"Wow, you thought I was a good manager. Well, look at me now. I'm not that good. You're as good as your players." -- Chicago White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen, who helped his team win the 2005 World Series.
Explain to me again how Charlie Manuel is the problem?
The Phillies bullpen last night allowed 6 of 7 inherited runners to score in a 9-6 loss to the Cincinnati Reds at Citizens Bank Park. Geoff Geary allowed 3 of 3, Mike Zagurski allowed 2 of 3 and Ryan Madson allowed 1 of 1. The go-ahead run in the eighth inning reached when Brian Sanches hit Edwin Encarnacion with a 0-2 splitter.
Here's a look at the Phillies' seven-man bullpen:
Geary: 1-2, 5.11 ERA, 36 appearances.
Madson: 1-2, 3.68 ERA, 26 appearances.
Antonio Alfonseca: 3-1, 3.73 ERA, five saves, 32 appearances.
Clay Condrey: 2-0, 8.44 ERA, 14 appearances.
Yoel Hernandez: 0-0, 5.02 ERA, 13 appearances.
Zagurski: 1-0, 4.76 ERA, 13 appearances.
Jose Mesa: 0-0, 3.52 ERA, seven appearances.
That's right: the relief pitcher with the lowest ERA at the moment is Mesa.
Not even the genius that is Tony La Russa could help. In fact, La Russa has guided the defending world champions to the sixth-worst record in the National League this season.
La Russa didn't get dumber. His pitching staff just got worse.
Just like Manuel's.
I'm certainly not saying Manuel is better than La Russa, but what he is working with should be considered.
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Ryan Howard is the fastest player in baseball history to hit 100 home runs. He needed just 325 games to accomplish the feat. Ralph Kiner needed 385 games to hit 100 homers.
Kiner, by the way, is in the Hall of Fame.
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Even after a bad loss, Howard's teammates could not believe how hard he hit that three-run home run to center field in the fifth inning. The ball not only flew over the batter's eye, it landed onto Ashburn Alley. It flew an estimated 505 feet, which makes it the longest homer in the history of Citizens Bank Park. I have seen Howard clear the batter's eye before -- he did it April 23, 2006, against Florida righthander Sergio Mitre -- and become the only player to hit a ball into the third deck in right field. He did that June 20, 2006, against New York Yankees righthander Mike Mussina.
But last night's homer was the most impressive.
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A bunch of old dudes pitched yesterday. Jamie Moyer was one of them. He had a no-hitter with two outs in the sixth inning before Josh Hamilton singled to center.
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J.D. Durbin pitches Game 1 of tomorrow's doubleheader against the New York Mets. He has been with four teams this season.
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Damn that Jonathan Papelbon.
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A colleague sent this to me. Is that guy on the left wearing a Phillies cap?
Comments (5)
You make good points about the bullpen loosing the game not Charlie. I think Ozzie Guillen's quote is telling too. However, if the Phillies did have a better bullpen and and a better bench, I'm quite confident that Guillen or Tony La Russa would do a better job managing the team. In a one run game, I'd rather have a manager that understand the double switch. Also, you can't give Charlie a free ride on his decisions. He took way too long to adjust the lineup to the players he has on hand.
Let's look at this way. If Charlie is the manager of the Padres this season, are they 2 games back instead of tied for 1st because of bad management calls?
Posted by Josh | June 28, 2007 10:02 AM
Posted on June 28, 2007 10:02
You gotta blame Charlie. Geoff Geary cannot put himself in the game.
Moyer had thrown 89 pitches. He walks Encarnacion on a close pitch. The bottom of the lineup is coming up. If Manuel himself is fine with us coming out of the inning 4-3 down, why not let Moyer (remember that no-hitter he had going) pitch? I mean, was his velocity down? Is Moyer, at 44, going to lose his composure?
Posted by Anonymous | June 28, 2007 11:20 AM
Posted on June 28, 2007 11:20
Gillick/Amaro/Montgomery are the problem. I don't care if you put Leyland, LaRussa or Pinella as the manager, this team is so short of pitching, nobody could make this pig into a princess. And Gillick is responsible for Garcia, Barajas, Helms, not Manual. So the money wasted on them could have been better spent on pitching, which EVERYONE (except Gillick) knew was our weak spot. And be warned that Monty will put Amaro (second biggest suck up after Wheeler) in charge when Gillick finally goes, so our path to 15,000 losses will be firmly in place.
Posted by Anonymous | June 28, 2007 11:33 AM
Posted on June 28, 2007 11:33
Say, isn't that Ugueth Urbina? Oh wait, he has a gun, not a machete...
Posted by David | June 28, 2007 2:05 PM
Posted on June 28, 2007 14:05
It could be the Phillies ownership group, defending themselves against Gillick trying to increase payroll at the trading deadline.
Or it could be Amaro, Gillick, Montgomery, Giles, Wheeler and Arbuckle getting ready for the trade deadline...they will need weapons to try to get a decent pitcher on the staff.
Posted by jimmymack | June 28, 2007 3:11 PM
Posted on June 28, 2007 15:11