Inside the Phillies: Oswalt has aced his tests on Phils staff

CLEARWATER, Fla. - Even though all four of them are considered aces, an obvious pecking order has been established among the Phillies starting rotation.

Roy Halladay is the ace of the club.

Ask the other aces and they will all tell you he is the man.

Cliff Lee is the ace of hearts.

Poll after poll shows that Phillies fans have fallen even harder for the lefthander now that he has returned.

Cole Hamels is the ace of diamonds, the only one of the four with a sparkling World Series ring.

That leaves Roy Oswalt as the ace of spades, a card that has had many connotations over the centuries. In some instances, it has meant good luck and in others it has been called the death card.

In Oswalt's case, it works both ways. The veteran righthander's trade-deadline acquisition from Houston obviously represented good fortune for the Phillies, and his appearances on the mound almost always made dead wood of the opposing team's bats.

After Oswalt lost his initial start with the Phillies at Washington, the team went unbeaten in his next 10 outings and he was 7-0.

For some perspective on exactly how good Oswalt was after joining the Phillies, it is best to compare his first 12 starts in Philadelphia with the first dozen outings of the more celebrated Halladay and Lee.

Halladay, of course, was incredible, going 8-3 with a 2.03 ERA out of the chute last season, mixing in a perfect game at Florida, four complete games, and three shutouts.

Lee, after joining the Phillies at the trade deadline in 2009, was good enough to make everyone forget that general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. could not pry Halladay away from Toronto. Lee was 7-4 with a 3.39 ERA in his 12 regular-season starts and it became a prelude to postseason dominance.

Oswalt, it could be argued, was better than both of them in his first dozen starts in a Phillies uniform. He went 7-1 with a 1.65 ERA and allowed only 53 hits in 81 2/3 innings.

The new season will officially start for the veteran righthander Wednesday when he makes his Grapefruit League debut against the Baltimore Orioles at Bright House Field. He took a few moments Tuesday to explain why he was so good after joining the Phillies last season.

"The game became fun again," Oswalt said. "Any time you're in a pennant race, that's what it is all about. A lot of times when you're out of it by August, it feels like a job. When you're in a pennant race, it's like playing in a summer league when you're a kid. You just have fun playing the game."

There was some speculation before Oswalt joined the Phillies that he was reluctant to come here. It was reported that St. Louis was his destination of choice, but he found a happy home in Philadelphia.

"[Houston] asked me to name a couple teams where I'd like to go and I gave them five teams I'd play for," Oswalt said. "It felt like it was time to do something different. I read the reports that I didn't want to pitch in Philly, but I gave them a list of five teams and Philly was one of them."

Given his track record at Citizens Bank Park, Oswalt would have been crazy not to place the Phillies on his list of desired landing spots. He had never lost at the ballpark before joining the Phillies, and that record remained intact after he joined the team. He is 9-0 with a 2.10 ERA in 10 career starts there.

"I've always liked pitching there," Oswalt said. "They say it's a hitter's ballpark, but the field just feels like a right fit. I came in there with Houston and I felt pretty comfortable on the mound opposing the Phillies, and once I got over there you get even more comfortable when you have the offense they have behind you.

"You give up some runs in Philly and you still have a chance to win the game. I think sometimes I lost that in Houston a little bit. I'd give up a run early and then I'd give up another run here and there and the next thing you know it's 2-0 in the fifth and you don't know if you're going to get it back or not, and you start pressing a little bit."

Oswalt never pressed after joining the Phillies. He had a rough start against Cincinnati in the National League division series but rebounded with two strong starts in the postseason. He also lost in Game 4 of the NL Championship Series when he gave up a ninth-inning run in relief against the Giants, two days before his wife, Nicole, gave birth to his third daughter, Aubree.

The relief appearance was more proof of Oswalt's selfless approach. He gave the Phillies another quality start in Game 6, but the Giants won the game and advanced to the World Series.

That's where Oswalt wants this season to end for the Phillies.

"It's going to be fun, especially with these guys we have," Oswalt said. "It should be a fun pitching staff. We love messing around with each other. We kind of mess with each other as far as this photo stuff. There has already been a bond."

As a Phillie, Oswalt's numbers last year were better than Halladay's and Lee's.

Inside the Phillies, D6.