Manuel: Hardest decision I ever had to make
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Manuel: Hardest decision I ever had to make
Bob Brookover, Inquirer Baseball Columnist
Phillies manager Charlie Manuel said the decision to replace hitting instructor Milt Thompson late Thursday night was his decision.
"I got to the point where I look at our hitting and I felt something had to be done," Manuel said. "The only thing I could possibly think of was a change and that it had to be done."
Manuel broke the news to Thompson after the Phillies' charter flight from St. Louis landed.
"I was surprised," Thompson said. "You have to understand, we've been decimated by injuries and our guys were trying too hard."
Manuel said breaking the news to Thompson was extremely difficult because of the success the Phillies have enjoyed with him as their hitting instructor.
"It was the hardest decision I ever had to make," Manuel said. "The guy is a good friend of mine, but at the same time I felt like we had to try something. I think when you see how our at-bats are, we definitely need more focus. We need to go back and start playing baseball the Phillie way. The Phillie way was how we played for three or four years."
Manuel also called a team meeting before Friday night's game against the Colorado Rockies and he relayed a similar message to his players about the change in hitting instructors.
"Almost every hitting coach has the a lot of similarities," Manuel said. "I think (a new voice) can make it fresh, make it new. I hope this will fire us up and get us to improve and get us back to how we can hit the ball."
Though Manuel spent six seasons in Cleveland as a hitting instructor and is known for his ability to teach hitters, he said that is not his primary focus as a manager.
"Whenever I talk to hitters ... Milt was always there," Manuel said. "I'll treat GG (Greg Gross) the same way. If someone on my staff has something to say about hitting I want them to tell our hitting coach. That's his area. I talk to our guys about hitting, but i don't consistently every day. That's my hitting coach's job. It's a tough job and it's a 24-hour-a-day job."
No way this guy is a better hitting coach than Milt. Who thinks Amaro made Cholly fire Milt?— Tough* Juice*- Yeah, bring back the guy who WASNT GOOD ENOUGH 5 years ago. WTF?— lukebonbon
- It was him or Milt, and instead of Cholly standing up for Milt, he let him take the fall......— joeolive
- You want the prima donnas to hit? Tie their pay to their performance. Maybe Milt was telling them what to do and the arrogant suckers ignored him. The entire organization ought to be ashamed.— Big Dog Bart
- There is only one man should be fired for the dismal collapse of the Phillies and since we can't get rid of the owners (unfortunately) the buck stops at Ruben Amaro's doorstep. Whether he took orders or not regarding the Lee fiasco and the horrendous blunders of signing long term contracts with over the hill players like Ibanez etc., Amaro can't claim the old Nuremberg cop out "I was only following orders". He has to be accountable and own up to his historic blunder of letting Lee go and as a result, now groveling for another pitcher twice as expensive along with the possible loss of more players to come when all along, if he had an ounce of ethics, intelligence and integrity, he would have never cooperated with or help to instigate the Lee disaster. Shame on you Ruben, Milt Thompson didn't ruin the team, YOU did!— daystrum
- Strange that only NOW, are sports writers who were skittish about leveling the proper amount of criticism toward Amaro's astoundingly reckless blunders, willing to finally spew forth the truth about how the Lee trade was not only a disaster and a train wreck, but unprecedented in its callous indifference toward the damage it did toward the Phillies and their future. Only now are local sports writers admitting that Amaro and the owners are more interested in pinching pennies or coordinating dubious deals than committing to making the Phils a winning team. Too little to late.— daystrum
- amen daystrum— barrywil
Milt was a class guy, well spoken and a favorite of the players. A shame he had to take the fall for the Phillies downward spiral. If he's being blamed for their poor play, he should conversely receive all the credit for their stellar play during the last two years.— dogman5- Milt was in the same position when the team was hitting well and winning. Suddenly he forgot how to do his job?? I don't think so. This is called an extended slump, and there's no changes in coaches or anything else that will bring players out of it. Hopefully the pitching keeps up, which will put pressure on other team's pitchers, which will cause them to make mistakes and the Phils can capitalize on them. That's the only way this team is going to get hits right now. Milt was a good hard working Phillie, and he has been made the scapegoat. Of course, there's also the Lee debacle which isn't helping any of this, thank you very much RAJ.— cnova000
- Trying too hard?? The bat doesn't leave their shoulders much anymore for pete's sakes....— downtheshore
- joeolive-I couldn't have said it better.— rolenfan
- Milt is a total class guy, saying he wished GG well and hoped they will turn it around. RAJ probably called for it and Cholly is taking the hit for him. Ridiculous. It's on the hitters. How much do they make to perform? Again, this is a ridiculous move unless it lights a fire under the team. And if that happens, you can only blame the players for their complacency while Milt was here. They owe him some of their paycheck for him taking the fall. F-ing prima donnas.— PhilCali
- Lets see we won a World series went to another won division with Milt, hitters have their usual off year or so and Milt is fired, this sucks, GGross won"t improve our weakness, consistent pitching— PHILLY76
- And for months now I have seen nothing but posts on here for his firing and now that he is fired everyone gets mad a Cholly!!! Hypocrites all!!!— slade1955
- Ditto to pretty much everything everyone else has said here! It's a joke, and Amaro is becomming one! Chuck's decision? I doubt it! Best of luck, Milt, I wish you well!— flyers1313
