More Bashing of Charlie Manuel [J. Mark English]

Say this for Charlie Manuel. He is certainly getting a lot of press. Of course not in a good way. In the New York Times today, they devoted a whole column to discussing his messy situation in Philadelphia.

Jere Longman write:

Fairly or unfairly, it is Manager Charlie Manuel’s chest at which many fingers are being pointed. With each defeat, and there have been 10 in 14 games, speculation mounts that he could be the first manager fired this season. So far, the congenial Manuel has lost nothing more severe than his temper, in a confrontation with a Philadelphia radio personality....

...Manuel has received a vote of confidence from General Manager Pat Gillick, but in Philadelphia, a vote of confidence is not always different from a last cigarette...

...Philadelphia fans here described Manuel as a nice guy — maybe too nice — for a dyspeptic sporting audience that prefers a fiery manager like Larry Bowa, someone who will throw a tantrum instead of a bouquet of compliments...

...Manuel, who is from Virginia and has the Blue Ridge Mountains in his voice, feels he has been unfairly portrayed as a rube by Eskin, called Elmer Befuddled and Grandpa Charlie merely because of his Southern accent.

On Thursday, Manuel said he regretted that his response “wasn’t classy.” But Rowand said that Manuel’s outburst had resulted from three years of Eskin’s “calling Charlie an idiot, a moron, a hillbilly.”...

...Eskin has said he was simply asking tough questions. There was a time to scream at players, Manuel conceded, but also a time to back off, to let them play....

...To clear his head, he spends time on his hobby — coin collecting. “I’m a big silver guy,” Manuel said, predicting that the price of silver will soon rise exorbitantly. “I think eventually people will be melting their spoons and cups and glasses.”

It is his job to remain confident, upbeat, Manuel said, though he admitted after Thursday’s victory that his turbulent tenure in Philadelphia had been costly.

“The last three years, I think I lost quite a bit of hair,” he said, laughing and rubbing his head. “Philly’s definitely taken that away from me.”

He has a coin collection??? I mean this story gets better and better. I wonder if he sits in the dugout focusing on his coins while the team is desperately looking to their skipper for leadership. He knows how to keep his coins in order, but not his lineup or pitching staff. Wow, what a bum.

But the best part of the whole story from the times was that someone actually created a website dedicated to the countdown to loss 10,000 by the Philadelphia Phillies. The site called Celebrate 10,000 (http://celebrate10000.com/home.asp). Good stuff. This is what they say on the site:

Welcome to Celebrate 10,000 - the site that celebrates a crowning achievement in baseball history. This year, the Philadelphia Phillies are poised to accomplish what no other team in professional sports history has before: 10,000 losses.

Not only is Philadelphia home to the franchise that has lost the most games in any sport, it's also the city (with four major sports teams) that's gone the longest without a championship.

This website is not about celebrating the Phillies 10,000th loss. It's about celebrating the Phans. We're the ones who suffer the most. Let's celebrate each other because without each other we would be watching the games alone, high fiving the wall. Let's make sure we keep our presence known.

So please help us celebrate all the Phans. Submit your stories here for all to see. We want to know how you felt after a significant loss or why you still follow the Phils after all these dreadful years.

Trust us, when you write a story like this you can't help but get the chills.

Always remember, Real Phans Love Their Losers.

No matter how bad your life is, as long as your not a Phils fan, you can always be assured that it can be worse. My apologies to Chrissy. I'm looking forward to her own spin on what its like to be a Phillies fan. I'm waiting...