Comments on: Manuel Finishes 2nd For Manager Of Year

By: Steve

Steve — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 16:11:12 +0000

Wow, people don’t miss a beat bashing Howard. Did I miss his name being mentioned in this article somewhere?

By: john of Albuquerque

john of Albuquerque — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 09:41:05 +0000

Charlie Manual made me really proud last year and especially during the playoffs and World Series. Too bad that does not factor into the voting. As a transplanted Philadelphian and Phillies lifetime fan, I discuss baseball with fans all over the Southwest. Many of my friends came around to really respecting Manual for his ability to motivate and his even-handed and equitable discipline.
I take nothing away from Lou Pinella, but if I had the talent to play professional baseball, I would love to play for Charlie Manuel. He has his players backs but is not blinded to kicking a deserving butt when he needs to do it. I do not think Charllie Manuel would ever humiliate a player like “Sweet Lou” has done over the years. And Manuel is not interested in being a “Media Darling.”

By: Phillies Phan SC

Phillies Phan SC — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 08:38:28 +0000

With respect to Ryan Howard being MVP; I want a Phillie to win. If it is Howard so be it. I wish Utley had not had a down second half. I would much rather Chase or Brad Lidge to get it. Of course I would have given Brad the Cy Young too.

By: Phillies Phan SC

Phillies Phan SC — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 08:36:58 +0000

I am just surprised it was Sweet Lou. Had it been Gonzalez, I would have been OK with this. You know, I have no problem with Charlie being #2. I would want him to be #1, HOWEVER, Gonzalez managed a team destined to finish last and did very well at #3, and really upsetting the Mets, even though I still think the Mets did it to themselves. The Fish never gave up and played spoiler. I think Gonzalez was much more deserving than Lou. I was more surprised he did not win. Please understand, this is not to disrespect Charlie, he is as deserving and I always will pull for him first. I agree with RichieAllen – Charlie was the best manager overall.

By: SJ Mike

SJ Mike — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 00:52:27 +0000

Howard getting MVP would just add fuel to his agent’s fire come arbitration. It’d make it more and more impossible to sign him at a reasonable price.

By: Manny

Manny — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 00:47:11 +0000

I hope Howard does NOT get the MVP, despite the fact that I chanted MVP MVP MVP everytime he went to the plate.

By: RichieAllen

RichieAllen — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 00:08:40 +0000

Charlie was the best MGR in the league last year…..period.

By: Griffin

Griffin — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 23:15:59 +0000

If the Phillies got swept in the first round of the playoffs and the Cubs won the World Series, would anyone be saying that Chollie got robbed for manager of the year? No.
This is a regular season award and that’s what the Cubs excel at-regular season wins/awards.
I’m pretty sure Chollie would have been postseason manager of the year!

We got the trophy, and that’s more than enough. Also, I’m pretty sure that Ryan Howard will win an undeserving MVP award, so it’s not like we’re getting totally screwed with the awards.

By: SJ Mike

SJ Mike — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 21:42:58 +0000

I said it before with the Cy Young. Charlie got the best and biggest piece of hardware of all: The World Series ring.

We don’t need an arbitrary statue handed out by biased sportswriters to tell us how good Charlie has been. The 2008 World Series pennant blowing in center field says it all.

By: Matt Kwasiborski

Matt Kwasiborski — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 21:38:02 +0000

This isn’t shocking at all. Pinella’s Cubs had the best record in the NL by five games. He also had the second best record in baseball, 3 games behind the Angels, who also lost in the first round. When you finish first in your league by 5 games and have the 2nd best record in baseball, you should win the award.

And there were alot of people who picked our Phils to repeat as division champs, so some people did pick us to win. Tim did quote that “nobody thought we would (win the division).”

Charlie is awesome and I am glad he is finally vindicated by winning the WS!! He definitely deserves it and I bet he is mildly disappointed, not as disappointed as Pinella is about not beating the Cubs, though. Give them all the other hardware, I will take that WS championship any day!!

By: R.Mac

R.Mac — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 21:15:00 +0000

Charley was robbed I tell ya!!!! Robbed!!!!

By: Wilson

Wilson — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 20:08:27 +0000

It’s a sham….in no way should Charlie not be manager of the year. If Pinella finishes second with that team he should have been fired. Unbelievable

By: Andrew

Andrew — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 19:58:22 +0000

If only the votes were taken after October they could have seen Piniella’s Cubbies crash and burn.

By: Manny

Manny — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 19:54:17 +0000

Boooooooooooo!

Seriously, Charlie deserves it more. He was responsible for KEY decisions along the way…including sticking with Burrell when slumping, bringing back Myers, moving Kendrick and Eaton, not forcing Hamels to pitch on short rest, defining our bullpen, pinch-hitting correctly almost all of the time…

As Pete says: Everyone was expecting the Cubs to win their division while very few expected the Phillies to win the NL East. Add to that a smaller payroll. Boom. Charlie deserved this thing –”NO QUESTIONS ASKED.”

Oh well, we all know who the best manager is.

By: Pete

Pete — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 19:47:29 +0000

This isn’t surprising, but it is a joke. Piniella had a team with a massive payroll, arguably the best rotation in MLB, and that was picked by most experts to represent the NL in the World Series. Manuel’s Phils were picked to finish second or third in the NL East. There may not have been many injuries, but the slumps (Howard, Utley, Burrell) and implosion of 3/5 of the starting rotation (Myers, Eaton, Kendrick) required some nimble managing on Charlie’s part. Plus, he kept the Phils focused when they entered September 3.5 out of the East and 4 out of the WC and guided them to a red-hot finish that captured the division.

If Piniella deserves the award this year, then Torre should have won it every year from 1997-2004.

By: Tim Malcolm

Tim Malcolm — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 19:38:52 +0000

Remember, playoffs don’t count.

It was a tough vote. Piniella was handed a team with a much larger payroll, but had to deal with some volatile situations midseason. Manuel won without many injuries, though he handled every situation impeccably (the Rollins benching, Myers).

I don’t know. My ballot would’ve been:

1. Charlie Manuel
2. Lou Piniella
3. Fredi Gonzalez

And my AL ballot:

1. Joe Maddon
2. Ron Gardenhire
3. Cito Gaston

The Cubs were supposed to win the Central; nobody thought the Phils would. Meanwhile, Maddon deserves it all. Gardenhire did a nice job without a lot. Gaston deserves credit for keeping a heavily hurt Blue Jays team above water.

By: Chase Mutley

Chase Mutley — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 19:37:38 +0000

Booooooooo.

By: boxage

boxage — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 19:21:52 +0000

damn

By: Chutley

Chutley — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 19:20:41 +0000

as much as we probably wanted this award i pretty sure they don’t give out rings for it

By: Georgie

Georgie — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 19:16:14 +0000

Oh, this really sucks. Next to the Phils winning the WS, Obama winning the election, I wanted Charlie to get manager of the year.

You said it Chutley, if they only knew…Charlie’s life story is a testament of a strong, gentle man, grossly underestimated by many, even some of us at times, who took what he learned from life, and became the players’ manager, not the FO’s manager. He cares for his guys like they are his sons, he is SO important to this team, so this really is unfair!