[phightin]

Originally Posted by marc

For the series as a whole? Nah. For tonight? Absolutely, and he's botched so many games over the last few years I can't even count.

He also won them a ton of games including a world series last year by making every right move in the post season. Remember game 5 where he let Jenkins pinch hit despite everyone's ovious thoughts it would be dobbs, or when he stuck with moyer despite his playoffs last year and it payed off in the world series, etc etc etc, as a philly fan myself you can't have it both ways. In baseball if you win the manager is a genius and if you lose its because he's an idiot, still holds true to this day.

Before we even get into Game 4, he has to be the first manager in the history of baseball that is dumb enough to remove his most successful starting pitcher (statistically speaking) from the rotation for the playoffs.

I actually do agree with this as I would have liked to see Happ out there however when you look at it you can't say it was a bad decision due them not having a decent lefty other than eyre in the pen. You look at the 4 man rotation you have and it's Lee - no brainer he has to be in there, Pedro - you could have argued Happ could have taken his spot but Pedro pitched well so it was the right decision, Hamels - even with his struggles during the season you couldn't take hamels out of the rotation, no manager in baseball would have, and Blanton - Happ's only appearance compared to Blanton's 2 in the playoffs were similar, and to be honest blanton did his job and was effective last night. So in essence not starting happ wasn't the reason why they lost or necessarily a wrong decision.

His first mistake tonight was made before the first pitch was even thrown. After the loss in Game 3, it should have been an absolute no-brainer to start Cliff Lee. Relying on Joe Blanton to match-up with Sabathia was so foolish it's not even funny.

Blanton did effectively match-up with CC last night. He allowed 4 through 6 while CC allowed 3 through 6.2. So Blanton did his job. Not starting lee on 3 days rest is something that I agree with but at the same time maybe the guy truly doesnt feel comfortable doing it.

So the Phils overcome this horrible decision and tie the game late and have all the momentum. So in the most important inning of the series he throws a ridiculously shaky and rusty Lidge out there in a non-save situation.

He didn' have much choice at that point considering you need Durbin and Happ to be able to go multiple in extras if needed and the only option you really have other than him at that point would have been Eyre. Sure he melted down but if ruiz catches that foul tip into the glove on damon's ab with two outs than he gets out of the inning. Not saying he didn't melt down but the guy had looked dominant recently and it was the right move to make in the top of the 9th of a tie game with the pitchers spot due up.

Then to compound things, Lidge is CLEARLY in the midst of one of his classic meltdowns. Runners on 1st and 3rd and you know that any run that scores means Rivera in the 9th. Lidge's slider is taken away from him because of the runner on 3rd and Alex Rodfreakingriguez is up. Why on earth would you pitch to him??? Walk his ass and bring in someone else to pitch to Posada. Who the hell cares if a single now scores two runs instead of one, you're facing Rivera in the 9th either way.

You can't put two runners into scoring positon first during a tie game in the top of the 9th two outs when you have a chance to win it right after. Plus you load the bases and for a guy like lidge who relies on pitching out of the zone it wouldn't have been the righ call either. You had to pitch to A-Rod there.

Even something as simple as his decision on who to pinch hit in the 9th. Matt Stairs??? Really?? You're down THREE runs, Charlie. One swing of the bat and you're still down two buddy, so let's put someone up at the plate that has a prayer of getting on base. The odds of Stairs doing anything in that at-bat were slim to none. If the game was tied or even a one-run game, I could see it but down three, that was asinine.

Agreed but not charlie's fault that falls on Amaro Jr. for not getting a better more well rounded hitter suited to pinch lead off there. Dobbs has been awful so Stairs was the only real option.

He seems like a really nice man and the players clearly like him but his managerial decisions are pathetic, he's a god awful manager, there is no way around it.

And that's the reason why the guy is done at the end of the season. He is going to most likely retire at the end of the year after the media and fans drive him out. People were praising his ass last year and then recently for sticking with lidge etc. You can't have it both ways. The guy is a good manager and has a team that plays for him everyday, and been to two straight world series. The Phillies lost to a better team plain and simple. Manuel is the least of the team's worries going forward.