Lefty replaces Roberto Hernandez on the roster

PHILADELPHIA -- A player wearing a No. 75 jersey sat in the corner of the Phillies dugout, his first time in a Major League stadium for a Major League regular season game since 1997.

Jim Crowell arrived after a two-hour trek from Scranton on Wednesday afternoon. His journey back to the big leagues took considerably longer.

Having been released from his fourth organization, Crowell's career teetered on extinction, especially after Sept. 10, 2001, surgery to remove bone chips from his pitching elbow. He awoke the next day and saw what was happening around the country.

"I thought I was dreaming," he said. "I was drugged-out from the medicine and my wife was watching the TV. I saw what was going on and didn't think it was for real."

The next spring he found himself pitching for the Atlantic City Surf in the Independent League, with former reliever Mitch Williams as his manager. By August, he had done so well that he caught the attention of the Phillies, who brought him in to finish the 2002 season with the Red Barons.

Crowell had an eye-opening spring in 2003 for the Phillies, but was sent down. He spent that summer at Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre struggling to throw strikes, though his velocity never faltered. This spring, with a renewed emphasis on recording ground ball outs, he found success.

He appeared in the final exhibition game at Citizens Bank Park before being re-assigned to the minors. It was a Major taste of the big-league life, reminding him of what he had with the Reds in 1997. However, Crowell pitched just 6 2/3 innings for Cincinnati.

The 29-year-old native of Minneapolis now resides in Valparaiso, Ind., where he gives pitching instructing to children in the offseason. While that work is satisfying, Crowell wants this opportunity more.

"It's exciting going from nothing to where I am," he said. "Look where I'm at today. I made $2,200 a month in Atlantic City with $18 a day meal money. I slept on an air mattress (in Brigantine, N.J.), and lived with two other players (while with the Surf). This is a completely different world. We lived by the ocean. We could hear the waves crashing every morning."

He likes the sound of the ball crashing into a catcher's mitt much better.

Originally Published: May 5, 2004 7:41 PM EST | Philadelphia Phillies Website

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