There has been a lot of talk (primarily from outside Philly) about Manuel being manager of the year. They have to be talking about the intangibles, because Manuel seems to ignore what is happening on the field and going with his gut, and it is costing us.
I don't know if Manuel was able to turn Burrell around or make Werth hit like Ted Williams in August, but I do know that he is NOT putting his players in the best place to succeed and today was a perfect example of it.
1. Putting Burrell third between Utley and Howard. Wait a second, anyone here that has read my stuff knows that I have been pushing for Burrell to split the lefties. Sure, that is fine and all, but I want him to split the lefties WHEN IT MATTERS. Splitting the lefties is to take advantage of a specialist pitcher in the late innings. Burrell isn't IN during the late innings. That alone makes this useless and leads to point #2. A manager of the year would be able to see this.
2. Defensive replacement for Burrell. There have been VERY few instances where a Burrell defensive replacement was able to make a play, when it mattered, that Burrell was unable to make. You are increasing your defense by a small portion but taking a significant part of your offense away. A manager of the year would be able to understand this.
3. Just because you are fast doesn't make you a good defender. Roberson has made quite a few bad plays. He has to cheat in cause his arm is weak, but was unable to catch a ball that went behind him. Excuse me, but if you can't catch that ball, then you shouldn't be playing. A manager of the year would be able to see this.
4. Abe Nunez. Gimme a break with this guy already. A manager of the year should know this.
5. Tom Gordon is a righty specialist.
VS LHB: .313 .358 .646 1.004
VS RHB: .226 .323 .340 .662
Btw, I could tell without looking at the numbers, it is that obvious. So, who does our manager of the year nominee bring him in to face? Yeap, switch hitting Chipper Jones (who doubled), switch hitting Mark Teixeira (who flied out), lefty Brian McCann (who singled), righty Jeff Francoeur (who singled) and PH lefty Scott Thorman (who singled). I know only Chippers was hit hard, but you bring in a guy who sucks against lefties and then faces 5 hitters, 4 of which hit left handed. A manager of the year HAS to know this.
6. 39 year old Tom Gordon was brought in, with a 6 run lead, on his 3 day in a row. I know you don't have faith in ANY other pitcher in the pen and Gordon HAS to pitch the 8th under any and all circumstances, but this is ridiculous. A manager of the year would laugh at this.
There are many other things he does that can warrant complaint, but this was just from today. And all of these are pretty obvious to me. Granted, he does do things like all managers do and he doesn't have much of a bullpen to work with, but it seems that he is set on doing things the same way every time despite it going against the odds and hurting the team. This is NOT putting your team in a position to win. It is a recipe for disaster.
Reminds me of the Stephen Colbert quote: "When the president decides something on Monday, he still believes it on Wednesday - no matter what happened Tuesday."
That sums Manuel up in a nutshell. Can't admit mistakes.