Can you believe it's been 10 years?!
Jimmy Rollins can't.
The greatest shortstop in Phillies history was on hand Sunday in Clearwater for the Phillies' Alumni Day, along with Charlie Manuel, Brett Myers, Pedro Feliz, Scott Eyre and a few others.
"It hit me that it's been 10 years - that's crazy," Rollins told reporters. "Pretty soon, it's going be 20 years. A lot has changed in 10 years."
It sure has. How weird is it to think of 2008 as a simpler time?
Way back then, there was no Mike Trout or Bryce Harper in the majors. There was some newfangled technology called the iPhone. Baseballs hadn't yet been juiced. There were six million people on Twitter; now there are more than 330 million. The U.S. recession caused by the housing bubble was about a month old. Few knew what the word "meme" meant. Some kids were actually graduating college and - get this - finding jobs.
Rollins will always be "Young James" around these parts, even though his playing days are probably over. He hasn't yet officially retired, but don't be surprised if that inevitable announcement comes in the form of a one-day contract with the Phillies.
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"If I get signed to a one-day thing, I'm playing," Rollins said in true Jimmy fashion. "If they just want me to retire and announce that, it's fine. But if you sign me to a contract, I don't do honorary contracts. I'm going to play that day."
He could probably still go out there and play a week's worth of errorless games at shortstop. It's still pretty ridiculous the man won only four Gold Gloves.
