Bill Conlin | Phillies wisely act swiftly on skipper

WHEN I'M KING of the World . . .

Dave Montgomery and Pat Gillick will not regret extending Charlie Manuel's contract on the eve of Joe Torre's impending unemployment . . . OK, we're just talking baseball, right? First, congratulations to Charlie and may he serve out his extension in good health and may his athletes love him in 2009 as much as they do today. Montgomery and Gillick were wise to do a preemptive strike and re-up their skipper before the "Hire Joe Torre. Hire Tony La Russa. Hire Anybody" movement shifted into high gear. It hit the ground running yesterday after Torre sounded very much Monday night like a man who would soon be seeking a new baseball challenge.

Had Charlie still been quacking in the background if George Steinbrenner decided to spring the trapdoor on the most successful Yankees manager since Casey Stengel, there would have been a tidal wave of insistence that the Phillies' shakers and movers at least pick up the phone and see what Joe has to say. After all, we're talking - and mind you, we're just talking some ball business - Joe Flippin' Torre here. We're not talking Joe Girardi or Jim Leyland or any of the fortysomethings who are about to replace the pastime's old guard. This is a guy whose team averaged 96.7 wins in the 11 full seasons he managed (Joe's battle with prostate cancer cost him 35 games in 1999), not to mention four World Series rings, six pennants and 12 postseason appearances in 12 years. Joe has always liked the Phillies and the city. But, what's done is done. The players' benevolent security blanket will be shambling to the mound for two more seasons, stubborn as a Missouri mule and unshakable in his belief that "I know everything about baseball." We hope, Charlie, we hope . . .

When I'm King of the World . . .