up and try to do something to win the game. Whether I'm on the radar or not is out of my control."

This second time around might prove that. But in reverse. The park was dotted with Polanco jerseys for the home opener. Not nearly as many as ones with "Halladay," but it's early. There can be an uncompromised appreciation this time around, no talk of who should play where, or who should be traded. With each squared-up ball, each professional or unselfish at-bat, his dot on the Phillies' scope of stars gets a little brighter, a little louder.

Under the radar? Not if this continues.

And his history says it should.

"Winning takes care of everything," Polanco said. "Fans are happy. Front office is happy. Players are happy.

"Everybody's happy."

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