June 14 -- CHICAGO HOPE

Aaron Rowand has been with the Phillies for only a season and a half, but already, he has achieved a certain immortality here. All he had to do was break his face on the center-field wall at The Bank (and hold on to the ball) last May, bringing new meaning to the expression "hard-nosed." Then, when asked why on earth he'd risk his face just to snare a fly ball, Rowand memorably said, "For who? My teammates. For what? To win."

Instant legend.

But there's another city that adores Rowand. His last game for the White Sox was the clinching victory of the 2005 World Series. Since they dealt him to the Phillies on Nov. 25, 2005 in the Jim Thome trade, they haven't been back to the playoffs, and many people in the Windy City think Rowand, drafted and developed by the White Sox, may just be the guy to lead them back there.

"People say, 'Well, we lost him and didn't make the playoffs the next year,'" Rowand said yesterday after beating the Sox, 8-4, with a grand slam and five RBIs. "It's very, very flattering. At the same time, it wasn't just me. There were 25 guys on that team, and we all played as a unit and everybody was equal. It was everybody who made the team go. It wasn't just me."

Regardless, Rowand will be a free agent after the season, and you can bet the White Sox will make a run at signing him back, if they can't get him sooner via a trade. The whole idea makes Rowand more than a little uncomfortable. After all, he's a key member of the Phillies, and his job is to help lead them to the playoffs for the first time since 1993. But, with the White Sox in town this week, he got multiple questions about his future. Clearly, Rowand left big piece of himself in Chicago. He's a die-hard Bears fan, and many of his closest friends in baseball (A.J. Pierzynski, Jermaine Dye, Paul Konerko and Joe Crede) still play for the White Sox.

"Any time you get drafted by an organization, come up through the organization, win the World Series with the organization, yeah, you're going to have a soft spot for that team," Rowand said. "If you asked anybody anywhere if they were put in the same situation, they'd say the same thing."

Rowand is having his best offensive season, so his price tag may be rising. Then again, he'll be part of a bumper crop of free-agent center fielders that includes Andruw Jones, Torii Hunter, Ichiro Suzuki and Mike Cameron. "I might be the leftover," Rowand said. "Hey, we can't get him. Let's go get him." But it's hard to believe he won't be atop the White Sox's wish list.

So, what do you think? After this season, should the Phillies show Rowand the money or the door?

* Don't look now, but the Phillies are two games behind the first-place Mets. Who'd have thunk it after a 4-11 start and trips to the DL for Tom Gordon, Ryan Madson, Ryan Howard, Brett Myers and Freddy Garcia?

* From the 50-cent edition: Kyle Kendrick didn't get the win, but his major-league debut was a success; Garcia thinks the Philly-area media is too critical; cut from the notebook: news that lefty Matt Smith has been placed on the DL at triple-A Ottawa.

* Nice night for Ian Snell. He may have a shot to pitch in the All-Star Game.