Ok no joke.. Charlie is out

[_phiLLies_]

i strongly disagree caligula. the phils offense was off the charts in their prime. what could any manager do to stop them from hitting and blowing teams out? the only way to lose would be to bench them. look at some of their numbers..

utley: 33 hr, .380 obp, .915 ops, 14 steals
howard: 48 hr, .881 ops, 146 rbi
werth: 24 hr, .363 obp, .861 ops, 20 steals (not even full time)
jroll: .349 obp, .786 ops, 47 steals
vic: .352 obp, .799 ops, 36 steals
burrell: 33 hr, 86 rbi, .875 ops

it was ridiculous. the phils this season have 64 steals, not that far ahead of jroll alone. 113 HR.. basically what howard, utley and burrell combined for. dom brown is our best player this year with a .860 ops and 27 hr. honestly, he would have been behind all 6 of those guys.

 

[Omar 382]

I agree Caligula. Charlie's time had come and he needs to retire or move into the booth with Kruk. But brain-dead is setting up Sandberg for failure because of the trash he has drug in here to go along with the aging trash we already have. I'd like to see Sandberg show brain-dead up and turn this thing around especially with guys like Asche and Dom Brown and maybe call-up Franco. That would the nest in-your- face move for a young manager.

As hilarious as I think it would be, I cannot imagine Charlie in the booth. "Well, uh, uhm, you watch Cabrera, uhhhh, pull his hands in there, and like, I feel like, when he gets a fastball middle-in, I feel like, I feel like, he can really do some damage"

 

[Omar 382]

it's funny how bowa's teams were very similar to the '05-'07 Phils, but they were never very close to reaching the playoffs. Charlie is the best manager in Phillies history, and just because these last two years have been bad, it doesn't mean we should take away what he did from '07-'11. This year is more of a reflection of the idiocracy of Ruben than Manuel's managing. He can't help that Rollins isn't hitting and that his back-up is John McDonald. He can't help that JMJ isn't hitting very much, and his backup is Michael Martinez and Casper Wells. Remember, it was Amaro that was keeping Ruf in the minors, not Charlie. When he came up, Manuel made room for him, and he has taken off. I agree that it was time to move on, but we can't forget that Charlie Manuel was the greatest manager in Phillies history

 

[WestCoastPhan]

it's funny how bowa's teams were very similar to the '05-'07 Phils, but they were never very close to reaching the playoffs. Charlie is the best manager in Phillies history, and just because these last two years have been bad, it doesn't mean we should take away what he did from '07-'11. This year is more of a reflection of the idiocracy of Ruben than Manuel's managing. He can't help that Rollins isn't hitting and that his back-up is John McDonald. He can't help that JMJ isn't hitting very much, and his backup is Michael Martinez and Casper Wells. Remember, it was Amaro that was keeping Ruf in the minors, not Charlie. When he came up, Manuel made room for him, and he has taken off. I agree that it was time to move on, but we can't forget that Charlie Manuel was the greatest manager in Phillies history

sorry but that's bullshit. the phillies team '07-'11 arguably is the best in phillies history...not the manager. but go ahead and believe whatever you want. put on WIP and they act like manuel past away yesterday...and most of the callers and hosts believe the way you do.

 

[Retroram52]

Hey Number 1. I'd like to hear Manuel and Kruk in the booth together because Kru would bait him to open up just like when Kruk was a player and he used to get the manager at any time. But as you stated, there would not be a whole lot of info coming out of Manuel except a lot of umms and uhs!!

 

[Omar 382]

sorry but that's bullshit. the phillies team '07-'11 arguably is the best in phillies history...not the manager. but go ahead and believe whatever you want. put on WIP and they act like manuel past away yesterday...and most of the callers and hosts believe the way you do.

they were the best phillies teams in history... their record reflected that. 473-337 with 5 straight divisional titles, 2 pennants, and a world series. i agree manuel was gifted with great teams. but tell me then, which phillies manager could have guided the phillies to a better record from '07-'11?

 

[SickFelonIsGOAT]

I for one am glad Manuel is gone. I know most won't agree, but I don't think he was that great of a coach, just lucky to be managing such good teams in their primes. I hope Sandberg can turn this team around, but I just don't think he will.....

Mainly because, even though I think the firing of Manuel was much needed, so does the need to fire RAJ and as long as he is here, this team will be bad unless we have some really great coaches (manager, hitting and pitching). RAJ needed to go as much as Manuel and probably more, because he was more at fault for this crap team than Manuel.

 

[Retroram52]

I agree SickFelon. Well stated!

 

[jvett77]

I think the change had to be made as it was. Charlie himself knew that his time had come to go. The Phillies weren't going to offer him an extension at his age and they would want a younger guy for the next five years or so. He knew this from the moment Sandberg was brought up. For practical reasons, it's important for Sandberg to immediately work with the team and it's new players so 2014 gets off to a good start.

I have two criticisms of Manuel. He seemed to chat alot in the dugout with Rollins in conversations that seemed to have little to do with the game at hand. It would seem a distraction to the rest of the team. Maybe that's partly why JRol became JStrol. Also, Charlie hated small ball strategy. It happens when you had Howard driving in a ton of runs. But as the team aged and slowed, getting a sure leadoff drag bunt or bunting a runner into scoring position in close games can be the difference between winning and losing. Sandberg will have the energy needed to make the adjustments.

 

[Retroram52]

I see Sandberg as a fresh start and maybe he can reach brain-dead to remove some of this dead-weight trash and aging vets contracts that are absolutely are strangling the life from this team. Perhaps brain-dead will see the wisdom of calling up fresh talent and, like Atlanta, our roster will get younger and perhaps better than what exists now.

 

[jvett77]

The fans support a fresh start too. 42,000 at the game tonite including a solid showing of Dodger fans who came out of the woodwork.

 

[unblowupable5]

Yeah, you're not the only one.
The guy wins one of two world championships in the history of the franchise and people are mad because he didn't win 2 or 3. Winning the World Series is very hard. There is more than one very good team every year. There is a good chance we will never see the Phillies in back to back World Series again in our lifetime, much less winning both.

I forget, did Billy Cunningham take this much shit for just winning one NBA title?

^ This. I think it was time for him to go as well, but to say he had little to do with the team's success is silly. He was the right manager for that group. And he was successful. All managers bring something different to the table. I think this team just got to the point where they had heard all Charlie had to say. It's time for a new voice and a different level of energy. Hopefully that's Sandburg. And hopefully over time he's as successful as Charlie was here.