That's just the way it happened

In her book about the human brain called, The Secret Life of the Grown-up Brain: TheSurprising Talents of the Middle-Aged Mind, author Barbara Strauch writes that most folks actually “get smarter”[1] as they age.

“As we age, certain parts of our memory remain robust. For instance, our autobiographical stuff ... stays with us,” Strauch told Terry Gross during a recent episode of NPR’s Fresh Air. “Other things, like how to ride a bike, how to swing a tennis racket — habits — do not go away.”

However, Strauch wrote, short-term memory tends to wane. For instance, if one puts something in the oven before going off to work on the computer, it’s probably a good idea to set an alarm or write a reminder. That’s the natural part of aging, Strauch wrote.

If Strauch were to hang around the Phillies with the managers over the past decade, the findings in her book might have turned out differently. After all, both Larry Bowa and Charlie Manuel have had the uncanny ability to remember sequences of ballgames as if they were happening directly in front of them. But for actual events that happened to them during their careers as players and managers, well, let’s just say they could get misquoted in their autobiographies.

That’s no knock on either Bowa or Charlie. In fact, the way those guys remember their playing days is kind of humorous. Better yet, it seems as if neither of the managers quite understands that there is this thing called the Internet where information can be retrieved in seconds. Moreover, a short little trip over to Baseball-Reference.com can unfold nearly every single pitch those guys saw in their careers.

In his first big-league plate appearance on April 7, 1970 at Connie Mack Stadium, Bowa popped up to Don Kessinger at short against Fergie Jenkins. On April 8, 1969 in Kansas City, Charlie made his debut as a pinch hitter for Ron Perranoski in the 12^th inning. Moe Drabowsky got him to ground out to Jerry Adair at second base in a game where the Royals beat the Twins, 4-3.

See how detailed and easy to find that was?

Oh, but that doesn’t even begin to tell the story because sometimes it seems that old, wizened baseball men remember things just a little bit differently than the way it actually occurred. Take Bowa (yes, please take him)… listening to the way he talked about the game one would think that if he wasn’t bouncing Baltimore chop singles into the hard and unforgiving Veterans Stadium fake turf, he was fouling off pitches and getting on base with incredible patience. The truth is much different from the way it was remembered since Bowa posted a career on-base percentage of .300 and never walked more than 39 times in a season once in his 16 seasons.

Perhaps Bowa’s few critiques of Jimmy Rollins’ acumen as a leadoff man was based on experience since the old-time Phillie got on base at a .287 clip during his career when leading off and .299 when hitting second. Both figures are so far below the league norm that it’s as if they were dropped down into a well.

The best non-memory from Bowa, though, was not from the way he played. It was whom he played with. A favorite came during a series against the Orioles when Gary Matthews Jr. was tearing up the Phillies with big hit after a big hit. So when questions about Matthews led to the inevitable one about Big Sarge and whether or not Bowa played with the Phillies’ fun-time broadcaster, the answer was, “No, I never played with him.”

That seemed like a curious thing so we went and looked it up to find that not only did Bowa play on the same team with Gary Matthews Sr. in Philadelphia, but also they played together for the Cubs, too.

Any one that has ever met Sarge knows he’s hard to forget. Shoot, Sarge even knows the President!

Charlie’s mis-memories aren’t as obvious as the Bowa-Sarge one, but there are many more of them. The reason for that isn’t so much that Charlie has a bad memory, it’s that he just likes to tell stories and talk baseball. He’s great at it and anyone who has ever spent just a little bit of time with ol’ Charlie comes away with a great story or memory.  

Some call Charlie the Casey Stengel of the modern era, which given his perceived nervousness in front of large audiences and TV cameras, is a good comparison. Take away the cameras and put Charlie on the dugout bench three hours before the first pitch and he’s more like Mark Twain of the Shenandoah Valley. And like Mark Twain, once Charlie gets going he doesn’t stop.

The stories from his days playing in Japan, playing for Billy Martin, growing up in Virginia and mingling with Presidents are the best. So too are the stories about his travels across the world. Just like with Chico Esquela, baseball has been very, very good to Chuck. As a result, it’s been pretty good for some of us, too. It doesn’t really matter if the stories are 100 percent accurate because they are so good.

And aren’t the stories the best part of it?

Anyway, Charlie’s latest mis-memory came earlier this year when he was asked about Raul Ibanez’s rough spring and early slump. The manager said he wasn’t worried about Ibanez finding his stroke because he remembered the time his old teammate Harmon Killebrew couldn’t buy a hit during spring training but went out and hit three home runs on opening day on his way to clubbing 49 during the season to get the AL MVP Award.

Sure, Killebrew hit 49 homers in 1969 and was the MVP. However, he didn’t hit three homers on opening day. Instead, Killebrew had one three-homer game in his entire career and that came four years before Chuck even cracked a big league roster.

Another good one was when he told us about the time he broke up a no-hitter against Catfish Hunter, which isn’t completely inaccurate. The thing is, no one was on no-hitter watch because Manuel’s hit came when he led off the fifth with a single in a game in Oakland on April 16, 1972. Technically, yes, Chuck broke up the no-hitter. He might have been the only one to notice it.

Regardless, the brain is mysterious thing and the way one person remembers an event can be completely different from the next guy. Everyone is like Bowa and Charlie to some degree, because if you get some time and distance away from even a little league game, the circumstances may have played out more dramatically.

Hell, we all probably broke up a few no-hitters…though if we played on two different teams with Sarge we’d easily remember it.

---

[1] My term, not hers.

A shot in the dark

Sometimes it feels like we write the same thing over andover again. It’s not quite a Groundhog’s Day thing, but often with sports some of the themes repeat themselves.

Actually, those themes can repeat themselves with the same guy, too. For instance, last April I wrote this:

Lidge, it was revealed after Monday’s game, has inflammation in his right knee and was unavailable to pitch. Though Lidge is listed as day-to-day, the inflammation was severe enough for the closer to undergo an MRI last Monday and then have a cortisone shot last Wednesday. For now the closer and manager Charlie Manuel are hopeful that a trip to the disabled list is not needed.

“We don’t think so yet,” said Manuel striking an ominous tone when asked if Lidge could land on the DL.

Lidge also is optimistic despite the fact that the swelling and soreness is on the same knee that he had operated on twice in 2008. However, Lidge pointed out that his knee hurts when he pushes off the rubber from the stretch.

The good news is that the MRI revealed no structural damage to the knee, but there was excess fluid and swelling, the pitcher said.

“Based on the MRI I’m not overly concerned,” Lidge said, standing in front of his locker with a large ice pack wrapped around his right knee. “It’s something that I’m just dealing with the fluid and inflammation. I’m concerned on a small level because it’s not feeling great and I want to get back there as soon as possible. But I think if we nip it in the bud right now, hopefully it will be something I won’t have to worry about for the rest of the year.”

Sound familiar? Lidge something just like that when he got a cortisone shot the other day, only this time is was for his right arm. So if you’re scoring at home, Lidge has had three cortisone shots in the past 12 months, as well as surgery to remove chips out of his throwing arm. Going back to when he first signed on with the Phillies, Lidge has had three surgeries—two on his knee—and a bunch of MRIs.

Oh yes, Lidge has a pretty good health care plan from playing for the Phillies.

And you know what? It’s a good thing, too. If history is any indication, he’s going to need it. After all, even in his best season Lidge was hurt. Remember that? He started the 2008 season on the disabled list after having two different surgeries on his knee before the season began and went out to close out 48 straight games. Considering that he had been removed from the closer’s role in his last season in Houston, Lidge’s perfect season came out of nowhere.

The oddest part is that even though Lidge was banged up, disabled and pitching with chips in his arm, he still appeared in more games in 2009 (67) than he did in 2007 (66).

Now here’s where it’s all connected… Lidge and the Phillies have said pretty much the same thing throughout. That quote in italics above sounds a lot like what Lidge said when he got the cortisone shot the other day.

“This puts you a couple days behind where you want to be,” Lidge said. “That being said, if it works, like we're hoping it's going to, it's going to speed up things a lot on the other side of that.”

The one word common to both quotes is “hope.” Last season manager Charlie Manuel and general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. hoped Lidge would bounce back from the breaks and the shots and find his lost form—you know for as much as a guy pitching with fragments in his elbow could rebound.

This year Lidge and the Phils hope his fastball can top 90-mph and he can get back to saving games a little more efficiently than last year where he set a record for the highest ERA (7.21) by a pitcher with more than 20 saves. But that’s just it—it’s just hope. The only guarantee is that Lidge will get paid the remainder of his $37.5 million deal through the 2011 season (with $1.5 buyout of the option for 2012).

Look, Lidge very well might regain his lost form after another stint on the disabled list. After all, the team physician and the front office say the latest cortisone shot was no big deal. That very well could be the case since Lidge says he feels strong.

“My arm strength is good and my slider was coming around and everything else was going the way it should, but velocity was not going,” Lidge said. “Rather than projecting on when it will, we decided to take action into our own hands, get a cortisone shot and speed the process up.”

Said Amaro: “I think you guys are making a little too much of the cortisone shot. If this helps accelerate him in getting his velocity back, that's more the nature of it.”

However, Lidge very well might be the recipient of the very first cortisone shot that was not a big deal. After all, there’s a reason why cortisone injections are banned in nearly every other professional and amateur sports around the world. According to Brian J. Cole, MD, MBA and H. Ralph Schumacher, Jr, MD in the Journal of American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, the Lidge and the Phillies could be teetering on the edge of some long-term effects.

Physicians do not want to give more than three, but there is not really a specific limit to the number of shots. However, there are some practical limitations. If a cortisone injection wears off quickly or does not help the problem, then repeating it may not be worthwhile. Also, animal studies have shown effects of weakening of tendons and softening of cartilage with cortisone injections. Repeated cortisone injections multiply these effects and increase the risk of potential problems. This is the reason many physicians limit the number of injections they offer to a patient.

So there’s that and we haven’t even discussed the future of the Phillies’ bullpen. Smartly, though, Manuel cut to the chase about Lidge’s return from this injury.

“We’re just speculating,” Manuel said, “and that’s not good.”

Other people's managers

INDIANAPOLIS—One cool thing about the Winter Meetings is the daily little thing each manager does with the press. For some guys it's the first (and only) chance they get to catch a glimpse at someone like Don Wakamatsu or Dave Trembley and hear what they have to say.

Other times, it's nothing more than another mass media session for the popular managers of the big-market teams. For instance, this afternoon, Terry Francona of the Red Sox and Ozzie
Guillen from the White Sox held they media sessions in front of pretty large crowds. Then again, Ozzie and Tito usually gather larger than average crowds simply because they are so quotable. In the case of Ozzie Guillen sometimes he's so quotable he can't be quoted because of his choice in different types of words he likes to use.

It makes me wonder if Ozzie learned English from listening to Redd Foxx records when he came to the U.S. from Venezuela.

Nevertheless, today Francona relived the end of the 2009 season and how even though the Red Sox won 95 games, they weren't quite good enough.

"Everybody remembers how you finish," Francona said, acknowledging that despite all those wins, the Red Sox didn't even challenge the Yankees in the AL East.

With World Series title No. 27 in the bag, the secret to the Yankees success is pretty simple to hear Francona describe it.

"They have a lot of money and they have a lot of smart people running things," he said.

Lethal combo.

Meanwhile, across the ballroom here in the Indy Downtown Marriott, Guillen talked about his club, specifically how veteran Andruw Jones fits in.

Jones, of course, has been THE center fielder in the Majors over the last decade. However, now that he going into his 15th season in the league and closing in on his 33rd birthday, Jones will have to get used to playing left field for the White Sox, because, as Guillen said, "Right now he doesn't have a choice."

Five-year veteran Alex Rios is Guillen's choice to play centerfield in front of Jones.

"Rios is a better center fielder," Guillen said. "Ten years ago, Andruw Jones was the best center fielder on Earth."

He's still pretty good, but not good enough for the South Side of Chicago.

As far as the Phillies go, Charlie Manuel did not make the trip to Indy with the approximately 30 other members of the team's traveling party. Because the season lasted into the first week of November, Manuel was excused. Last year in Las Vegas, as some remember, Manuel spent the entire week in his room at the Bellagio ridden with the flu. Until the last day of the winter meetings Charlie only surfaced to sign his contract extension before going back to bed.

This year he's probably playing a little golf in Florida.

Just call Charlie the best manager in Phillies history

In the days after the Phillies surged to within a Cubs’ base hit [1]from forging a one-game playoff with the Astros for the 2005 wild card, I wrote a long, season-ending story about the things it would be wise for then-GM Ed Wade to do. Because, you know, I had all the answers and any wise GM would comb through my stories for trenchant baseball advice.

Yes, that was written in the sarcasm font.

Nevertheless, tucked beneath such things as re-signing Billy Wagner or trading Ryan Howard for pitching so that Jim Thome could be the everyday first baseman, I wrote that it would be wise for team to sign Charlie Manuel to an extension. The idea, I wrote, was ceremonial—like a reward for putting up with a lot of BS from the fans and media all while keeping his team focused on winning games.

It would have been a classy thing to do, I argued. After all, the Phillies similarly rewarded Larry Bowa for doing far less than Manuel.

But wow… you should have seen the e-mail that poured in from that one. People freaked out and resorted to the one thing sports fans who can’t wrap their heads around a certain point do…

They called me names.

Fact is, I enjoyed it. I like the show and if a bunch of people dressed with the alter-ego of an avatar can’t tell you how stupid you are, well, what’s the point. Besides, the things I’m really stupid about, like home repair or fiduciary matters, make my sports analysis look like it was developed by Stephen Hawking.

It’s the truth.

Anyway, the extra attention and massive email attacks were nice because it meant there were a few angry people out there reading. The web staff here at CSN doesn’t get much attention or recognition around the office. Oh sure, to folks on the outside Andy Schwartz and myself are pretty legit, but around the office we’re the freaks who compose those tricky sentences and can make the web site do all those colorful things. The fact is we’re oddballs (in more ways than one) which is especially true in regard to Andy since he was at CSN when they turned on the lights for the very first time. Actually, he very well might have flipped the switch.

He’s quite fastidious like that.

Tangent aside, it’s funny (not ha-ha) how wrong I was about Billy Wagner and Ryan Howard, but oh-so right about Manuel. The fact is Manuel did get a contract extension at the end of the 2007 season and the 2008 season, which will keep him with the club until 2012. And short of getting caught robbing a liquor store, there’s nothing Charlie can do to get fired before his contract expires, either.

Just like that and Charlie has become one of those venerable ol’ salts running a team just like Earl Weaver, Sparky Anderson, Tommy Lasorda, or even Charlie’s old manager, Walter Alston. No matter how tough some seasons became, those old ball skippers were given the time and the patience to make it work. In that regard the Phillies were very smart in exercising patience with Manuel.

Know why? Because the big complaint about Manuel these days was over some of the choices he made during his second straight appearance in the World Series. Does anyone see the irony there? Charlie is a bad manager because he didn’t win the World Series for two straight years?

That’s knee-slapping funny.

No, the point is Charlie is not a bad manager. In fact, the old throwback from the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia is very much a progressive, modern manager. His players are relaxed and the atmosphere around the team is such that all the ballplayers have to do is worry about the game. Part of how this is fostered is that Charlie takes the slings and arrows. He puts himself out there and lets smart-assy national media types make fun of his diction and Appalachian twang while his players are unbothered.

There’s another irony: guys who never had to work for anything ever (and by work we mean real work such as provide for a wife, child, mother and 10 brothers and sisters when still a teenager) laugh to each other about the way about a guy who had to work for everything speaks in front of cameras.

Kind of makes me embarrassed to be in the same business with those people.

Nevertheless, let’s get to the bottom line. In 2012 Manuel will be finishing his eighth season with the Phillies, which will be the third-most in club history. Only Hall-of-Famer Harry Wright and should-be Hall-of-Famer Gene Mauch will have managed the Phillies longer.

Better yet, if the Phillies win an average of 67 games over the next three seasons, Manuel will surpass Mauch as the winningest manager in franchise history. Considering that the Phillies have averaged nearly 90 wins per season with Manuel at the helm, chances are he’s going to shatter the franchise record.

So here’s the question: How many folks out there thought Charlie was going to make it through the end of his first contract? How many thought he would be one of just two managers to win the World Series for the Phillies?

Finally, how many folks out there can remember back to that November of 2004 afternoon when Manuel was introduced as the manager and thought, “Yes, there is the man who will manage more winning games than any manager in franchise history and the second most in Philadelphia baseball history behind Connie Mack.”

I’ll apologize for all those boneheaded things I wrote about Billy Wagner and Ryan Howard, but not about Charlie.

That contract extension turned out to be a pretty good idea.

---

[1] Incidentally, Brad Lidge was on the mound to preserve the Astros’ wild-card clinching victory. His last pitch was to Jose Macias who smoked a liner destined for right field until Eric Bruntlett stepped in the snare it. How ironic is that? Cue the “Twilight Zone” music.

Just call Charlie the best manager in Phillies history

In the days after the Phillies surged to within a Cubs’ base hit [1]from forging a one-game playoff with the Astros for the 2005 wild card, I wrote a long, season-ending story about the things it would be wise for then-GM Ed Wade to do.

Because, you know, I had all the answers and any wise GM would comb through my stories for trenchant baseball advice.

Yes, that was written in the sarcasm font.

Nevertheless, tucked beneath such things as re-signing Billy Wagner or trading Ryan Howard for pitching so that Jim Thome could be the everyday first baseman, I wrote that it would be wise for team to sign Charlie Manuel to an extension. The idea, I wrote, was ceremonial—like a reward for putting up with a lot of BS from the fans and media all while keeping his team focused on winning games.

It would have been a classy thing to do, I argued. After all, the Phillies similarly rewarded Larry Bowa for doing far less than Manuel.

But wow… you should have seen the e-mail that poured in from that one. People freaked out and resorted to the one thing sports fans who can’t wrap their heads around a certain point do…

They called me names.

Fact is, I enjoyed it. I like the show and if a bunch of people dressed with the alter-ego of an avatar can’t tell you how stupid you are, well, what’s the point. Besides, the things I’m really stupid about, like home repair or fiduciary matters, make my sports analysis look like it was developed by Stephen Hawking.

It’s the truth.

Anyway, the extra attention and massive email attacks were nice because it meant there were a few angry people out there reading. The web staff here at CSN doesn’t get much attention or recognition around the office. Oh sure, to folks on the outside Andy Schwartz and myself are pretty legit, but around the office we’re the freaks who compose those tricky sentences and can make the web site do all those colorful things. The fact is we’re oddballs (in more ways than one) which is especially true in regard to Andy since he was at CSN when they turned on the lights for the very first time. Actually, he very well might have flipped the switch.

He’s quite fastidious like that.

Tangent aside, it’s funny (not ha-ha) how wrong I was about Billy Wagner and Ryan Howard, but oh-so right about Manuel. The fact is Manuel did get a contract extension at the end of the 2007 season and the 2008 season, which will keep him with the club until 2012. And short of getting caught robbing a liquor store, there’s nothing Charlie can do to get fired before his contract expires, either.

Just like that and Charlie has become one of those venerable ol’ salts running a team just like Earl Weaver, Sparky Anderson, Tommy Lasorda, or even Charlie’s old manager, Walter Alston. No matter how tough some seasons became, those old ball skippers were given the time and the patience to make it work. In that regard the Phillies were very smart in exercising patience with Manuel.

Know why? Because the big complaint about Manuel these days was over some of the choices he made during his second straight appearance in the World Series. Does anyone see the irony there? Charlie is a bad manager because he didn’t win the World Series for two straight years?

That’s knee-slapping funny.

No, the point is Charlie is not a bad manager. In fact, the old throwback from the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia is very much a progressive, modern manager. His players are relaxed and the atmosphere around the team is such that all the ballplayers have to do is worry about the game. Part of how this is fostered is that Charlie takes the slings and arrows. He puts himself out there and lets smart-assy national media types make fun of his diction and Appalachian twang while his players are unbothered.

There’s another irony: guys who never had to work for anything ever (and by work we mean real work such as provide for a wife, child, mother and 10 brothers and sisters when still a teenager) laugh to each other about the way about a guy who had to work for everything speaks in front of cameras.

Kind of makes me embarrassed to be in the same business with those people.

Nevertheless, let’s get to the bottom line. In 2012 Manuel will be finishing his eighth season with the Phillies, which will be the third-most in club history. Only Hall-of-Famer Harry Wright and should-be Hall-of-Famer Gene Mauch will have managed the Phillies longer.

Better yet, if the Phillies win an average of 67 games over the next three seasons, Manuel will surpass Mauch as the winningest manager in franchise history. Considering that the Phillies have averaged nearly 90 wins per season with Manuel at the helm, chances are he’s going to shatter the franchise record.

So here’s the question: How many folks out there thought Charlie was going to make it through the end of his first contract? How many thought he would be one of just two managers to win the World Series for the Phillies?

Finally, how many folks out there can remember back to that November of 2004 afternoon when Manuel was introduced as the manager and thought, “Yes, there is the man who will manage more winning games than any manager in franchise history and the second most in Philadelphia baseball history behind Connie Mack.”

I’ll apologize for all those boneheaded things I wrote about Billy Wagner and Ryan Howard, but not about Charlie.

That contract extension turned out to be a pretty good idea.

---

[1] Incidentally, Brad Lidge was on the mound to preserve the Astros’ wild-card clinching victory. His last pitch was to Jose Macias who smoked a liner destined for right field until Eric Bruntlett stepped in the snare it. How ironic is that? Cue the “Twilight Zone” music.

World Series: Betting on Hamels in Game 7

NEW YORK—The sun was due to hit the horizon at any minute. At least that’s what I’d heard. The month of October is a blur when you’re chasing around a baseball team. In fact, another writer pointed out that yesterday was Monday and I stared at him for a long moment. It didn’t feel like a Monday, but then again nothing feels the same anymore.

The numbness set in that day it snowed in Denver during the NLDS and hasn’t relented.

So sitting there feeling numb, tired while waiting for the sun that I had heard so much about, the remote control instinctively went to the MLB. If there was no Larry David out there in the ether what else would one want to watch?

But there on the screen appeared a bunch of guys sitting on bar stools on the field. The setting was the same exact place that I had left only it looked so much different on television. It was bigger and greener on the TV, which I chalked up to those crafty guys in the MLB Network CGI department.

There was no need for any kind of special effects when panelist Mitch Williams popped on the screen. After all, Mitch is a damned force of nature with his rapid-fire delivery of each thought that tickles the locus of his brain. It’s fabulous because generally on TV they don’t do nuance well. With Mitch the nuance is the hammer he uses to obliterate all notion of conventional wisdom…

You know, as it relates to wisdom on basic cable.

But Mitch’s grand point of the night was speculative in nature, because that’s what they do on those types of shows. Someone makes a point, another guy takes the opposing view, they argue and then it’s time to go to the commercial.

Riveting.

However, Mitch dropped a point that wasn’t too unpopular in these parts lately, and the idea was that if the World Series gets to a seventh game, there is no way manager Charlie Manuel should run Cole Hamels out there. Who cares that Hamels will be the freshest pitcher on the staff and it will be his day to pitch? Mitch said if the Phillies can force Game 7 at Yankee Stadium on Thursday night, the reigning World Series MVP should not pitch.

“There’s huge doubt,” Williams said on ESPN Radio. “If I’m Charlie Manuel there’s no way in the world he’s pitching. A player comes out in the middle of the World Series when the entire team is busting their butts to get this thing accomplished again to repeat and one of the mainstays in the rotation says he just wants the season over? Well, he wouldn’t have to ask me twice for it to be over, he wouldn’t pitch again. I’d take my chances with J.A. Happ. … I cannot send Cole Hamels out there after he said he wants the season to end and then have to look at the rest of the team in the face and say, ‘He was just kidding.’”

Sure, the quote might have been taken out of context, but Williams did not care.

“You don’t let that quote come out of your mouth, period,” Williams said. “That’s been the problem with Cole this year. I thought last year in the postseason he was the best pitcher on the planet. This year when the playoffs started he was complaining that the Phillies had to play games that start at 2:30 p.m. There are certain things as a player that you just don’t let be known. You definitely don’t let your opponent know that you’re upset at what time the game is starting, because they know going in that your mind is not where it’s supposed to be and it will take nothing to get you rattled on the mound.”

Mitch is old school. He was the heart-and-soul of the ’93 Phillies’ infamous “Macho Row.” He’s no sooner as hit a guy with a pitch in the back than give up an intentional walk and mess with his pitch count. Why waste the energy?

Cole Hamels is the anti-Mitch. Where Cole has precious ads with his wife and sweet little dogs that get carted around town in designer sweaters in a backpack, and has his hair gently highlighted, Mitch wore a mullet. He spit and cursed and owned horses and pigs on his farm called, “The 3-and-2 Ranch.”

If Hamels is Tokyo, Williams is Paris. They are as opposite as a pair of left-handers could be.

Still, give Williams credit for not holding back or allowing his biases to be swayed by thinking something through. Williams’ analysis is just like his pitching was—hurried, fast, wild and a little sloppy.

And who doesn’t love it?

Still, Mitch Williams telling a manager not to use a pitcher? Really? Certainly his idea to bypass Hamels in a Game 7 is one that I would have completely ignored if it was offered by anyone else. But because it was Mitch Williams, it was put right out there on the batting tee for anyone to knock out of the park.

Mitch Williams, as everyone knows, pitched the fateful Game 6 of the 1993 World Series for the Phillies. Manager Jim Fregosi brought his closer into the game in the ninth inning with a one-run lead and the meat of the fearsome Blue Jays’ offense coming to the plate. If Mitch could have gotten three outs, the Phillies would have played in Game 7 the next night. With a one-run cushion he had very little margin for error. That was especially the case considering it was Mitch who was on the mound in Game 4 when the Phillies blew a five-run lead with six outs to go. When Larry Andersen struggled in the eighth, Fregosi turned to Williams who gave up six runs.

Then again, it could hardly be Williams’ fault. His fastball and command of his slider were shot from overuse and too much tight-rope walking during the regular season and the playoffs. By the time he got in there to face Joe Carter with one out and two on, it was already too late.

So why did Fregosi put Williams in at all? Clearly an astute baseball man like Fregosi was wise enough to see what everyone else saw, which was all his closer had left was guile dressed up as good luck.

In other words, Fregosi was sending Williams out on a Kamikaze mission. Dutifully, Williams put on his crash helmet and went out there.

BANZAI!

So why did Fregosi send Williams out there in Game 6 with the season on the line? Simple, he felt loyalty to his guy and didn’t feel like he had anyone better. Was Roger Mason going to pitch the ninth inning? Sure, it sounds logical to us, but we were there with Curt Schilling with our heads buried in a towel.

But given the chance, if it comes to a Game 7, Cole Hamels would be my man. I’d give him the ball and would expect that he not only would pitch seven innings, but also that he would win the game. In fact, I don’t know if there is any other logical choice.

Yeah, yeah, I know all about the numbers. I’ve seen the frustration, the body language and heard the comments. And yes I remember watching J.A. Happ pitch against the Yankees in May where he pitched really well before Brad Lidge blew it in the ninth.

I know all of this and I don’t care. I’m being exactly like Mitch in this sense.

The reason I give the ball to Hamels in Game 7 (if the Phillies even get there) is because I think he has pride. I think he’s been hurt by all of the slings and arrows and is dying for one more chance to save his season.

Yes, it’s all about redemption for Hamels.

“I know Hamels. I've been a Hamels guy ever since I seen him pitch in Lakewood and when I first came to work here, I never, ever—I want you to listen to this—I never, ever questioned his mental toughness because he's just as tough as anybody on our team. And I mean that. That part I've never, ever doubted,” Manuel said. “There's definitely no quit in him, and I know he shows emotions at times, and he's had like a freakish year and he's going through a bad time, but at the same time he'll get through it, and he'll be the pitcher that you saw last year. That pitcher that you've been seeing for the last couple years, that's who Hamels is. He is a gamer and he's a fighter. I can't say enough about him, really. That's kind of how I see him.”

Needless to say Manuel just tipped his hand on who will pitch in Game 7 for the Phillies if Pedro Martinez wins on Wednesday night. Actually, there was no tipping at all because Charlie just put all his cards out there on the table.

Better yet, Hamels has been challenged by just about everyone. He’s even gone to the manager’s office and campaigned to get the ball in the season finale should it come to it. Now it’s all on him.

A wounded and cornered animal can do one of two things—he can roll over and die or he can fight back.

“He definitely wants to win and he wants us to win the World Series, and he definitely wants to play a big part in it,” Manuel said. “As a matter of fact, he might be wanting to play too big a part in it. But that's kind of how I see it.”

Here’s betting Hamels gets the chance to fight back.

World Series: Damon's double steal all flash

PHILADELPHIA—Already they are saying it might be the most clutch play in recent World Series history. Strangely, that’s not just from the hyperbolic New York press who has the innate ability to turn even the most mediocre ballplayers into Hall of Famers.

No, the lauding of Johnny Damon’s one-man, one-pitch double steal has been pretty universal. All across the board the praise as appropriately reflected the proper bias. But make no mistake about it… it was a great play.

Actually, it was one of those plays where everything had to go perfectly. If Damon was going to steal second and pop up out of his slide and take off for third where no one was within 45 feet because of the defensive over-shift for Mark Teixeira, any deviation would have thwarted the play.

First, pitcher Brad Lidge and catcher Carlos Ruiz have to fail to cover third base. Secondly, the throw to second by Ruiz not only has to be fielded by Feliz, but if it is caught at the bag Damon can’t go anywhere. If Feliz thought to catch the ball at the base, there was no way Damon could have gone anywhere.

More importantly, if Ruiz had been able to hang on to a foul tip with two strikes on Damon during his nine-pitch, five-foul plate appearance, the inning would have ended. Instead, Damon lived to see another pitch and laced a single to left.

On pitch later he went from first to third on a steal(s).

Crazy, but smart.

But was it really necessary? Sure, Damon taking off for third was an aggressive, heads’ up play. If Lidge throws a wild pitch he could easily score the go ahead run from third base, but with Teixeira or Alex Rodriguez due up it wasn’t really necessary to take third other than as an insult.

In other words, it was flashy (and smart) but much ado about nothing. After all, Teixeira was plunked on the arm before A-Rod doubled home the go-ahead run. Without the hit, it doesn’t matter where Damon was standing.

At least that’s the way Charlie Manuel sees it.

“A-Rod got a big hit,” Charlie said. “Damon going to third base, only thing Damon did by going to third base, he put his team in a better position to maybe score a run by a fastball or a high chopper or something like that. But the big hit was A-Rod. A-Rod's hit was the big hit because it was two outs. They got the big hit, Rivera came in, shut us down, and they got the win. They've been doing that to us.”

So while us media types hyperventilate over Damon’s smart move, ask yourself if it would have been as big a deal if he was playing in the World Series for Tampa Bay.

World Series: Bad beats

PHILADELPHIA—For a franchise that has lost more games than any other team in pro sports history, the Phillies have suffered through more than their fair share of humiliating defeats. In fact, if Philadelphia were the hoity-toity center of arts and letters like Boston and New York, there would be books, poems, curses and movies produced about some of the more devastating of these losses.

Of course the World Series victories in 1980 and 2008 have tempered some of the emotion of the losses, but if that were not the case chances are last night’s defeat in Game 4 of the World Series would take on a greater magnitude.

Instead, we’ll just label it a tough loss and wait to see how the rest of the series plays out.

Still, it’s worth investigating just where the Game 4 loss ranks. Upon reflection, the 2009 Game 4 defeat mirrors the one in Game 4 of the 1993 World Series. That’s the one where the Phillies took a 14-9 lead into the eighth inning only to have the Blue Jays rally for six runs in the inning against Larry Andersen and Mitch Williams. Just when it looked as if the Phillies were going to tie up the series at 2-2, one inning put the club in a 3-1 series deficit and paved the way for Joe Carter’s series-ending homer in Game 6.

Before that point, though, Curt Schilling pitched a shutout in Game 5. That’s a role the Phillies are hoping is reprised by Cliff Lee in tonight’s Game 5. In fact, the similarities are downright uncanny. I remember walking in the bowels of the Vet before Schilling’s first, true World Series gem and seeing the victory champagne, the championship t-shirts and a whole lot of Molson beer in boxes outside the Blue Jays clubhouse.

Schilling made them cart it all the way to Toronto and the Phillies were two outs away from forcing a Game 7 until Jim Fregosi called in Mitchy-poo.

The rest is history.

As for the ’93 Game 4, Andersen said he doesn’t think the mood in the clubhouse after that loss was too different than it was with the Phillies last night. Both clubs had been through so much during the long season that one difficult defeat didn’t affect morale.

Of course we all know how Game 6 shook up the ’93 Phils and the city. Williams was traded to Houston, John Kruk beat cancer, Lenny Dykstra and Darren Daulton began their descent marked by injuries and that team quickly broke up.

Roger Mason we hardly knew ye.

As for last night’s loss it seemed as if a few of the guys got fired up by the notion of doom and gloom. Cliff Lee walked into the clubhouse and a wry smile took over his face when he took in the scene of a media horde picking at Brad Lidge as if they were vultures picking at a dead animal by the side of the road.

Of course Lidge’s teammates didn’t help matters by leaving the closer out there all by himself to answer question after question, but eventually a few trickled out. Heck, even Chase Utley misread the extended media deadlines for the World Series and had to entertain questions from the press.

Nope, Utley only has time for the media when he needs to promote his charity.

“We play like every game’s our last anyway,” Utley said. “So this should be no different.”

Regardless, Jimmy Rollins probably said it best about the Phillies’ attitude heading into their first elimination game since the 2007 NLDS. Don’t expect any rah-rah speeches or extra histrionics from the home team, he says.

“I guess that works real well in Hollywood movies,” Rollins said. “You make this grand speech and everybody turns around and becomes superheroes. But we all know what we have to do. We talked about it in the lunch room, what’s the task at hand. And Charlie, if he wants to say something, he’ll say something. Other than that, the focus and the job doesn’t change.”

Yes that’s true. However, the stakes have changed greatly.

*
While we’re on the subject of ugly losses in team history, where does Cole Hamels’ failure in Game 3 rank. Sure, we’re waxing on about Game 4, but Hamels and the Phillies were in an excellent spot in Game 3 before the fifth-inning meltdown.

As a result, it would be difficult for Manuel to send Hamels to the mound for Game 7 at Yankee Stadium should it come to that. Moreover, there just might be a swirl of trade talk regarding Hamels this winter… perhaps involving a certain right-hander for Toronto.

“This year has been tough on him,” Manuel said. “He's kind of had a weird year. You've heard me say that over and over. What he's going through right now, it's going to be an experience, because he's going through the part where he's failed.”

Manuel pointed out that bad years on the heels of overwhelming success aren’t extraordinary. In fact, they happen all the time to really good pitchers. Hall of Famers, even.

“I think that's just the way it goes. And I can name you pitchers that have had the same problem he has. Saberhagen, Palmer, Jim Palmer, Beckett. I mean, if I stood here and think, I can think of more,” Manuel said. “You go back and look, after they have the big year, it's not something -- Pat Burrell as a player, hit 37 home runs, and the following year I remember when I first came over here, one of my things was I worked with his hitting. And the reason is because he was having a bad year. That's baseball, and sometimes that's what happens. That doesn't mean that a guy is not going to meet your expectations of him. I think it's just a matter of him getting things going again and feeling real good about himself, and he'll go out there and produce for you.”

Whether or not this affects Hamels’ role with the club for the rest of the 2009 season has yet to be determined. But make no mistake about it—the Phillies’ faith in Hamels just isn’t there any more.

World Series: Charlie's big gamble

PHILADELPHIA—No matter what else happens, Charlie Manuel will be remembered as the second man to win a World Series for the Phillies. Since 1883 and after 50 previous managers, only Charlie and Dallas Green have hoisted the Commissioner’s Trophy at the end of the season.

So whatever happens after the 2008 World Series, Charlie’s legacy is safe in Philadelphia. Winning baseball teams are like Haley’s Comet around here.

But will Charlie’s legacy take a hit if the Phillies lose the 2009 World Series to the Yankees? And if so, will it be because of his decision NOT to send Cliff Lee to the mound for a rematch against CC Sabathia on short rest in Game 4?

Well, that all depends.

First of all, Charlie has painted himself into a corner a few times during the postseason. One time came when he used both J.A. Happ and Joe Blanton in Game 2 of the NLDS. Another time was when he went with five pitchers to get three outs in Game 2 of the NLCS. After each of those instances the question that was asked was, “Did Charlie just [mess] this up?”

Each time the answer was, “We’ll see.”

And that’s where we are once again. Charlie is backed into a corner with Joe Blanton scheduled to start against the Yankees in Game 4. If it works and Blanton comes through with and the Phillies steal one from Sabathia again, the manager looks like a genius. After all, he will go into the pivotal Game 5 with his best pitcher properly rested and ready to go against another pitcher working on short rest.

Better yet, the pitcher (A.J. Burnett) is one pitching coach Rich Dubee is quite familiar with going back to his days with the Florida Marlins. Though he won’t say it one way or another, one gets the sense that Dubee thinks Burnett is a bit of a whack job, to use a popular term.

So in that respect, if the Phillies go into Game 5 with the series tied up at 2 games apiece, Manuel looks pretty darned smart.

Again.

Still, it seems as if the manager has his cards all laid out on the table and is waiting to get lucky with one on the river (to use another term). Clearly it seems as if the Phillies don’t believe they match up well against the Yankees are attempting to use any favorable twist they can to their advantage. The biggest of those appears to be Cliff Lee on regular rest in Game 5 against A.J. Burnett on short rest.

Nevertheless, there is an interesting caveat to all of this and it has to do with Charlie and Lee…

If Charlie was so adamant about not pitching Cliff Lee on three days rest, and says that even if the pitcher had campaigned to pitch in Game 4 it would have no affect on his decision to stick with Blanton. According to the way Manuel phrased it, even if Lee had burst into the office, flipped over a table, knocked some pictures off the wall and screamed at the manager to, “GIVE ME THE BALL!” Manuel says it would not have mattered.

“We didn't talk very long on Cliff Lee,” Manuel said.

But why did they talk at all?

Let’s think about that for a second… if Charlie’s mind was already made up, why did he ask Lee anything? Could it be that Lee emitted some bad body language or hedged when Manuel asked if he’d pitch in Game 4?

Or could it be that the Phillies placed too much trust in Cole Hamels?

For now everyone is saying all the right things. That’s especially the case with Lee, who says he’s ready for whatever the Phillies give him.

“It was a pretty quick conversation, him asking me if I had ever done it and me telling him no and saying that I think I could,” Lee said. “Basically that was about the extent of it. Pretty quick, brief deal. I just let him know I'd pitch whenever he wants me to pitch. I think I could do it, but he makes the calls.”

So the season comes down to this. If the Phillies fall into a 3-1 series hole and end up losing the series, will it tarnish what Manuel has already done for the Phillies?

We’ll see.

World Series: Gotta get to Mo

PHILADELPHIA—It was back in Washington, probably in late August or early September when all we did was write about the proper way to use a relief pitcher and closers. Needless to say it was during one of Brad Lidge’s many rough patches of 2009 and there was a whole bunch of name dropping and philosophizing by the likes of me.

It wasn’t just willy-nilly name dropping, either. Oh sure, there was Eckersley, Sutter, Goose, Sparky Lyle, Mike Marshall and, of course, Fingers. But we also waxed on about Rawly Eastwick, Will McEnaney and the socialism of baseball with its division of labor and labels.

Labels, we decided, were bad. However, since the Phillies seem to have their label/labor issues figured out, there is no need to go overboard when discussing the best use of the so-called “closer.”

Besides, Mariano Rivera makes that Rawly Eastwick look like Will McEnaney.

Oh yes, Mariano Rivera. His two-inning save against the Phillies in Game 2 of the World Series on Thursday night might have been a record-breaker, but it wasn’t exactly a study in the efficiency of pitching. The Phillies made Rivera throw 39 pitches in order to get his 10th career save in the World Series. They also brought the go-ahead run to the plate in the eighth inning, and the tying run in the ninth.

These weren’t mere flash-flood rallies either. In the eighth with one out Rivera had to face Chase Utley with Jimmy Rollins and Shane Victorino on base. Utley had ripped two homers the night before to pace the Phillies to the win, but this time Rivera got the inning-ending double play.

Sure, the TV replays showed that Utley was safe, but it was significant enough that Rivera got Utley to hit into a double play considering the lefty hit into just five of them all year and has grounded into just 49 double plays in his entire career.

Indeed, the lefty hitting Utley got one of those cutters Rivera throws.

In the ninth Matt Stairs faced Rivera with two outs and a runner on with a chance to tie it. Stairs, as we know, has had some success against big-time closers, but this one ended just as it has so many times with Rivera.

As soon as Stairs made the final out of the game, the talk started. For instance, there are a few that suggested that even though the Phillies didn’t score against Rivera, they got to him a bit. They saw those 39 pitches, of course, and sent eight hitters to the plate in those two innings. The idea, as it’s been written and spoken, was that the Phillies got a good, long look at Rivera and will be ready for the next time.

“Now you have a game plan,” Rollins said. “We didn’t really see Mariano during the season. Spring training, he comes in, I’m out of the game. So, it’s a mystery. Like, we know what he’s going to do. It’s no surprise. It’s not a secret. You’re getting a cutter. All right. You’re getting another cutter. All right. Now here comes another one. That’s what makes him such a good pitcher, because he’s not trying to trick you. But when you see him, you figure out how much his ball is moving. Once you find your approach, you’ve got to be stubborn with it because he’s going to be stubborn with what he’s going to do to you.”

Manager Charlie Manuel was one of those who believed the Phillies’ long look at Rivera was beneficial.

“We can hit Rivera. We can hit any closer. We’ve proved that,” Manuel said. “He’s one of the best closers in baseball, if not the best. He’s very good. But I’ve seen our team handle good pitching and we’re definitely capable of scoring runs late in the game.”

Here’s the big question from all of this… what makes this time so different? What is it the Phillies get that no other team, for the last 15 years, couldn’t figure out?

What makes the Phillies so darned special?

Certainly the Phillies didn’t need to see 39 pitches to know all about Rivera. He throws the cutter and like Pedro Martinez, Rivera is a force of nature. Hitters know what he’s going to throw and when he’s going to throw it, but he still turns bats into kindling. The Phillies, like every other team in the world, send scouts to watch Rivera pitch, they’ve seen him on TV, during spring training and on a continuous loop on the monitors in the clubhouse.

Really, what makes those 39 pitches any different?

“I don't think you can be scared of anyone in baseball,” Victorino said. “You have to have the resiliency to say, ‘This guy is good. but we can beat him.’ His numbers show how good he is, but you can't go with that mindset because then you're beating yourself.”

OK, fine. But in the carefully choreographed world of relief pitching, Rivera is just like all those names we dropped earlier. Actually, check that… he’s better than them. That’s because in 21 World Series appearances—one fewer than Whitey Ford’s all-time record—Rivera has pitched 33 innings, finished 16 games and notched 10 saves.

Needless to say the 10 saves are the best in World Series history, with Fingers second with six. More notable, Rivera has saved four World Series games with multi-innings outings. Again, that’s another record.

So why is it that the Phillies think they can do what only one other team has done in 21 tries?

Maybe it was the 11-pitch at-bat from Rollins in the eighth where he earned a walk (like he really earned it) after falling behind in the count 1-and-2 and then fouling off five pitches. That’s the harbinger.

After all, the last time Rivera threw as many as 39 pitches when going for a two-inning save, the Red Sox rallied for a victory in Game 4 of the 2004 ALCS and began the greatest comeback in baseball history.

Keep on writin'

NEW YORK— We’re just about filled to the brim with pre-series analysis, posturing and showing off and now—finally—it’s time to get down to business.

Yes, we can just worry about baseball from here on out.

Before that though, it’s worth noting that Charlie Manuel has his superstitions working overtime. Oh sure, Charlie will tell you that superstitions are bad luck, but sometimes you just gotta do what you do.

So Charlie always takes the Walt Whitman Bridge from his home in South Jersey to the ballpark when the Phillies are in town. It doesn’t matter about the traffic or what kind of trouble is lurking out there on the roads from time to time. Charlie rides on the Walt Whitman no matter what.

That’s just what he does.

But his most consistent ritual, the one that if he doesn’t perform to the letter (literally), bad things will occur, has its roots set here in New York City. You see, Charlie likes to use the pens they put out in his hotel room at the Le Parker Meridien. One day last year Chuck was writing away with one of those smooth, gliding pens that they laid out on his desk and his night stand and it was like his hand were driving a Cadillac.

You know, kind of like one of those astronaut pens Jack Klompus grudgingly gave to Jerry Seinfeld.

Since the Phillies were in town to play the Mets early last year, Manuel took the pen to the clubhouse with him and wrote out his lineup card with it. Needless to say, good things happened. In fact, it went so well that Charlie stocks up on the pens whenever the team goes to New York City.

Fortunately for the manager and his lineups, the Phillies are making their fifth trip to the big city and the Le Parker Meridien this season. If the World Series stretches past five games, Charlie can poach even more of those pens.

“I’m been doing that since last year. I started using those last year because we started winning games,” Charlie said. “It’s just a hotel pen. I use that same kind of pen.”

Oh, sure, there are a lot of nice writing utensils out there. Personally, I’m partial to the Pilot brand Precise Rolling ball V5. Preferrably in black, though blue ink is acceptable, too. Unlike a lot of my colleagues I don’t load up on pens from the Marriott hotels we favor and spend the extra dollar on those smooth, crisp pens. In fact, there is one fellow scribe that “borrows” these fantastic pens a couple times a month. My plan heading into next season is to get a sponsorship from Pilot or a special waiver on my expenses so that I can make sure the Philadelphia writing press gets to use a quality pen.

So yeah, I know what it’s like to be tied to certain things. If I can help it, I’d rather not use any other pen.

Charlie is a different story, though. If there is a tight shot of the dugout where Charlie stands near his railing, look closely -- you'll see his pen tied to the mesh protective netting. That's where he keeps it during the game when he isn't using it.

He’s been carting around these pens for nearly two seasons now and it’s probably a safe bet that he’ll be using them for many more. After all, since he began using those special pens that the put out there like sample-size bottles of shampoo and soap and extra towels, the season has ended with two straight trips to the World Series.

Yes indeed, it has to be the pen.

The NLCS: Greatest Phillies team ever?

Comparisons between teams of different eras are not only difficult to do logically, but also they are odious. Seriously, the game changes so much from generation to generation that there is no way one can compare, say, the 1977 Phillies to the 2009 Phils. The game does not exist in a vacuum (or whatever). We see it just by looking at the stat sheet.

Needless to say, baseball statistics are essentially meaningless.

Take that with a grain of salt, however. The numbers are the only proof that a lot of people have to understand if a player is performing well. But I don’t need to look up Garry Maddox’s VORP or OPS to know that he was a better center fielder than Shane Victorino. Sure, there are numbers on the page and I suppose they have meaning. But if you ever got the chance to watch Maddox go gap to gap to chase down every single fly ball hit into the air, you just know.

Nevertheless, since the Phillies are on the cusp of going to the World Series for th second season in a row, those old, odious comparisons come up. They kind of have to, right? Well, yeah… after all, there really aren’t very many good seasons in the 126 years of Phillies baseball to compare.

The good years are easily categorized. There were the one-hit wonder years of 1950 and 1993; the stretch where ol’ Grover Cleveland Alexander took the Phils to the series in 1915; and then the Golden Era from 1976 to 1983 where the Phillies went to the playoffs six times in eight seasons.

Then there is now.

Obviously two straight visits to the World Series are unprecedented in team history. Actually, the five-year stint in which Charlie Manuel has guided the team are the best five years in club history. At least that’s what the bottom line says.

In just five years as the manager of the Phillies, Manuel has won 447 games. Only Gene Mauch, Harry Wright and Danny Ozark have won more games in franchise history and those guys were around for a lot longer than five years. Interestingly, Manuel ranks fourth in franchise wins and seventh in games.

That pretty much says it all right there, doesn’t it? Based on the wins and accomplishments, this is the greatest era of Phillies baseball and the 2009 club could very well go down as the best team ever—whether they win the World Series over the Yankees (Angels are done, right?) or not.

Still, I’d take Maddox over Victorino, Steve Carlton over Cole Hamels, Bake McBride over Jayson Werth; Bob Boone over Carlos Ruiz; Greg Luzinski way over Pat Burrell (and Raul Ibanez, too); and, obviously, Mike Schmidt over Pedro Feliz.

But I’d also take Chase Utley’s bat over Manny Trillo’s glove; Jimmy Rollins over Larry Bowa; and Ryan Howard over Pete Rose or Richie Hebner.

Those are the easy choices. Those Golden Era teams had some underrated players like Dick Ruthven and Del Unser, but they would have been much better with a Matt Stairs type.

No, the truth is I’d take the 2009 Phillies over those other teams and it’s not because of the players comparisons or the win totals. It’s because they are a better team.

Yeah, that’s right, these guys are the best team.

Of course I never got to go into the clubhouse to see Larry Bowa’s divisive act, Steve Carlton’s oddness, or Mike Schmidt’s diva-like act. You know, that is if the stories from those days are true…

Nope, give me a team instead of one that had the indignity to run into a pair of dynasties in the making. First the Phillies had to contend with the Cincinnati Reds and The Big Red Machine before those great Dodgers’ clubs emerged. There is no team in the NL East or National League, for that matter, that is as good as the Phillies have been.

The Mets, Dodgers or Cardinals? Nope, no and nah.

More importantly, now that Pat Burrell is gone the Phillies don’t have a true divisive force in the clubhouse. There is no more of that creepy us-against-them battle anymore considering the relief corps did a reality show with the MLB Network.

Think Warren Brusstar and Kevin Saucier would have been asked to do something like “The Pen” if they were playing these days?

No, the these Phillies have nothing as obnoxious or weird as Bowa or Carlton. They are not the 25-guys in 25-cabs team. It’s a real baseball team.

We’ll see what happens when (and if) the Phillies get to the World Series, but in this instance we’ll go with Victorino gang over Maddox’s group.

Just kidding

Is there anything more tired than the Philadelphia fan story? You know the ones Im talking about – they have to do with booing, Santa Claus, snowballs, D-sized batteries and talk radio. Like I said, so, so tired.

But is there anything that gets a reaction more in the city than those tired, played out fan stories? It’s enough to make one wonder if we go to the games to watch the other fans or the games.

Look, we have been through all of that stuff on this site before so we’re not going to get into again. As mentioned, it’s tiring and boring and dumb. Worse, it’s a cheap way to get reaction.

But since we’re asking…

Charlie doesn’t need you to motivate his players. He’s doing just fine with that all by his own damn self, thank you very much. If you want to boo, that’s fine. He really doesn’t care about that. But the motivation part… he has that covered.

This all stems from some comments Chuck made in his office before Tuesday night’s game against the Marlins. With the camera from The Charlie Manuel Show there to document the pre-game bull session, Charlie joked about how the fans ought to give them the business a little bit. After all, last year is over.

“I notice sometimes if fans are near our dugout and talking to our players, they always want to talk about last year,” he said. “That’s good. I want them to keep coming to the games. But I want the fans to start telling them they want to win this year, too. Of course they love us and everything, but maybe they should get on them a little bit.”

Then he laughed.

And then we laughed.

And then we went upstairs to the press box to write about it.

After that it's out of our hands...

But apparently a few readers didn’t quite have the comprehension to get the joke or the sense of humor to know that ol’ Chuck’s sense of humor is the way it is. The truth is, Charlie is funny. In fact, he’s really funny. He can tell some stories, man. Good ones and some of them I wish could be repeated for a mass audience because they are really good. Things about playing in Japan and for his manager Billy Martin ... man, that guy can tell some stories.

Good stuff.

Nevertheless, something got lost in translation this time.

“I was just throwing something out there, that maybe you wanted to laugh or that you thought was funny or whatever,” Charlie said. “I won't do it anymore... I'll just answer yes and no. But believe me, I didn't mean anything about the fans... I love the fans. The fans shouldn't have to motivate our team.”

Seriously, why do pro athletes need motivation? With the level of competition and the gangs of people waiting to take someones job and the money involved, there is plenty of reason to be motivated. Screaming fans and screaming coaches and managers motivating multi-millionaire pro athletes is just silly talk.

Besides, he was just having a little fun. Kind of like when he was told about the resurgence of the starting rotation and the fact that the group had an ERA of 3 heading over the last five games heading into Wednesday night’s game.

“That’s good,” he said. “I want it to get to 1.

“What the hell?”

What the hell, indeed.

Charlie: 'We took over Yankee Stadium'

Charlie Manuel held court today. Oh sure, he holds court every day around 4ish where he engages the writing press until there is nothing left to talk about. Sometimes this lasts for a few minutes. Other times, it goes on and on and on. Today was one of those days where it went on and on and on.

There was plenty to talk about. The Phillies are in first place despite some slumps and ineffectiveness, which always makes the ballclub more interesting. But even more interesting is the fact that the Phillies are in first place even though they aren’t pitching particularly well, nor are they playing all that well at home, either.

But what really made Manuel’s daily tête-à-tête go extra long today was the presence of the TV camera for The Charlie Manuel Show.

Oh yeah, they put the cameras on us for a change.

Yeah, not good. It made one think, “Who let the bridge trolls out?”

Yet with the camera from The Charlie Manuel Show recording the powwow, Charlie Manuel brought out the really good stuff. How good? Check out this little nugget…

When talking about the Phillies fans, Manuel says he noticed how well they traveled to see the team on the road. That was especially the case last weekend at Yankee Stadium.

“Yeah. You know when I came to that conclusion? When we took over Yankee Stadium on Sunday. We did. We were louder than they were. We took over Yankee Stadium. We were talking about that on the bus coming home.”

Actually, Manuel says the fans can really get after him and the team a little more. No sense letting the team get all fat and happy because it won the World Series last year.

If they want to boo, then they ought to boo.

“Our fans are still really into everything. They fill our ballpark up and they stay,” Charlie said. “I notice sometimes if fans are near our dugout and talking to our players, they always want to talk about last year. That’s good. I want them to keep coming to the games. But I want the fans to start telling them they want to win this year, too. Of course they love us and everything, but maybe they should get on them a little bit.”

There you go folks, come on out and keep the home team accountable. Let them have it… why not? Charlie wants you to.

The waiting is the hardest part

Charlie Manuel waits by the cage before batting practice. He says he got to the park at 10:15 a.m. this morning, so he had plenty of time to mull over things -- especially his lineup:

11- Rollins, ss 28- Werth, rf 26- Utley, 2b 6- Howard, 1b 29- Ibanez, lf 8- Victorino, cf 7- Feliz, 3b 51- Ruiz, c 39- Myers, p

Shooting the breeze

CLEARWATER, Fla. – “Come on in and set down,” Big Chuck said as he snapped off the TV tuned to CNBC hanging overhead. If we’re on the way to economic Armageddon, it’s good to know Charlie Manuel is getting the play-by-play.

Financial matters are a fine topic. That’s especially true these days, what with all the bailouts, bonuses and stimulus packages and whatnot. But I was more interested in something more analytical and a bit more in need of an expert’s opinion.

And truthfully, there are probably just a handful of people on the planet who understand hitting a baseball as well as Charlie Manuel.

Think about it – when Charlie was first coming up through the ranks in pro ball, none other than Ted Williams took a shine to the Phillies’ skipper. There was something about that big, lefty swing from that raw-boned kid from Buena Vista, Virginia that caught the eye of the greatest hitter who ever lived.

Then again, Charlie has that kind of affect on a lot of people. Even now, 40 years after his Major League career began, Charlie still makes friends easily. He’s always the most popular guy whenever he steps into a room, though compliments seem to embarrass him. Either way, it’s not all that surprising that a big-time star like Ted Williams was charmed by young Chuck.

Regardless, Charlie knows hitting. While coming up with the Twins, Hall-of-Famers Harmon Killebrew and Rod Carew were his teammates. When he joined the Dodgers, Charlie couldn’t unseat Steve Garvey, Bill Buckner, Ron Cey or Jimmy Wynn for playing time. Because he couldn’t get the opportunities in the U.S., Charlie went to Japan where he and the legendary Sadaharu Oh were the top sluggers.

Back in the states as a coach, Charlie mentored some of the all-time greats. Hitters like Kirby Puckett, Jim Thome, Manny Ramirez, Albert Belle and now, Ryan Howard and Chase Utley thrived under Charlie. A few of them are headed to the Hall of Fame. No doubts there.

So when I went in to Charlie’s office at Bright House Field, the original plan was justification. Earlier this week after watching Albert Pujols take batting practice I decided he was the greatest hitter I had ever seen. That’s a bold statement. So with Chuck I presented it as Pujols was the greatest right-handed hitter of a the generation.

“He’s up there,” Charlie said. “He can be whatever you want him to be.”

Continue reading this story ...

Charlie not pleased

TAMPA, Fla. -- After the 12-0 loss to the Yankees at The Stein on Monday afternoon, Phils' skipper Charlie Manuel was most displeased. No, he wasn't upset about the loss - that stuff happens in Grapefruit League games. Instead it was the way in which the Phillies lost. It wasn't pretty.

"We made mistakes," Charlie said after the 12-run, 20-hit and two-error showing against the Yanks had mercifully ended. "We made a helluva lot of bleepin’ mistakes."

It wasn't pretty. On defense the team threw the ball around, misplayed a few and generally looked sloppy as their Grapefruit League record dipped to 6-10. Offensively, the Phillies got six hits, stranded eight and went 0-for-3 with runners in scoring position. Worse, it lasted more than three hours turning it into the baseball equivalent to waterboarding

Nope, not one for the vault.

"I think any game like that pisses you off and the best thing you can do is bleepin’ get out there and get on that bleepin’ bus and forget about that sonofabitch. That was a horebleep bleepin’ game and if I played in a bleepin’ game like that, I’d definitely bleepin’ take some good inventory of myself. That was a horsebleep bleepin’ game. They don’t get much worse than that. It was terrible.

"I’d say we hit bleepin’ rock bottom there for a while."

Charlie might be trying to simply motivate the kids he has in the lineup with Jimmy Rollins and Shane Victorino off playing in the World Baseball Classic and Chase Utley and Pedro Feliz still mending from off-season surgery. Still, on the day the team made its first cuts of the spring, Charlie might have expected some crisper play.

Nevertheless, Charlie says the quality play will improve greatly in another week or so.

"The last 10-to-12 days we’ll really work on the fundamental parts of the game," Charlie said. "But Rollins and Victorino aren’t here and Utley and Feliz are hurt – we want to get people back and ready so we can really key on that. But today it was just bad playin’ and, you know, what the hell? That’s why I said if I was in that game I might take inventory of myself."

Charlie finally wins over fans

If someone was new to Philadelphia and didn’t know how it had been for the past three years, the newbie would probably assume that the local fans and manager Charlie Manuel shared a mutual love affair. The fans, one would have to assume, loved Charlie for his folksy ways and the gutsy way he stands up for his players, and the manager loved the fans just because they loved him back. If only it were that simple.

The fact is Charlie Manuel’s tenure as one of the most successful managers in franchise history, has been anything but rosy. Manuel has heard that he is a poor in-game tactician, a little too loose in handling his players, and, well, Philadelphians thought his Appalachian twang sounded funny.

Oh yeah, Charlie heard all of it, but he says he didn’t hear anything during the ninth inning when an argument with home-plate umpire Andy Fletcher got more than a little heated just before the skipper got the heave-ho.

“CHARLIE! CHARLIE! CHARLIE!” the full house at Citizens Bank Park screamed shortly before the Phillies wrapped up an 8-4 victory over the Washington Nationals on Friday night.

“It was pretty good,” closer Brad Lidge said of Manuel’s arguing tenacity. “He got after it a little bit. I was trying to read his lips a little bit. It was exciting. But Charlie, man, he’ll fight for you out there. It’s great. We really appreciate it as players.”

As Lidge said, Manuel’s selflessness has not gone unnoticed in the clubhouse, which, ultimately, is what the manager cares the most about. Though the manager says he doesn’t notice the cacophony outside of his insular little world, the players notice that Manuel keeps the doors and windows locked so that his guys can just worry about playing ball.

That’s pretty nice.

Yet as the crowd screamed for their manager, those who had observed the relationship from its infancy during the 2005 season to the present day had to marvel at the transformation.

Suddenly, a man who was belittled on talk radio and admonished like a child by fans for supposed strategy gaffes was being serenaded by 44,000 strong.

Not that heard it.

“No, I didn’t [hear the chant],” Manuel said before referring to his argumentative skills. “My red neck was showing too much.”

Then he thought about accessorizing.

“All I needed was some white socks and I'd be all right,” he said as he exited the press conference room to roars of laughter.

After four seasons and just about two consecutive NL East titles, the fans in Philadelphia have finally accepted Charlie Manuel for what he truly is…

A top-notch baseball man, a salt-of-the-earth type of guy and man worthy of respect from his peers, colleagues and players. Not only will Charlie break down a batting swing, explain a pitching decision or crack a joke quicker than a seasoned comedian, but also the manager will regale anyone with volumes of stories from his days playing ball in the minors, majors and Japan, as well as his time coaching and managing.

If you want to talk ball, Charlie Manuel is Mark Twain.

But the Phils’ manager gives more than some good stories. Indeed, Manuel is on the path to rewriting the franchise records for winning. In fact, in the Phillies’ 125-season history, the team has only had four managers on the job for six seasons or more. If Manuel goes the distance on the contract he signed at the end of last season, that’s where he will be, too. By winning 90 games (with a chance for 92) this season and 352 in his first four seasons, Manuel has won more games over that span than any other skipper in team history.

That doesn’t mean it’s all daisies and puppy dogs in Phillie-ville. Manuel disciplined reigning NL MVP twice this season for tardiness and lack of hustle. He’s also battled with Shane Victorino on his focus, sent his opening day starter back to the minors for a month to iron out some flaws and held a few closed-door meetings in order to keep the team on the correct path.

It’s a road that has the Phillies heading back to the playoffs in consecutive years for the first time since 1980-81.

But that doesn’t mean the trip is over – not yet.

“We don't take nothing for granted in this game,” Manuel said. “I learned that a long time ago. I like our position. I'll like our position better when we're two up with one to play. That'll be good. That's when I'll drink champagne and V.O. and dance and sing and everything.”

Won’t that be a sight to see?

*** Programming note: Since Saturday's game is a potential clincher, I will be offering live, in-game updates. So dial the site up and enjoy the game with me...

However, if the Mets lose before the Phillies game begins, the clinch will have already occurred. In that regard, the live updates won't come as ardently.

Ready for some football? Really... no?

Most people know that John Chaney was famous for his focus on disciplined approach to coaching basketball at Temple University. In fact, Chaney was such an unrelenting taskmaster that the famous 5 a.m. practice sessions were just the tip of the iceberg. Sometimes, it was told, Chaney would hold practices where he would lecture the team the entire session. His players would just sit there rapt with both fear and wonderment as the coach waxed on about topics that had nothing to do with basketball. Chaney didn’t have guidelines or rules for his players to follow – he laid down the law. Whatever came out of his mouth was followed to the very last detail… or else. Needless to say, Chaney’s players were not too eager to find out what would happen if they crossed him.

One of Chaney’s laws was that his team was not allowed to talk during the bus ride to the arena before a game. They were supposed to sit quietly and focus on the game and the task at hand. Talking, laughing or other types of socialization were forbidden until the game was over.

Once during the ride to the game a fire broke out on the back of the bus. The story goes that the small blaze burned for a while until the driver finally pulled over to put it out. Yet during the entire fire, Chaney’s sat in stony silence. No one said a word. Even as a fire raged on the team bus, Chaney’s players were so programmed to follow the rules that even the risk of life and limb kept them quiet.

Whether or not such coaching tactics are effective are open to debate and there certainly is no shortage of coaches using such theories. Actually, back in the ninth grade my basketball team followed similar guidelines. For games on the road we were expected to wear ties, a team sweater, a blazer (which we wore to school anyway) and we were not allowed to talk at all, though I imagine the rule would have been waived if a fire broke out.

The idea, of course, was to focus on the game, but the truth is it did nothing more than make traveling to a basketball game feel like a job. Worse, we were a bad team that might have won six games all year. Off the bus we bickered, complained, whined and undermined each other for everything from minutes on the court to shots to spots to set up the offense.

The entire season was miserable.

But the following season at McCaskey High, we didn’t have to be quiet on the bus ride. Instead, we talked, told jokes, laughed and had a great time. We also carried a large boom box on trips that we blasted as part of the pre-game routine. In the days before iPods or even the proliferation of CDs, the boom box was intimidating – that was especially the case when the city kids from McCaskey rolled out to the sticks to play teams around the county.

Better yet, the loose, relaxed atmosphere was perfect for a bunch of kids looking to have fun playing basketball. That year we went 16-1. The following season we won 20 games and went to the District playoffs – we even beat a few “powerhouse” teams during the regular season. The year after that we went to the league championship game, and we never even had to be quiet.

Needless to say, such tactics don’t work with pro athletes. That type of forced asceticism as a motivation ploy is foolhardy for the best one percent of athletes in the world. They are motivated enough already, and when the millions and millions of dollars are factored into the mix, what good is forcing grown men to have a faux intensity?

Why no good at all.

But that doesn’t mean coaches and managers don’t try it. In the case of Charlie Manuel it isn’t so much as a matter of motivation – his players are already intense enough. If you don’t believe that, try talking to Chase Utley for three hours following a loss. Chances are it’s not going to be especially insightful.

Focus, though, is a buzzword that transcends all levels of sports. In the pros team have psychologists to help players keep their heads clear. In baseball, since players spend more time with teammates than their family during the season, cards, golf, video games and movies are omnipresent.

However, sometimes those things are taken away. When Larry Bowa managed the Phillies, players were not allowed to take golf clubs on road trips. Charlie Manuel famously removed the ping pong table from the clubhouse back when he was managing the Indians when he thought his players were too intent on winning at ping pong than baseball.

Otherwise, Manuel is fairly laidback with his players. His reasoning is that preparation is a personal task. With so much at stake for every player in the room, no one is intentionally going to be less than ready for a game.

But sometimes they might need a little extra reminder. Take last Sunday’s doubleheader against the Mets at Shea Stadium, for instance. After taking apart the Mets in the opener to climb within a game of first place, Manuel posted a notice that no televisions in the cramped clubhouse were to be tuned to football.

Even though the opening Sunday of the NFL season was in full swing and the players had a keen interest in the games, Charlie Manuel was not ready for some football... at least not before the nationally televised nightcap against the Mets.

Certainly the Phillies have wiled away the afternoon watching sports on TV before games. During a trip to D.C. a couple years back, players spent the time before batting practice lounging on oversized couches to watch the World Cup matches. Suddenly, the tiny clubhouse at RFK had become the best little sports bar in The District.

Saturday college football also piques the interest of ballplayers, though (obviously) not to the degree as other baseball games. Even the broadcast Little League World Series draws in the viewers in big league clubhouses.

But the prohibition on the NFL last Sunday showed that Manuel meant business. Good-time Charlie was clearly taking the game against the Mets more seriously than the other ones in the series. It was as clear as the black void on the closed down TV set.

Maybe that’s why the Phillies laid a big egg last Sunday night.

Nothing went right for the Phillies following the football ban. Ace Cole Hamels turned in a clunker, the team was sloppy on defense where failed execution and errors led to costly runs and the bats sleepwalked through most of the game. Hell, Manuel even got himself ejected during the first inning.

Maybe he wanted to go back to his office in the clubhouse and catch up on some football.

Getting smart and lucky

Rightly or wrongly, Charlie Manuel has always been a lightning rod for criticism amongst the hometown fans. Then again, that goes with the territory. Most big league managers are used to having all of their decisions deconstructed. Second-guessing the manager is the true pastime of the national pastime.

Nevertheless, Manuel, like most managers, has certain moves and uses specific players in designated situations without even thinking. For instance, if at all possible, Manuel likes to remove Pat Burrell late in the game for a pinch runner or for defensive purposes.

Sometimes those moves are like an old crutch the skipper likes to fall back upon that he uses out of habit more than necessity. Other times, Manuel plays hunches despite what the statistical trends bear out.

And sometimes he just gets lucky.

Last night’s 5-2 victory over the Dodgers in 11 innings at the Bank might have been one of those grey areas – either it was a fallback move, a hunch or just dumb luck. Whatever it was, it worked out for the Phillies.

Looking to boost his languid offense, Manuel gave top-pinch hitter Greg Dobbs the starting nod at third base last night. The reasoning was that Dobbs would give the Phillies’ lineup more potency than it would have with Pedro Feliz at third. With just a .254 batting average and 12 home runs heading into the game following a month on the disabled list with a bulging disc in his back.

Though Feliz has been a bit of a disappointment at the plate, the Phillies admit that he has been better than advertised defensively at third base. Actually, Feliz probably is the club’s best defensive third baseman since Scott Rolen was in town.

Dobbs, on the other hand, is exactly a butcher at the hot corner, but when Manuel saw a chance to replace him in the late innings last night, he moved swiftly.

Here’s where it worked out – entering the game as part of a double-switch in the seventh, Feliz was in the game long enough to get two of his best at-bats of the season. With two on and two outs in the ninth of a 2-1 game, Feliz lashed a first-pitch single to right to force extra innings. And since he was the guy who made everyone stick around well past midnight with the clutch hit in the ninth, Feliz figured he ought to be the guy to end it, too.

With two on and two outs in the 11th, Feliz knocked one into the seats in left-center for a walk-off blast as well as an improbable ending for a team struggling with its hitting.

Good move Charlie, right?

“When he's swinging good and staying aggressive, he can hit the ball as good as anyone in the game,” Manuel said.

Certainly the Phillies thought they would see much more of Feliz’s offensive prowess this season. At the very least it was believed that Feliz and injured right field Geoff Jenkins would more than make up for the numbers lost when center fielder Aaron Rowand bolted to the Giants. In that regard, both players have been a disappointment though Feliz has an outside shot to reach 20 homers this season (he has 13).

Either way, Feliz has accepted whatever role Manuel has slated for him on a particular day, which was a start at third in the series finale against the Dodgers on Monday night.

“I want to be there every day, but if I'm not in the lineup, I'll try to be ready,” Feliz said. “I won't be crying about it. I'm happy the team is doing good. We're in a fight, and whatever chance I get, I'm happy about it. As long as we get the ‘W,’ I'm happy.”

Though he helped the team with his bat on Sunday night, Feliz knows it’s his glove that has gotten him his playing time. In fact, it was some fine glove work that might have saved the game for the Phillies on Sunday.

With the bases loaded and no outs in the 10th, Casey Blake hit one to Feliz at third. Quickly identifying that Manny Ramirez was busting it for home from third, Feliz stepped on third and fired it home to catcher Chris Coste, who completed the double play and saved the Dodgers from scoring the go-ahead run.

“As soon as I saw the ball, you have to know who's on third,” Feliz said. “He didn't take off for home right away, so I knew I could tag the bag and throw home. If he took off right away, I would throw home.”

So give Feliz a hat trick in the win. A game-tying hit, a game-saving play in the field and a walk-off homer…

Not bad.

Looking ahead With starting pitcher John Maine headed for the disabled list for the Mets, the Phillies might have received the break they needed as they race for a second straight NL East title. Of course the biggest issue for the Phillies will be taking care of their own business.

Still, in the five games that remain against the Mets, the Phillies will not have to face Maine, who has been tough lately. In three starts against the Phillies this season, Maine has held them to a .190 batting average. Better yet, in nine career starts against Philadelphia, Maine is 5-0 with a 2.54 ERA.

Facing Maine will be one less thing for the Phillies to worry about.

Nor will the team lose much sleep over facing the Nationals six more times, nor the fading Braves and Marlins six more times apiece. The Cubs and Brewers, on the other hand, could present a challenge.

This weekend the Phillies get the core of the Cubs’ pitching staff when they face Ryan Dempster (15-5, 2.85) on Thursday night, Rich Harden (4-1, 1.47) on Friday afternoon, Ted Lilly (12-7, 4.25) on Saturday afternoon, and Carlos Zambrano (13-5, 3.29) in Sunday’s finale.

Of course that comes after the Phils host the Mets and Pedro Martinez (4-3, 4.97) and Johan Santana (12-7, 2.64) in back-to- back games.

Yes, it will get interesting in a hurry for the Phillies.