Charlie Manuel Watch Thread - 2010 Edition

[Kim Jong Il]

Phirries make good move.

[93henfan]

Welcome to the bigs, Domonic!

RBI double in his first at bat, off the wall.

[93henfan]

According to Jayson Stark, the Phils are the only team left in the Oswalt running. The deal would be Happ and prospects, but the prospects and how much of the contract the 'Stros would eat are still being haggled. Oswalt, of course, would still have to waive his no-trade clause as well. Werth is now off the market.

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=5418615

[bluehenbillk]

They're already selling UPS themed T-shirts - "What can BROWN do for you"?

Red-hot Phils right now & the schedule isn't getting harder anytime soon.

[blueballs]

They're already selling UPS themed T-shirts - "What can BROWN do for you"?

Red-hot Phils right now & the schedule isn't getting harder anytime soon.

Yup, looks like we've got a race in the NL East as I can see the Braves and Phils seperating themselves from the Mets and the Marlins.

At the ASB I thought the wild card would come from the Central but now I'm not so sure... I think the Dodgers will fade and the WC will be between whoever finishes second between ATL, PHI, SD, and SF.

[93henfan]

Phils move to just 3 games back with the Braves falling to the Natinals this afternoon.

Phils have now passed the Rockies, Dodgers, and Mets in the wildcard standings in the past week.

[bluehenbillk]

Time to start with analyzing how the Phillies match up with the Yankees or the Rangers!!

[citdog]

Time to start with analyzing how the Phillies match up with the Yankees or the Rangers!!

even with oswalt not going to catch the BRAVES

[bluehenbillk]

Haha, have you been watching the Bravo-s lately? Haven't seen Southerners crap their pants that bad watching the Phils evaporate that lead since Sherman marched through.

[citdog]

Haha, have you been watching the Bravo-s lately? Haven't seen Southerners crap their pants that bad watching the Phils evaporate that lead since Sherman marched through.

the FAILEES will tank. should have gone out and got a bat. oswalt was great......6 years ago

[bluehenbillk]

the FAILEES will tank. should have gone out and got a bat. oswalt was great......6 years ago

6 years ago...yea you mean when the Braves were good? As far a bat, we are adding one, in about 3-4 weeks we reacquire the services of the best 2nd baseman in the game, remember him???

BTW, the Phils may not be done dealing, still just under 48 hrs left....

[citdog]

the FAILEES will tank. should have gone out and got a bat. oswalt was great......6 years ago

6 years ago...yea you mean when the Braves were good? As far a bat, we are adding one, in about 3-4 weeks we reacquire the services of the best 2nd baseman in the game, remember him???

BTW, the Phils may not be done dealing, still just under 48 hrs left....

who's in first place again? in 3-4 weeks you'll be out of the wild card race as well. deal all you want. THIS IS OUR YEAR.

[Ivytalk]

6 years ago...yea you mean when the Braves were good? As far a bat, we are adding one, in about 3-4 weeks we reacquire the services of the best 2nd baseman in the game, remember him???

BTW, the Phils may not be done dealing, still just under 48 hrs left....

who's in first place again? in 3-4 weeks you'll be out of the wild card race as well. deal all you want. THIS IS OUR YEAR.

Yeah, right. And I'll bet Jeff Davis said that about 1863 -- before Gettysburg.

[citdog]

who's in first place again? in 3-4 weeks you'll be out of the wild card race as well. deal all you want. THIS IS OUR YEAR.

Yeah, right. And I'll bet PRESIDENT Davis said that about 1863 -- before Gettysburg.

FIFY and kiss my ass

[93henfan]

PHILS WIN, PHILS WIN!!!

2 1/2 games behind the Braves
1 1/2 behind the Giants for the Wild Card

[GannonFan]

PHILS WIN, PHILS WIN!!!

2 1/2 games behind the Braves
1 1/2 behind the Giants for the Wild Card

Yup - and still with another extremely favorable 5 weeks worth of games coming up, and the Phils play 16 of their next 25 at home to boot. Certainly has all the makings of another significant second half surge by a team that has made plenty of them in the past few years. And throwing into the mix a Domonic Brown and a Roy Oswalt as well, and at some point you get back players like Rollins and Victorino and Utley, and I'm already reserving time in October to watch the Phils go for a 3rd straight pennant.

[JMU DJ]

THIS IS OUR YEAR.

Just like all the others down here who told me they were already saving up their money for playoff tickets.


This Phillies team doesn't tank, they get better as the season goes on. Ask the Mutts.

[GannonFan]

THIS IS OUR YEAR.

Just like all the others down here who told me they were already saving up their money for playoff tickets.


This Phillies team doesn't tank, they get better as the season goes on. Ask the Mutts.

Playoff tickets??? Even when the Braves were good nobody seemed to be going to the playoff games. Are you sure you're talking about Braves fans?

And yes, this Phillies team is full of guys who are gamers - the bigger the games, the better they play. The Braves will need to play great ball to keep the Phils from winning the division, and even then the Phils will still be there come playoff time. The Golden Age of Phillies baseball continues.

[JMU DJ]

Playoff tickets??? Even when the Braves were good nobody seemed to be going to the playoff games. Are you sure you're talking about Braves fans?

Yes, there are Braves fans. They usually show up for the first few weeks of the season and then attendance dwindles down as the season goes on culminating in a final series where there are more fans from the opposing team than there are Braves fans. Anyway, I've pointed this out to the few Braves fans that I know over the past few years and this year they've been giving me the Citdog one liners.... and yes, many have said they are saving for playoff tickets. The local ESPN outlet here asked the audience with the Braves 7 games up with only a week left in July, were the listeners saving their money for playoff tickets as it was pretty much a lock for the Braves to win the Division or the Wild Card....



... their tune had changed come this morning.

[Ivytalk]

Well, Roy "Don't Want to Be Here Anyway" Oswalt got shelled by the Nats in his Phils debut, 8-1. And J.A. Happ is shutting out the Brewers in his first Astro start. Go figure.

And, Howard, we pay you to MAKE CONTACT!!

[93henfan]

Well, Roy "Don't Want to Be Here Anyway" Oswalt got shelled by the Nats in his Phils debut, 8-1. And J.A. Happ is shutting out the Brewers in his first Astro start. Go figure.

And, Howard, we pay you to MAKE CONTACT!!

Settle down, Beavis. You could smell a letdown coming tonight with the Phils riding an 8-game win streak down to play the bottom-feeding Nats (who actually have been playing well lately - ask the Braves). Don't forget that Cliff Lee's first game with the Rangers was a stinker too, and he's humming along as usual now.

Plus, Oswalt explained the real issue in the post-game press conference: red shoes. He said they were distracting him and he'll be going back to black once he has a chance to pick out his own sh*t.

[93henfan]

And if it wasn't bad enough that Lidge **** the team over yet again last night...

...Ryan Howard has to leave today's game in the first after having to scramble back to second base. It looked like he turned his left ankle in pretty nasty fashion sliding back into the bag.

[SunCoastBlueHen]

And if it wasn't bad enough that Lidge **** the team over yet again last night...

...Ryan Howard has to leave today's game in the first after having to scramble back to second base. It looked like he turned his left ankle in pretty nasty fashion sliding back into the bag.

Man, the Phillies have been snake bit this season.

Oh, and Lidge has to go. He lost it early last year and has shown no signs of getting it back since. Dude lost the mentality it take to be an effective closer.

[93henfan]

Oh, and Lidge has to go. He lost it early last year and has shown no signs of getting it back since. Dude lost the mentality it take to be an effective closer.

From Philly.com:

According to data from Baseball Info Solutions, Lidge's average fastball velocity in 2010 is 92.5 m.p.h. In 2009 it was 93.6 m.ph. In 2008, it was 94.3 m.p.h. And in 2007, it was 95.4 m.p.h.

Since 2008, Lidge has converted 41 of 56 save opportunities. This season, Lidge hasn't pitched a clean full inning in a save chance since June 4.

The problem lies with the fastball. Lidge is a two-pitch pitcher, but his slider is only at its best when the fastball is working, too. Without an effective fastball, he relies heavily on the slider. That allows opposing batters to lay off the pitch - or even guess slider because they know Lidge will keep throwing it. Eight of his 14 pitches Saturday were sliders.

His six fastballs averaged 91.8 m.p.h. against Washington.

15 blown saves in a year and a half.

[BlueHen86]

Phils put Ryan Howard on the 15 day DL, retro active to yesterday.

Howard is the 15th Phillie player to be put on the DL this year. Of the everyday starters, only Werth and Ibanez have avoided the DL so sar.
Rollins has been on twice and Utley has been out for weeks.

It is amazing that the Phils are only 2.5 games out of first right now.