"The Phillies will face Brett Myers today when he pitches for the Astros at Bright House Field, and manager Charlie Manuel said he expects to see "the same old Myers."

"He'll probably bring his big ole white dog into the clubhouse," Manuel said with a laugh. "I miss Myers, really. I miss getting on him. I miss his mouth. I miss everything. In our camp this year, we've been quieter without Myers."

Roy Halladay, after all, doesn't bring the same type of drama to the team. That's why Manuel said he expects to have fun with Myers, who has a 6.43 ERA in four spring training starts.

"I'll be getting on him," Manuel said. "He'll be making gestures out there. He can't help himself."

Then he told the media: "You guys sleep good (Wednesday) because you'll get something to write about."

That was always the thing with Myers. He always provided plenty of sound bites and stories, both good and bad, such as when he announced in January upon signing with the Astros that he planned to "stick it" to the Phillies every time he faced them.

On the field, Myers was one of the Phillies' best pitchers, going 73-63 with a 4.40 ERA. He was the Phillies' Opening Day starter last season.

He also willingly went from the starting rotation to the bullpen, where he became the closer early in the 2007 season, and back to the rotation in 2008 without complaining. That even included a stint in the minor leagues in July 2008.

Last season, he was expected to miss the rest of the year after needing hip surgery in May, but he made it back in time for the final month as a reliever.

Myers was quickly overused and developed shoulder tightness. He was seldom used after that and he wasn't on the NLCS roster.

He signed a one-year, $5.1 million deal with the Astros.

There were also the off-the-field incidents, such as the arrest in 2006 for assaulting his wife (the charges were dropped) and the incident during his rehab last year when he suffered a black eye. At first, he said it was when he got hit by a ball thrown by his son. Then he changed it to falling out of his truck. There was speculation that he was in a bar fight, which Myers denied."