Charlie Manuel and Andy Reid are both considered among the top managers and coaches in their respective leagues, so why do they constantly confuse and disillusion their fans? And how do they keep winning with such unconventional – and often illogical – strategies?
If this is the heyday of pro sports in Philadelphia, then this week may well be the peak of that heyday. The Phillies are back in the playoffs, performing at odd hours with their usual resiliency. The Eagles are merely toying with their inferior opponents these days, their success never in doubt.
And yet, their tacticians are a source of endless bewilderment. They win, yes, but never in a way that is easy to explain. They not only don’t play by the book, they don’t even appear to own one.
Manuel, with one world championship safely secured, occasionally dazzles with his brainstorms – his use of Ryan Madson Sunday night in the seventh inning was brilliant – but just as often he makes no sense at all with his strategy. A case in point was in Game 2 of the playoff series with Colorado, when he used two starting pitchers as relievers, double-switched when he didn’t have to, and generally made a total mess of a rather simple game.
The manager was so angry after the loss that he started spouting his resume to the media, including 47 years in baseball and 20-plus years in the big leagues. How often does a reigning world champion feel the need to defend himself with such fervor? Actually, never. But Manuel had to do it because his decisions were so utterly clueless in that game.
Hey, at least Manuel has a championship on his resume. Andy Reid totally bungled his one trip to the Super Bowl – will anyone ever forget those bewildering last 10 minutes in 2005? – and still often seems allergic to basic logic. How ridiculous was Reid's obsession Sunday with the shotgun formation in the second half of a game they had already won? Reid did remember his quarterback, Donovan McNabb, was still was recovering from a broken rib, didn’t he?
The dumbest new wrinkle Reid has offered recently is the Wildcat offense, his lame excuse to devise plays for Michael Vick. So far, it is hard to imagine a bigger bust than this Wildcat nonsense, but Reid remains committed to it. In fact, at this point the only thing that has stopped his deep and talented offense is Reid’s own Wildcat.
It all makes no sense, really. Manuel is enamored with a closer, Brad Lidge, who poses the biggest threat to his own team’s success. Reid feels the same way about Vick, who has already proven he is far more trouble than he’s worth. Manuel cannot master the double switch. Reid hasn’t figured out how to run the ball. And they both win. They both make the playoffs, and they both at least challenge for their sports’ championships on a regular basis.
So how should the fans deal with this confusing situation? I’ve decided to stop trying to figure it all out. I’m just going to settle back and enjoy the ride. Winning heals all wounds – including the ones we get from constantly scratching our heads.
There’s no way to predict how this already compelling baseball post-season is going to end, but one major loser has already emerged – the baseball umpire. Can’t these guys ever get it right?
If you haven’t seen the video yet of a foul call made by ump Phil Cuzzi last Friday night at Yankee Stadium, you really need to take a look at it. A ball hit by Joe Mauer in the 11th inning of a huge baseball game glanced off the left-
fielder, Melky Cabrera, and landed a foot inside the foul line before bouncing into the stands for a ground-rule double. Cuzzi ruled it a foul ball. He later apologized for the mistake. Of course, the Twins are home now. Hopefully, so is Cuzzi.
A less-discussed but equally bad non-call came in the pivotal Phillies-Rockies game Sunday night, when Chase Utley hit a ball into the dirt in front of home plate. The ball bounced off his leg and trickled up the first-base line. Utley did something very unusual at that moment. He ran -- really hard. Home-plate umpire Jerry Meals made no foul call, and Utley beat the throw to first.
That one blunder advanced Jimmy Rollins to third base with one out, and he then scored the winning run on a sacrifice fly by Ryan Howard. Later, Meals said he didn’t think the ball had made contact with Utley because Utley had run so hard to first. Imagine that. The ump basically was waiting for the player to make the call for him, and this particular player sent the wrong signal by playing baseball the right way.
There once was a time when umpires would proudly point to TV replays as proof of their acumen. That time is over. Now they make weak excuses for bad calls and an even worse attitude. It’s always easy to blame the umps, but this is one time when they definitely deserve it.
As the ball landed safely in Ben Francisco’s glove at 2:14 a.m. yesterday morning, fans throughout the Delaware Valley stifled their screams and harnessed their joy. They didn’t want to wake up their families.
One man who called my WIP radio show said he actually reached down and covered the ears of his sleeping wife because he couldn’t hold in his jubilation. Others said their only regret was that they couldn’t share the last out in a 4-hour-and-6-minute marathon with their young children or their best friends.
How stupid is it for baseball to provide some of the best sports drama every year at times when only the diehards or the insomniacs are watching? Will baseball ever comprehend how good its playoffs are, and how important it is for actual living, breathing humans to watch these amazing games?
On yesterday’s show, Sen. Arlen Specter (D-Pa.) revealed his intentions to talk to Commissioner Bud Selig about the absurd times that Phillies games were scheduled in the past week. The first two games started at 2:37 p.m., right in the middle of work days. And the third began at 10:07 on a Sunday night, right around the time when most Philadelphians were turning off their lights and nestling under the covers.
Rather than wait for a reply that none of us actually expects, let me offer this advice to the geniuses who run baseball: Play more than one game at the same time, and schedule all of the games when people have a chance to see them. If a fan misses part of one game because he’s watching the other one, well, that’s better than missing the games we care about the most.
Baseball is a great game. Especially when we actually get to watch it.
Idle thoughts . . . .
That was no earthquake early Monday morning. It was just the entire city of Philadelphia trembling as Brad Lidge stood on the pitcher's mound at Coors Field.
Michael Vick is spending this season concentrating only on football. Sure, he is. And on Nike endorsements, and on his new reality TV show. . . . If you believe this man has truly reformed, your dog is probably smarter than you.
Pedro Martinez got a raw deal when Saturday's game was snowed out in Colorado. He deserved the start, especially after suggesting that he'd travel around the bases during the game in a snowmobile.
Next on the Eagles schedule is the Oakland Raiders, whose hardest hit so far this season was delivered by head coach Tom Cable onto the jaw of one of his assistants. In other words, the Birds should be fine as long as they stay away from the other sideline.
Ryan Howard had to give back his 200th-home-run ball after the 12-year-old girl who caught it hired a lawyer. Meanwhile, lawyers continue to wonder why they have an image problem.
Charlie Manuel and Andy Reid are both considered among the top managers and coaches in their respective leagues, so why do they constantly confuse and disillusion their fans? And how do they keep winning with such unconventional – and often illogical – strategies?
