June 11 -- BIG JIM RETURNS

Back home from KC, via NY (had to pick up my car at LaGuardia Airport), so it's been a LONG day of travel. If you've never flown Midwest Airlines, allow me to offer a big endorsement. Got to love an airline that has leather, first-class-style seats in coach. Very nice for when you have a 7:10 a.m. flight and want to catch a few Zs.

Anyway, kind of a big night at The Bank with Jim Thome returning to play in Philly for the first time since the Nov. 25, 2005, trade that sent him and $22 million to the White Sox for Aaron Rowand, Gio Gonzalez and Daniel Haigwood. The Phillies traded Haigwood last season for Fabio Castro, and Gonzalez, of course, went back to the Sox with Gavin Floyd in the now-infamous Freddy Garcia trade last December.

Thome only played for the Phillies for 2-1/2 seasons (2003-05), but I would argue that he's been their most important player in the past 10 years. When they signed Thome before the 2003 season, the Phillies had a losing record in eight of the previous nine years. Attendance at The Vet was sagging, and The Bank was set to open in 2004. Thome gave the Phillies the starpower that Bobby Abreu never had and that Jimmy Rollins wasn't ready to provide. It's easy now, after the back and elbow problems that paved the way for Ryan Howard's ascendance, to look at Thome's tenure in Philly as a disappointment. But don't forget that Thome hit 47 homers in '03 and 42 in '04.

There's no DH in this series and White Sox first baseman Paul Konerko is red-hot, so it's unclear how much Thome will play. He has a better chance of starting against right-hander Adam Eaton than lefty Cole Hamels, who starts tomorrow night. Regardless, I'm sure he'll get a few at-bats, and it would be a shame if he doesn't get a standing ovation, too. Don't you think?

* Maybe it was just me, but I couldn't believe some of the comments made by several Phillies, including Rollins, after yesterday's 17-5 humiliation by the Royals. True, a 4-2 road trip ordinarily would be considered a rousing success. But, after sweeping the Mets, and with three games coming up against the lowly Royals, doesn't the goal have to be adjusted?

* Some former Blue Rocks made good against the Phillies, and there was some good news (sort of) on Brett Myers.

* Was having dinner last night in KC when the waitress, a middle-aged woman from the Midwest, wondered if Tony Soprano was going to "get whacked" in the series finale. To think, I once doubted if a TV show about mafia guys named Uncle Junior and Paulie Walnuts could achieve much popularity in America's heartland. Silly me.