The last time Roy Oswalt pitched at Busch Stadium, he faced 11 batters. He threw only 37 pitches.

He was out of the game before it was three innings old.

Oswalt's back pain was so bad on that night - June 23 - that he talked openly about his uncertain future. Oswalt, who turned 34 last month, was at a crossroads that night, knowing his back pain had been around before and wondering if it would ever go away for good.

He would be sidelined for the next six weeks.


But Oswalt returned to the Phillies rotation the first week of August. He went 5-4 with a 3.59 ERA in 11 games (10 starts).

But more important than the numbers was the strong and healthy feeling he had when he took the mound. In his most recent start, Oswalt felt so good that he hit 95 miles-per-hour on the radar gun in the sixth inning of last week's win at Turner Field.

From the last time he was in Busch Stadium to this week, it's safe to say Oswalt has a completely different outlook on what lies ahead for his baseball career beyond 2011.

"I'd like to play for a while longer for sure," Oswalt said Tuesday. "I feel like I can still compete. When you get to the point where you don't feel like you can compete, that's when you start doubting yourself. But I feel like my stuff is still good enough to compete. When I'm healthy, I feel like I can do anything I did when I was 21. I know a lot more about pitching now than I did. I actually have a few more pitches than I did when I first started. I feel like I can do it another three or four or five years."

Here's video of Oswalt talking about the future today.