During the baseball season, I see and speak to Charlie Manuel (left) almost every day. In fact, I spend more time around him than I do some members of my family. And, as anyone who covers the Phillies on a daily basis can attest, the public perception of Manuel as a bumpkin is both unfair and inaccurate. He's much smarter and more savvy than he gets credit for. Also, the notion that he doesn't have a temper is completely misguided. When he played in Japan, he was known as "Red Devil" because of his fiery temper.Tonight, after the Phillies' 8-1 loss to the Mets at The Bank, a local AM radio talk-show host badgered the manager about his motivational tactics, wondering why he doesn't pull a Lou Piniella and throw a tantrum to fire up his 3-9 team. Manuel, unhappy with the line of questioning, challenged the talk-show host to come into his office and see firsthand how angry he can get. The radio personality (I refuse to mention his name, but I'm sure you can guess who it is) accepted Manuel's offer, and a screaming match ensued. A few minutes later, it carried over into the clubhouse, where Manuel needed to be held back by team officials.
Naturally, you're going to hear plenty about this incident over the next few days. And, if the Phillies don't start playing better, Manuel, in the final year of his contract, probably will lose his job.
That would be a shame.
I'm not here to be a Manuel apologist. But if you're looking to assess blame for the Phillies' disappointing start, allow me to suggest a few more appropriate targets.
1. Ryan Howard and Chase Utley: The Phillies' supposedly dynamic duo is batting an anemic .156 (5-for-32) with runners in scoring position. Utley, in particular, is a miserable 1-for-13. As a team, the Phillies are batting .200 with runners on second and third base.
2. Brett Myers: Allegedly the ace of a starting rotation that was supposed to be one of baseball's best, he's gotten bombed for 14 runs in his last two starts, leaving his ERA at 9.39. In fact, the rotation's collective ERA after Freddy Garcia's underwhelming debut tonight is 5.93, third-worst in the majors.
3. Bullpen: Ryan Madson's ERA is 6.23. Jon Lieber's is 11.57. Lone lefty Matt Smith's is 13.50. And, for all the talk of how the Phillies lack an experienced setup man, closer Tom Gordon hasn't had a clean inning in four outings.
4. Pat Gillick: Everywhere Manuel went in the offseason, he said the same thing. The Phillies' top priority had to be finding bullpen help. Instead, Gillick (right) acquired two starters (Garcia and Adam Eaton), a part-time player to be the everyday third baseman (Wes Helms) and a catcher (Rod Barajas) who already has lost his starting job to rookie Carlos Ruiz. The only bullpen help the GM found was retread Antonio Alfonseca and erratic Francisco Rosario. Gillick still owes Manuel the reliable eighth-inning reliever he asked for.Unfortunately, if the Phillies don't start playing better quickly, Manuel will be the scapegoat. Somehow, though, that doesn't seem just, regardless of what certain radio hosts want you to believe.
8 comments:
I agree 100% with this post, though I question listing Gillick at the bottom... To me, he's at the top of any list discussing the bad start. Everyone and his brother knew exactly what the team needed this winter and stand-Pat refused to deliver.
Scott,
Thanks for the great blog and all the daily Phils insights.
I think all of your points are more than valid. We've had some seriously cold bats (especially w/ RISP), the pitching staff (save for Hamels) from front to back has been unbelievably poor, and Gillick needed to address the staff better in the off-season. On Gillick's behalf, I think he did the best he could given the amount of holes we had (we did need starting pitching and a 3B) and the condition (talent and cost) of the player market. I think his hope was that we'd have starters who could last 5+ innings though.
But I disagree that Manuel is a scapegoat. In any business the "manager" is the individual who is responsible for getting the team to produce. Doesn't matter if it's baseball players or accountants. With the talent and experience (despite the youth) this team has it should not be sporting the worst record in the NL at 3-9. Manuel very soon will be pushing a .500 record in his time with the Phils, and given the payroll investment the math doesn't add up in the win column.
I think he's a good guy and a good baseball man with a decent track record. He's said to be a hitting mentor and maybe that's his niche. But at this point this team is grossly underperforming and needs to be shaken dramatically.
Solution: Joe Girardi? He'd look much better in red pinstripes than sitting on his couch in my opinion.
boy, i sure would of loved if manuel had punched the radio host in the face. worst dude ever.
but seriously, manuel shouldn't have even been hired on this team in the first place. he's about as fundamentally flawed as this team is. i'm convinced he's the reason that they didn't make the playoffs last year.
when a team that is supposed to be good and contending for a pennant and is making mistakes that little leaguers don't make there has to be some responsibility laid on the manager. its not like he's done enough over this year to get fired, but he has over the past 2.
"every team is going to win 60 games and lose 60 games, its what they do in the other 40 that decides how their season is going to be"
I would agree that Charlie didn't get the one thing he wanted in the offseason, and there is no doubt it is a team weakness. But lets be honest, this team, with the way it is currently constructed, should be able to give up a run or two in the late innings and still win. But, the offense is bad and the starting pitching is worse.
Scott:
Great post about the Phils' other problems, but why would Manuel losing his job be a shame?
Is he a good manager? Does get the most out of his players? Does he make in-game decisions that maximize the team's chances for success?
As someone who knows baseball who follows this team daily, I'm really interested to hear your thoughts.
By the way, I meant YOU know baseball and follow the team ... not me.
Thanks for clearing that up, JR. Moron
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