Feb. 29 -- ONE-YEAR WONDER OR WONDERFUL STORY?

Kyle Kendrick is easy to like.

He is soft-spoken and polite, with a pleasant smile and an easy-going personality. And if he's a little gullible (ok, A LOT gullible for thinking he actually could be traded to Japan), that's just another reminder that he never was supposed to be here, on the major-league side of the Phillies' spring-training clubhouse with a locker next to opening-day starter Brett Myers and a spot in the rotation.

Last year, Kendrick wasn't invited to big-league spring training. He was a little-known minor leaguer who didn't factor into the Phillies' plans in 2007. If anything, the Phillies thought maybe he could be a September call-up this season, although they weren't even counting on that. But after Freddy Garcia got hurt last June, they recalled Kendrick as an emergency fill-in. He never left, racking up 10 wins and a 3.87 ERA and starting Game 2 of the NL Division Series against Colorado. If not for Kendrick, the Phillies wouldn't have made the playoffs. He was every bit as valuable as Jimmy Rollins, voted the NL's most valuable player.

Now, though, everyone wants to know if he can do it again.

"I kind of came out of nowhere to have the year that I did," Kendrick said yesterday before allowing one run in three innings of his first spring-training start. "So, of course, the question is going to be out there. But I don't think it was an accident or a fluke. I think I can have the same year every year. Last year is definitely going to motivate me. I want to prove to people I can do it again and that I'm a major-league pitcher and that I can help our team win."

So, what do you think? How many wins will Kendrick have this season?

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Funny moment yesterday: Ryan Howard, who hit a towering homer that landed somewhere beyond the right-field wall and nearly caused a few fender-benders on the southbound lanes of US-19, talked about how his five-man bowling team lost a best-of-three tournament to Rollins' team Wednesday night. Rollins, by the way, boasted about the victory by proudly displaying a championship belt above his locker. Howard chalked up Team Rollins' win to shrewd scouting. Rollins drafted minor-league catcher Tim Gradoville, who, as it turns out, is a solid bowler. Who knew? Certainly not Howard, who jokingly was asked if his team's biggest problem is its general manager.

"See that," Howard hollered. "You lose one game and the Philly media tries to get you fired!"

True enough.

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Flew home last night for a short breather (don't worry, I'll keep The Blog packed with information, and we'll have you covered in the 50-center until I get back to Clearwater). Waiting for me was a package containing Chris Coste's autobiography, "The 33-Year-Old Rookie," which will be released March 18 in Delaware Valley bookstores. Can't wait to read it, especially after I wrote a feature last month on Coste's experience as a published author.

The front cover of the book includes this quote from Cal Ripken Jr.: "We have all fought through difficulties to achieve our dreams, and Chris' story speaks volumes about determination, drive and perseverance."

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Check out some video from spring training.