Phil Sheridan: Pat Burrell faces the Phillies

CLEARWATER, Fla. - Pat Burrell has walked to home plate in front of Phillies fans thousands of times. He has been cheered and booed and everything in between.

This time was different in every way. In the first inning of a sold-out Grapefruit League game, Burrell started toward the batter's box wearing the blue, white and gray of the Tampa Bay Rays.

"You've got to be prepared for anything," Burrell said.

The fans in the grandstand stood and showered Burrell with a reception that was moving in its enthusiasm and warmth.

"The fans were pretty amazing," Burrell said. "They definitely made me feel appreciated today. That doesn't always happen. I've seen some players go back who haven't gotten that kind of response, so I'm pretty grateful."

Burrell talked with reporters in the visiting clubhouse of Bright House Field just after the Denver Broncos announced the stunning signing of Eagles safety Brian Dawkins.

They are very different, as players and as people, but there are some parallels. Like Dawkins, Burrell was the longest-tenured player on his team when his contract expired. Like Dawkins, he had to face the reality that the only team he'd known wasn't all that interested in bringing him back.

"In professional sports, things can change pretty quick," Burrell said. "I'm fortunate to be able to come to a team that's on the up. That doesn't always happen. . . . It's part of the business. We sign up for that. I'm not saying it's always easy, but that's part of it.

"I've known Ruben [Amaro Jr., the GM] a long time. He was very up-front with me about it. It wasn't a situation where I felt like I was mistreated or anything. I knew what was going on."

So when Burrell came to Citizens Bank Park for Game 5b of the World Series, he knew it might be his last night in a Phillies uniform. And when he went to the plate for the most important at-bat of his life, he was feeling the weight of it all - his years in Philadelphia, the championship drought the players were tired of hearing about, his own 0-for-12 up until then in the World Series. All of it.

"I didn't feel like I was really struggling," Burrell said. "Things get magnified, especially in that arena. It was about time for me to do something. Fortunately, I was able to contribute."

His double, which missed being a poetic-justice homer by a few feet, led to the game- and championship-winning run. Burrell basked in the moment, and he had time to register that this might be his last hit as a Phillie.

"When they pinch-ran for me and I was running off the field, I kind of thought, 'Well, you never know,' " Burrell said. "Might as well enjoy this. I thought about it."

There followed the swirly hours and days of champagne baths and celebration and the Halloween-day parade. Plenty of players have been run out of Philadelphia on a rail. Burrell is surely the first who rode out in a wagon pulled by Clydesdales.

"It was the first Halloween I didn't see a costume," Burrell said. "I never saw a costume. By the time we got home, we were drained and I honestly didn't see a single person in a costume. It was a special day and something I'll never forget."

The champagne was barely dry when Amaro set about the off-season work of retooling the team. He signed leftfielder Raul Ibanez and that was it. Burrell signed with the Rays, who plan to use him as their designated hitter. He said it didn't really sink in that his Phillies career was over until "probably on the flight to Tampa for the physical."

"Fortunately, the relationship is good," Burrell said. "From the beginning, I have nothing but good things to say about the organization and the way I was treated. I feel pretty fortunate in that regard. But the time's passed. It's a new season, a new team, and hopefully the same goal, to get to the World Series."

Burrell popped out in his first at-bat. In his second, he stroked a double down the third-base line. The fans cheered again.

Before the game, Burrell stopped by the familiar Phillies clubhouse behind the ballpark. He brought his dog Elvis, costar of the parade, to visit. Then he stopped in to see club president David Montgomery. Thanks to a happy coincidence in the schedule, Burrell will be able to receive his World Series ring with the rest of the Phillies before the April 8 game at the Bank.

There will be more cheers, more applause for a player who heard it all in Philadelphia and who left as a champion.

"It meant everything for me," Burrell said, and a few million fans would surely agree.

(philly.com)