Before he led the Phillies in wins in 2006 ...
Before he was converted to closer in 2007 and helped the team win the first of five straight National League East titles in that role ...
Before he was the 2008 Opening Day starter and then won two games in the postseason as the Phils won the World Series ...
Before going on to win 97 games and save 40 in a 12-year Major League career, right-hander Brett Myers was a 20-year-old hopeful pitching at Double-A Reading. That was in 2001. And now, he returned to FirstEnergy Stadium on Tuesday as part of the 2017 class inducted into the Reading Baseball Hall of Fame.
The 1999 No. 1 Draft pick is just one of several Phillies Alumni who have been or soon will be honored by various Halls of Fame this year, joining Roy Halladay, Charlie Manuel, Tim McCarver, Bob Boone and Granny Hamner.
Myers went 13-4 for the Reading Phils in 2001 after making the jump from Class A Piedmont. He was the Phillies' Minor League Pitcher of the Month in April, was selected to the All-Star Futures Game, played that year at Seattle's Safeco Field and was a big reason Reading went to the Eastern League playoffs.
"What I remember most about that season was the crowds that they pulled in night after night and the energy that park gave off," Myers said. "You could tell that the team was their team, and they were very passionate about their players."
Myers, 37, retired following the 2013 season. These days, he focuses on his music. Myers has already released two albums -- "Backwoods Rebel" (2015) and "You're Welcome" ('16) -- with a third due out in August of this year.
Halladay, 40, was inducted into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame on June 24. After making six All-Star teams with the Blue Jays, the right-hander came to the Phils in 2010 and won his second Cy Young Award while leading the National League in wins (21), innings (250 2/3), complete games (nine) and shutouts (four). He followed that up with another dominant season in 2011, finishing second in NL Cy Young Award voting.
Manuel, the winningest manager in Phillies history, was added to the Polk County (Fla.) Sports Hall of Fame. He's resided in Winter Haven since 1993. Under Manuel's leadership, the Phils won the division every year from 2007-11, advanced to the World Series twice and won the second World Series championship in franchise history in '08.
McCarver, 75, who had two stints with the Phillies, will join the Cardinals Hall of Fame on Aug. 26. After spending the first 11 years of his professional career with St. Louis, the catcher was traded to Philadelphia after the 1969 season for Dick Allen, Jerry Johnson and Cookie Rojas. One of the players the Phillies were to receive was Curt Flood, who refused to report, arguing that he should have some control over where he played. That court case was the first challenge to the reserve system, which eventually led to free agency.
Traded to the Expos in June 1972, McCarver came back as a free agent in 1975 and ended his career with the Phils following the '80 season after playing on three division winners and the first championship team in franchise history in '80.
Boone, 69, and the late Hamner will be added to the Philadelphia Sports Hall of Fame on Nov. 2. Boone spent 10 years with the Phillies, making three All-Star teams and helping the Phils win the 1980 World Series. Hamner was the shortstop for the 1950 Whiz Kids team that went to the World Series.
In addition, Pedro Feliz represented the Phillies at the annual Hall of Fame Game in Cooperstown, N.Y., during the Memorial Day weekend. The third baseman drove in the winning run in Game 5 World Series clincher against the Rays in 2008. And Matt Stairs was honored with a bobblehead giveaway by the Double-A Harrisburg Senators on May 6. The current hitting coach earned a spot in Phils history with a two-out pinch-hit home run in the eighth inning of Game 4 of the 2008 NL Championship Series to beat the Dodgers.