Manuel will be the one who makes sure Utley gets enough rest

CLEARWATER, Fla. - With all the appropriate hoopla, the curtain will rise on Game 1 of the World Series 243 days from now. That's not forever. It'll just feel like it at times. One more time: Baseball isn't a sprint, it's a marathon.

The Phillies, who will conduct their first official full-squad workout tomorrow, have spent a lot of money in hopes of being part of the festivities. Their chances will increase if Chase Utley can bounce back. Even though he started for the National League in the All-Star Game again last July, he had the worst year of his career, batting just .275 with 16 homers and 65 RBI.

That, by itself, isn't alarming. Even the best players have off years. And it didn't help that he missed 7 weeks after surgery to repair a torn ligament in his right thumb.

Except that his batting average and slugging percentage have been in decline since 2007. Except that he's 32 years old now. Except that, while he once again checked into camp with added muscle, his headlong style of play results in a tendency to lose weight as the schedule progresses. He studies the game so intently that he can also become mentally fatigued.

He's a gamer who wants to play every day. Fine. In the end, though, it's Charlie Manuel who fills out the lineup card. He'll decide how many of the next 243 days, especially the ones that fall during the longest season, Utley will be given off.

The manager acknowledges that, in theory, the idea of a little R&R for Utley - and Jimmy Rollins, and Shane Victorino and Ryan Howard, for that matter - makes a lot of sense.

That's easy to say in February. When the games start to matter, though, any manager finds it excruciatingly difficult to bench his stars.

"People don't understand," Manuel said recently. "We're supposed to win games. Our team, right now, is built to win games. Can we develop at the major league level? Yes, we can. But we'd better take time out to win games. That better be our first priority. That's how I look at it.

"On that day, we come to win that game. We want to play in the moment and that day is our moment. And that's what makes it hard to rest a guy like a Howard or an Utley or Jimmy Rollins or anyone like that."

True. But that approach collides head-on with the equally persuasive logic that taking a small step backward from time to time could result in a giant leap forward in the bigger picture.

One way to be certain that the resolve of spring doesn't evaporate in the heat of summer would be to map out a firm commitment of games Utley will sit before the season starts.

That ain't happening.

"Because I'm kind of a hunch dude," the manager explained. "The whole object of it is, and what I think a lot of people don't understand, is to win that game on that day. The old cliche that gets me going is when someone says, 'He's more important to us in October than he is today.' Well, yeah, but he's important to us today because he's giving us a better chance to get to October.

"I think people also don't understand how hard it is to win. There's a reason why people are not regular players or big-time starters who can go 200 innings. There are people on a team who can handle those roles better. You can say anything you want to about your team, but any time you take one of your regular players or especially your star players out, you're less apt to win the game.

"We've been very fortunate here. We've been able to take guys and put them in, especially when we've had to, and all of a sudden they play better. But that doesn't mean they're better players than that regular player we've got."

Manuel, not surprisingly, remains convinced that Utley is as good now as he ever was.

Utley, who briefly addressed a gaggle of media types in the leftfield corner of Bright House Field yesterday morning, wasn't exactly enlightening on the topic. Asked how he viewed his last two seasons, he first pretended to misunderstand and talked about the team falling short of winning another world championship.

Asked again to assess his own performance, he said only, "I always feel like I can improve."

So the issue lingers. Would playing a little less help Utley and the other Phillies veterans produce a lot more? It's doubtful that question will be answered this year.

"If you look at our success, when we have Rollins, Utley, Howard and those guys, when they had their best seasons is when they played a lot and only missed five to 10 to 12 games or something like that," Manuel insisted.

"When they get older, you've definitely got to watch them. I guess there's always exceptions. I'll throw [Cal Ripken Jr.] at you. There were times when I thought Ripken could use a rest, too. But our players like Utley and Rollins and Howard, more than likely they're going to need some blows. But I can't sit here and tell you how many days I'm going to give them off." *

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