Charlie Manuel Watch Thread - 2010 Edition

[Ivytalk]

Where's the goddam offense? On their way to a second straight whitewashing by the Mutts. SMFH.

[bluehenbillk]

Where's the goddam offense? On their way to a second straight whitewashing by the Mutts. SMFH.

Heard an interesting theory this morning on WIP. Since the Phils started their last homestand, and after the guy got caught in the bullpen with the binoculars, the offense has gone away. Guys have to stop swinging for the fences all the time, espsecially in a park like Citi.

[93henfan]

There is a lot of flux right now. Injuries are rampant. Getting Rollins back and immediately losing him again was a psychological blow. Facing back to back knuckleballers doesn't help hitters get into a groove.

Oh well. Just about everyone thought this would be a Phils/Braves divisional fight, and by God that's what it's looking like.

The pluses:

Hamels continues to return to his 2008 form.
The pitch count bug has been placed in Charlie's ear regarding Halladay, so I doubt we'll see many more 130 pitch nights, and Halladay should have a bit more sharpness than the past three starts.
The injuries came in April/May this year, so hopefully the law of averages works in our favor from here out.

[GannonFan]

The Phils slumped last year around this time and they are doing it again - something about the latter half of May just doesn't jibe with them.

[SunCoastBlueHen]

FIRE CHARLIE!!!!

[bluehenbillk]

The Phils slumped last year around this time and they are doing it again - something about the latter half of May just doesn't jibe with them.

Didn't it coincide with interleague play last year & Madson playing the role of fireman with a 5 gallon container of unleaded with him on the hill?

[GannonFan]

The Phils slumped last year around this time and they are doing it again - something about the latter half of May just doesn't jibe with them.

Didn't it coincide with interleague play last year & Madson playing the role of fireman with a 5 gallon container of unleaded with him on the hill?

It actually started earlier last year - the Phils lost series in May to the Braves, Dodgers, Marlins, and the Mets, and then when they got into the meat of the interleague play they lost the series to the Red Sox, got swept by both Toronto and Baltimore, and then lost a series to Tampa before taking the series against Toronto. So from early May to late June last year, the Phils weren't anything to write home about. They avoided tanking earlier this year - still remains to see when they will pull out of it. But I'm not worried in the least right now - the runs will come eventually.

[93henfan]

This just in: the Phillies have scored a run.

[Ivytalk]

They just took a lead for the first time in a week!

[93henfan]

They just took a lead for the first time in a week!

Hey Ivy, I didn't feel like starting a new thread for this. I figured you'd love a story about a former Penn football player / weed entrepreneur, so here ya go :

http://www.philly.com/philly/news/homep ... iness.html

[Ivytalk]

They just took a lead for the first time in a week!

Hey Ivy, I didn't feel like starting a new thread for this. I figured you'd love a story about a former Penn football player / weed entrepreneur, so here ya go :

http://www.philly.com/philly/news/homep ... iness.html

What else can you do with a Penn degree? Beats a return to the coal mines, I guess...

[93henfan]

On this night, Halladay’s masterpiece was flawless

Bill Lyon
FOR THE PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER

He was, by turns, a painter, brushing the outer, unreachable edges of the plate. And he was a surgeon, carving the hitters with cool dispatch.

He made the ball dive and he made it rise.

He pitched up and in, and he pitched down and away.

And everything he threw moved in a different direction save one - straight.

The ball was his with which to do whatever he pleased. He had caught the genie of baseball in a generous mood.

In that case, said Roy Halladay, I think I'd like to be perfect. You know, for a night.

And so perfect he was, on a steamy night in South Florida, crafting what was only the 20th perfecto in the whole history of major league baseball.

Why is the perfecto so rare? For starters, there are 27 chances to foul it up. A bounce the wrong way . . . a broken bat flare . . . a fly ball lost in the lights . . . oh yes, so many chances to lose, so many ways to lose.

The no-hitter is daunting enough. But what separates the perfect from the no-no is a slate that is without so much as a smudge - no walks, no errors, no excuses.

Roy Halladay said he began to get that certain feeling along about the sixth inning last night. From there on into the barn, he said, he just followed "Chooch." Carlos Ruiz caught perfection, and on this night catcher and pitcher were in lockstep rhythm, each in tune with the other.

Halladay's arsenal of pitches is extensive and impressively varied - fast ball, cutter, change, curve, and subtle variations off of those. And last night, he lived on the corners. Even though he ran several 3-ball and 3-2 counts, he was able to escape. His control, especially when it mattered, was meticulous.

Remember, too, his last time out, a loss to the Boston Red Sox , touched off a firestorm of controversy about pitch count, manager Charlie Manuel accused of using up his ace.

Manuel scoffed at the charge and Halladay himself insisted the pounding he took was in no way related to the number of pitches he launched, rather his inability to properly locate them. Translation: The slop I threw up there had "Hit me" written all over it . . . and they did.

Last night, everyone with a bat was at his mercy. They flopped helplessly about like boated bass, flailing wildly or staring incredulously over called strike three and thinking: Hit that? Don't think so.

In all the celebrating, Halladay seemed singularly unimpressed with what he had just done, his bristled face still tight. He still had his Darth Vader face on.

Later, he would loosen. Perfection takes some time getting over.

http://www.philly.com/philly/sports/201 ... wless.html

[Ivytalk]

The Phillies got shut out for the 5th time in 8 games today, 1-0. Werth struck out 4 times. Losing Rollins is hurting more than anyone imagined, and it looks like Polanco's on the shelf too.

[GannonFan]

The Phillies got shut out for the 5th time in 8 games today, 1-0. Werth struck out 4 times. Losing Rollins is hurting more than anyone imagined, and it looks like Polanco's on the shelf too.

It ain't Rollins - in some cases, yes it is, but mostly it's just guys not hitting in spots. There are guys on base lots of time, but we aren't bringing them in - it's not like every time we get a guy on base we end up at a spot in the order where Rollins would've been. It'll turn around, always does. Polanco is just another in a long line of injuries, and yet we still have one of the better records in baseball - not too shabby.

[DJH]

Watch out for the Atlanta Braves, Phillie fans. They are a real threat this year.

Bump.

1/2 game back, with a 3 games series this week.

[00bluehen]

Watch out for the Atlanta Braves, Phillie fans. They are a real threat this year.

Bump.

1/2 game back, with a 3 games series this week.

What is it about Braves fans that makes them think this is for all the marbles this week, or that being in first place on June 1st actually clinches the division??? I'm surprised I didn't see more "BRAVES IN FIRST!" threads on Opening Day.

[Ivytalk]

The Phillies got shut out for the 5th time in 8 games today, 1-0. Werth struck out 4 times. Losing Rollins is hurting more than anyone imagined, and it looks like Polanco's on the shelf too.

It ain't Rollins - in some cases, yes it is, but mostly it's just guys not hitting in spots. There are guys on base lots of time, but we aren't bringing them in - it's not like every time we get a guy on base we end up at a spot in the order where Rollins would've been. It'll turn around, always does. Polanco is just another in a long line of injuries, and yet we still have one of the better records in baseball - not too shabby.

Nobody's afraid of Wilson Valdez, Greg Dobbs and Ross Gload, however.

[bluehenbillk]

Phils down 3-0 after 1 today, do I even bother to watch the next 8 innings knowing the odds of them scoring 4 runs today....

[Baldy]

Bump.

1/2 game back, with a 3 games series this week.

What is it about Braves fans that makes them think this is for all the marbles this week, or that being in first place on June 1st actually clinches the division??? I'm surprised I didn't see more "BRAVES IN FIRST!" threads on Opening Day.

Well, in the era of Wild Card baseball, the first place team on June 1st makes the playoffs 66% of the time.
Just sayin'

[SunCoastBlueHen]

How does a whole team go into such a monumental, collective slump?!?!

It really goes to show how much of a mental game baseball really is - success breeds success and failure breeds failure.

[93henfan]

Well, in the era of Wild Card baseball, the first place team on June 1st makes the playoffs 66% of the time.
Just sayin'

I think the Phils are going to be OK.

[grizband]

How does a whole team go into such a monumental, collective slump?!?!

It really goes to show how much of a mental game baseball really is - success breeds success and failure breeds failure.

It also shows how long the season really is...the Phillies will previal in the long run, they are too talented not to finish in contention.

[Baldy]

How does a whole team go into such a monumental, collective slump?!?!

It really goes to show how much of a mental game baseball really is - success breeds success and failure breeds failure.

The Phils are in the same slump the Braves were in a month ago. It will pass, just hopefully not before Thursday.

[93henfan]

Only 112 games left.

[DJH]