As has been widely noted, the Phils, despite their improvements, still haven't made the postseason during Manuel's term - which hardly makes him unique here. But because the results have not arrived yet, and because the hard-worn fans need proof before giving their hearts again, Manuel and his country manner haven't yet been elevated to folk status. The usual adjectives are much less kind, and the local dissection of the manager tends to focus on the perception he is a bumbler in the dugout and a generally poor tactician of the game.
"Sometimes, you got to study the game to know what's going on," Manuel said last week in his spring training office at Bright House Field in Clearwater, Fla. "The way we've handled some people, I don't think the media and the fans get to see all of it. I never say anything about the ability we have on the team, but if you look and see some of what we've had, I think we've gotten the most out of guys. And the reason I haven't caught on [with the fans] is just because we haven't won in a long time."
Yogi Berra won a lot of baseball games as a major-league manager, and largely because of that he was considered "colorful," if somewhat unlettered in the English language, but always regarded as a sharp observer of the game.
"You can observe a lot by watching," Berra said famously.
Manuel has watched the Phillies for several years now - he was an assistant in the front office before replacing Larry Bowa - and he has seen plenty. When he put on the uniform here, he saw a team that didn't always play with emotion and maximum effort. He saw a team that had aged badly and didn't pitch very well.
He was given the task of making over the franchise from the standpoint of attitude and performance while still winning more games, which is a pretty difficult exacta to hit.
