"These other lineups look to me like Charlie Manuel pulled them out of a hat . . . "
The manager is going to be spending a lot of his March time staring at blank lineup cards. Some days drawing names from a hat might make sense.
Manuel will be staying in Safety Harbor during spring training. The community on the western end of Tampa Bay on the Pinellas County side is a lot closer to Bright House Field and the adjacent minor league complex than it is to Clearwater Beach.
"Hell, I've never gotten to the beach one time," Charlie said Saturday night before a Phillies delegation led by team president David Montgomery saw 2010 Cy Young Award winner Roy Halladay and Hall of Fame executive electee Pat Gillick honored at the annual New York Baseball Writers Banquet. "No sense being over on the beach if you're not gonna go to the beach, and in my job there's not a lot of beach time."
Halladay makes his home in Safety Harbor. Manuel will now be better positioned to actually beat his ace righthander and workaholic supreme to the ballpark. But don't bet on it.
Right now, the manager has not tipped his hand on how he would like to see his Werth-less lineup settle into the vacuum left by the departure of the Phillies' No. 5 hitter.
"I'll be thinking things over, considering a lot of options," Manuel said. "We could come right down to the end of spring training and still not be settled on how the lineup is going to look. Fortunately, we've got some pretty good hitters to consider for various roles."
OK, Dan Baker, grab that mike again and give us a lineup. Come on. It's getting late. Almost time for the clubs to line up along the base lines . . .
"Leading off and playing center, No. 8, Shane Victorino . . . Batting second, the third baseman, No. 27, Placido Polanco."
