Phillies like it hot in Mayberry

IT WAS A cutter thrown by New York Mets lefthander Jonathon Niese - 87 mph, a little above the belt, out over the plate - and John Mayberry Jr. launched it into the leftfield seats for a three-run homer, lighting up another sweet summer night. Mayberry is hitting .455 in his last six games, with three homers and 10 RBI. The man is incandescent.

Given a long look in the early going of the season, Mayberry failed as the everyday rightfielder. Exiled to Triple A, his numbers were remarkably unspecial. Returned to the major leagues in July, with a wider stance and an ever-growing confidence, he has hit .326 since then, with nine homers and 29 RBI.

Belatedly, he has validated the confidence that the Phillies showed in him coming out of spring training. Leftfield should be his, even when Raul Ibanez is back from the groin problems that have sidelined him - not forever, not necessarily, but for another good, long look into the month of September.

And now, after last night, the manager has seen enough. Charlie Manuel agrees.

"When you see somebody hitting the ball like that, I think he's kind of earned the right to stay in there for a little while and see what he can do," Manuel said, after another bludgeoning of the Mets, this time by a 9-4 score.

"That's how you win jobs - I've said it over and over. He looks pretty good."

Some of the best managing that Manuel has done this season involved Mayberry. From the first day until yesterday, it has been as well-handled as anyone could hope.

Manuel gave Mayberry a long opportunity in April and May, a fair chance to succeed or fail. The organizational thought was that he deserved a chance - general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. and his former boss, Pat Gillick, visited Mayberry in the offseason and made sure to let him know that this was going to be a big spring for him - and that is exactly how Manuel played it. It was all the player could have asked for, really. When it didn't work, it didn't work - he was hitting .231 with three homers and 12 RBI at the start of June - but Mayberry could not complain that he had been jerked around.

Then, when Mayberry came back in July, Manuel's task was different: to rebuild a young man who failed the first time around - and who actually had been sent down multiple times in his career.

Mayberry said his attitude was good, despite the disappointment. He said, "You have to look at it as an opportunity to work hard and get better and get back up here and succeed the next time."

What the manager did this time was put Mayberry in a position to succeed - starting the righty against pretty much every lefthander who came through town, and then spotting him here and there against righties, then more, then more.

With that handling, and with his success, the crescendo has built - to the point now where Mayberry has forced his way back into the lineup.

"I'm feeling relaxed, feeling comfortable," he said. "I'm getting good pitches to hit and, right now, I'm not missing . . .

"I'm ready and hopefully will continue to be ready for whenever Charlie calls. I'm obviously not in charge of making the lineup. I just come to the ballpark ready to play every day."

He played left when Ibanez got hurt, and he played first base last night while Ryan Howard rested a bum foot. Amaro has raised the possibility, however distant, that Mayberry could get a look at third base in a future season.

When informed of this by reporters, Mayberry, who hasn't played the position since high school, did his best to hide his gulp and said, "Anything that gets me on the field."

And now, you can add his name to the list. Injuries have battered this Phillies team but have never come close to bringing it to its knees. They just keep plugging in new pieces and watching them succeed. If the Four Aces end up being the story of the season, the main subplot will be this series of successful fill-ins, starting with Antonio Bastardo and Vance Worley and on and on.

It is amazing how many moving parts there have been within this juggernaut. Now, Mayberry is the latest - but probably not the last.

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