Mar. 23 -- Day 39: DONALD'S DAY

DUNEDIN, Fla. -- When I met Jason Donald last month in the Phillies' clubhouse at Bright House Field, I knew he reminded me of someone.

Facially, I thought he resembled David Wright, the Mets' star third baseman who I covered for years in the minors. And when he talked, I thought he sounded like Wright, who routinely offers old-time baseball platitudes like, "I'm just trying to work hard and get better every day." (Wright means it, by the way). But Wright has a much thicker frame than Donald, a lean, 190-pound shortstop prospect.

Anyway, I wrote a feature story last month about Donald and second baseman Brad Harman, whose path to the majors with the Phillies is blocked, now and in the future, by Jimmy Rollins and Chase Utley. A few weeks later, Donald (and Harman) were sent to minor-league camp, casualties of the Phillies' early cuts. Both are slated to open the season at double-A Reading.

At about 10 a.m. today, Donald was told by minor-league coordinator Bill Dancy (remember him?) that he'd be making the short trip to neighboring Dunedin for the Grapefruit League game against the Blue Jays. He wouldn't be starting, of course. But after Rollins left the game, there was a chance Donald would get to play. And he made the most of the chance, blasting two three-run homers in a 15-7 win. It was his first multi-homer game, he said, since his senior year at Buchanan High School in Clovis, Calif.

After the game, Charlie Manuel said Donald reminds him of Craig Biggio, and I definitely see where he's coming from. "Same makeup, talks like him, plays like him, everything," said Manuel, high praise considering all that Biggio accomplished in his career. Evidently, Manuel has even started calling Donald by Biggio's name.

"I didn't know what he was saying the first time he called me Biggio," Donald said. "I just thought he didn't know my name. I'll take that comparison. Craig Biggio is a great player. He'll probably be in the Hall of Fame some day."

If Donald never gets there, he'll always remember this Easter Sunday.

"It's pretty surreal," he said. "This kind of stuff doesn't happen too often. If I hit home runs, I run into them. To get the opportunity to do this is pretty amazing. It's something I can take with me."