DIDN'T KNOW DOC WAS ALSO A MECHANIC
Here is some of what an agitated Charlie Manuel--more agitated than at any other point this season, in my view--said after the broom fell.
On his players: “I hear some of them talking, saying we’re a team that plays better when we have to,” he said. “(Expletive) the last couple years. What the hell? That don’t mean (expletive). Last year is dead and gone. We play for today.” On the series: “We did everything we could to lose. You name it, go back over each game. Any time we needed to hit we didn’t. Any time we needed to pitch, we didn’t.
On why the Phils have so far failed to show they can play as well with a September cushion than while chasing the New York Mets: “How come we couldn’t play better now?” Manuel said. “Or more relaxed now? Answer me that. And we’re sitting in a better place.” On the importance of Raul Ibanez to the lineup: “You know something? We need Raul to get his swing back,” he said. “You have to remember, when we’ve got (Chase Utley, and we’ve got (Ryan) Howard, and Ibanez hitting the ball like he was the first half of the year, we’ve got two very professional hitters standing there. In between, we’ve got Howard in the middle of them. We become more dangerous as far as knocking in runs in the middle of our lineup, no doubt. Raul was hitting the ball all over the field, and he’s hitting home runs.” Kind of a bad weekend for the team. Manuel was not without fault; it was a curious decision not to summon Scott Eyre to face Michael Bourne with the bases loaded in the seventh. Chan Ho Park walked Bourne for the deciding run. Manuel said later that he though Park had a better chance than Eyre to get the strikeout. Also, Manuel pinch-hit slumping Matt Stairs for hot Carlos Ruiz in the eighth with men on. Stairs struck out.
Discuss.
Bob Brookover and Matt Gelb team up for their third straight season covering the Phillies for the Inquirer and philly.com.
This is Brookover’s second stint writing about the Phillies, having joined the coverage team after seven years as an Eagles beat writer. Brookover was hired by The Inquirer in 2000 as the Phillies beat writer after spending 13 years writing about the team for two suburban newspapers. While on the Eagles beat, Brookover, who had covered just two winning Phillies teams in 15 seasons, saw the Phillies move into a cash-cow new ballpark and begin playing a brand of the game he found unrecognizable. Follow him on Twitter here.
Gelb is in his third season covering the Phillies. He was hired by The Inquirer in August 2009 after graduating from Syracuse University. He has also covered baseball at The Star-Ledger and Cape Cod Times. Born and raised in Bucks County, he attended Central Bucks High School West. Follow him on Twitter here.
To submit a question for Matt Gelb's Phillies mailbag, click here.
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