Manny Acta.
Well, there are stranger ideas and here's another one for you:
Charlie Manuel is the NL manager of the year, and the vote shouldn't even be close.
This won't sit well with the howling hyenas of this town, who, right this moment, have gone to the kitchen drawer to find crayons so they can scrawl their e-mails on the screen of mom's computer.
Nevertheless, it is true. Charlie Manuel hasn't become more adept this season at public speaking. He hasn't trimmed the wild hairs of his in-game strategies. He hasn't overturned the postgame spread, hasn't challenged his team publicly, hasn't really done much to draw attention to himself.
All he has done is hold together a team that should be splintered and sinking. He has helped keep the Phillies in contention despite a season-long plague of injuries and slumps. The Phils didn't panic or give up or shrug at the unfairness of it all and take the easy way out. They have played every game hard, regardless of who was in the lineup and who wasn't. That may sound like a small compliment, but in professional sports it is not.
Manuel has done all this without a shred of personal support from the team's front office. He is operating on the final year of his contract, and general manager Pat Gillick has given no indication that he is even aware of his manager's role in the team's success. Of all the oversights committed by Gillick, this is the worst.
The man should get a new contract, and he should get it today. Call a news conference and do the right thing, Pat.
It is somewhat redundant to list what the Phillies have endured this season. Every day has been a new chapter, a new exercise in what-can-happen-next. They have used 12 starting pitchers and 25 pitchers overall.
