"There were just 17 starts, half-a-season, little more than a brief layover between two distant cities. Cliff Lee's first stay in Philadelphia was short, but the city never forgot.

So in December, when the former Cy Young winner spurned the advances of the Texas Rangers, a team he'd taken to the World Series just two months earlier, and left wads of cash courtesy of the New York Yankees sitting on the negotiating table to return to Philadelphia, the love affair between city and pitcher was instantly rekindled.

Just days after Lee inked a five-year, $120-million deal, billboards went up along I-95 welcoming him home.

Raul Ibanez spent the winter training in Philadelphia. Jogging near his home, neighbors would stop him to express their excitement that Lee was back.

Manager Charlie Manuel heard about Lee everywhere. At his offseason home in Winter Haven, Fla., fans were ecstatic. At the grocery store, they'd stop Manuel to chat about Lee's return. Even in the men's room at a restaurant, Manuel got the same questions.

"They ask me about Cliff Lee," Manuel said. " "What do you think Cliff Lee's going to do this year?' I say we're going to let him pitch and find out.""