"I'll never forget we were in Japan, in these country vs. country games in Nagasaki," Manuel said. "Willie was in the outfield by the centerfield wall and I ran by him and said something to him and he didn't answer me. I ran by him again and he was still humming. Finally I passed him and he wasn't humming anymore. He said, 'Hey Charlie, how's it going? I didn't mean to blow you off. I was meditating.'
"I've seen guys do that. Pitchers. Hitters. It's part of who you are. If that keeps you stay focused . . . ''
Ryan Howard is focused. Has been for at least 6 weeks, about the length of time that Manuel has noticed him leaning over his bat in the dugout, eyes closed, quiet, as his turn in the order approaches. Since Sept. 1, a span of 133 at-bats, the Phillies' cleanup hitter is batting .360 with 10 home runs, 12 doubles, two triples and - perhaps most impressive - 23 walks.
He has struck out 38 times over that span, far below his season ratio, or the ratio of his past few seasons when he was setting records for whiffs.
"Just trying to be as disciplined as I can and just be as relaxed as I can," he said the other day.
Which would seem to be the whole point of the meditation - except for this: Howard said he never really consciously decided to do it.
"I guess it just happened," he said.
As the season unwound and the Phillies flirted with a late-season collapse, Howard's inner dugout peace was hardly noticed. There were issues of bullpen pitching, hitting with runners on third - all that required our focus.
Howard's strong September excluded him from any blame. Looking back, it might also have provided ballast. The rest of the Phillies might have squeezed the bats a bit down the stretch this regular season, but there has been a noticeable ease in which they have approached big run-producing moments this postseason.
