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“It made a big difference,” Rollins said. “I’ve been through rehab (with
baseball injuries) and I understand what you have to do to get back to
normal. Animals need to do the same kinds of things after they are
injured so they can get back to normal.” Johari Rollins said she
could see the progress in Kato pretty quickly.
“It was about a week and I could see that he was recovering,” she said.
“He went to being able to walk to being able to run again. Then I saw him
regress a lot if we missed even one session a week.”
While Kato eventually passed away at age 9 last October, the Rollins’
still have their other
Akita,
Kayla, and also another important addition, their daughter Camryn, who
turns 1 on May 20. But Jimmy Rollins said it is only right to treat your
pet like a family member.
“If you had a relative of yours in pain, you wouldn’t just sit there and
see what happens,” he said. “You would try to find somebody who could help
them. It’s the same thing with an animal.”
Jimmy Rollins admitted he and Johari are split about what kind of dog they
might get to join Kayla.
“She likes smaller dogs, and I like bigger dogs,” he said. “So we’ll see
what happens. But it definitely helps them to have a companion.”
One companion that Kayla already has is Camryn, who has grown to love the
dog already.
“She adores her,” Johari said of Camryn’s love for Kayla. “And Kayla is
great with her. At first I was a little worried, but it’s worked out
great.”
The Rollins’ did admit they might have to get a little work done on their
fence. They recently discovered that Kayla is capable of jumping it.
“We’re going to have to do something about that,” Rollins said with a
laugh.
Something that living in Woolwich allows the Rollins’ to do is get away
from the bright lights and attention that comes with being a major league
baseball star. And especially now with a family started, the Rollins’
admit they appreciate the quiet time.
“Usually, she goes out for walks and I just stay in,” Rollins said of
Johari. “Sometimes coming home, I do go for a little moon drive. Just shut
the lights off and let the light of the moon take me home. But I can’t do
that too much because of the deer. “But if we want excitement, we can
always go to the city (of Philadelphia).”
But even Rollins can remember a time when Woolwich seemed a lot less like
a city. “When I first moved here, I enjoyed watching the deer and the
foxes,” he said. “But people are good, too.”
Rollins helped his popularity in his neighborhood a few years ago when an
area radio station put out a contest to see who could get the most famous
celebrity to call into the show. Rollins obliged when two boys came to his
door and he made the call. But being a 2007 Major League Baseball Most
Valuable Player and key member of the Phillies 2008 World Series champion
team apparently didn’t make him famous enough. “I think I lost out to (TV
talk show host) Kelly Ripa,” he said.
What is not lost on Phillies President Montgomery is the importance of
players being involved in their communities. While Montgomery and the
Phillies ownership group is paying Rollins about $11 million per year in
the second year of a three-year contract to play baseball, days like April
20 mean a lot too.
“We have for a very long time had players who have been involved in their
communities, going back to Garry Maddox (in the mid-1970s and early
1980s),” Montgomery said. “Jimmy is an excellent example of that. He gets
it.”
And when it comes to putting Rollins among Phillies greats, while he may
not be the greatest Phillies player ever, he’s certainly one of the best.
He began the 2012 season with career numbers of 2,024 hits, 1,182 runs
scored, 403 stolen bases and has won four Golden Gloves, being voted the
best fielding shortstop in the National League from 2007-2009, and then
also in 2012.
Rollins, who will turn 35 in November, has also played 137 games or more
in all of his previous 12 seasons with the Phillies, except for when he
was injured in 2010.
And there’s not only a chance that Rollins could be one of those rare
athletes who spends an entire career with one team, but it very well could
be a Hall of Fame career.
Former Cincinnati Reds shortstop Barry Larkin was voted into the Hall of
Fame in 2012 with career numbers of 2,340 hits, 1,329 runs scored, 379
stolen bases and three National League Gold Glove awards. And like
Rollins, Larkin won one MVP and was a key part of one World Series
champion team in 1990.
“When he was a free agent, he wanted to stay here, and we wanted him to
stay,” Montgomery said of Rollins. “He’s moving up on the list of Phillies
all-time leaders in a lot of categories. He’s going to be one of those
players who is always synonymous with the Phillies.”
And with last month’s announcement, and their names displayed on the
entrance to the rehab center, the Rollins’ may well be synonymous with
Woolwich Township for years to come.
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