Pat who?

The last time we saw Pat Burrell, he was looking just as dapper as ever, in a natty suit collecting his World Series ring. Burrell was in a suit, not a baseball uniform, because he no longer plays for the Phils.

The team decided they needed to upgrade in left-field, so they let the popular, longtime Phil go. We’ll always have the memory of Burrell and his dog in that horse-drawn carriage leading the parade down Broad Street last October after the Phils won the World Series.

But don’t hold your breath waiting for a lot of people complaining about the move to let Burrell go. Yesterday the Rays placed Burrell on the disabled list with a neck strain. He’s hitting .250, pretty much what you would expect, but his power numbers are way down. He has just one home run and 17 RBI in 108 at-bats.

And the guy who replaced him?

Raul Ibanez was just named the National League Player of the Week after a sizzling weekend in Washington.

Ibanzez hit a sizzling .481 last week, hiking his season average to .357. That’s good enough for fifth in the NL. He also collected four home runs and 13 hits during his torrid week. His season numbers now stand at a healthy 13 home runs and 35 RBI. He’s in second place in the NL in both of those categories. It also means he’s hit an even dozen more home runs this year than Burrell.

I do not come to bury Burrell; instead I seek to sing the praises of Ibanez. While the Phils have been somewhat inconsistent in the early going, Ibanez has been a constant.

We’ll make this pretty simple. Ibanez has been the best person in the Phils lineup through the first 36 games of the season. And he’s a big reason why they head to Cincinnati with a 20-16 record, tied for first place with the Mets.

They aren’t getting even a sniff of first place without Ibanez.

Pat who indeed.