KTE: The Hateful, Second-Place Phillies

[Guest Edgy DC]

Incites: Time to gut the Phils and start from scratch
By Don McKee
Inquirer Columnist

Charlie Manuel moved onto Death Row last week, dragged there by the same executioners who beheaded Joe Kerrigan, Larry Bowa, John Vukovich and Ed Wade.

His players.

The fans are in full cry, seeking a victim for their own foolishly high expectations and a fall guy for the Phillies' embarrassing showing last week against the arrogant New York Mets, who left town laughing at our heroes.

The Phillies began the series Tuesday with the league's highest earned run average by starting pitchers (5.27) and the league's worst batting average with runners in scoring position (.237).

Repeat that to yourself: last in pitching and last in clutch hitting. The critical errors and baserunning blunders were just a la carte.

And for those watching from the sidelines, without the blinders of a worshipful fan, the Phillies provided more low humor than The Benny Hill Show.

Tuesday night's debacle included three errors and a series of comical blunders, with stumbling players literally tripping over each other.

On Wednesday night, there were three more errors, Ryan Howard was caught off second base, and Bobby "See My Gold Glove" Abreu missed a fly ball in right for the second straight game.

Oh, here's a bonus: The Phillies had no hits while the Mets took a 6-0 lead.

On Thursday, in front of the second-largest crowd in the history of Citizens Bank Park, the Mets led, 4-2, when Jose Reyes led off the fifth with what should have been a single to right. But the aggressive Reyes ran it into a double, and the opportunistic New Yorkers used two fly balls to score what proved to be the winning run.

The fans seem to blame all this on Manuel, overlooking the fact that players paid millions and millions of dollars to perform at a high level should produce something more sophisticated than schoolyard buffoonery.

And lest we forget, Bowa's bark produced the same results as Manuel's back-slapping support.

The 2001 Phillies came up two games short because they didn't have a winning month after May (save a 4-2 October). The 2002 Phillies opened 9-19, tying the club record for fewest wins in April. The 2003 team led the wild-card race with eight games left but folded quickly and efficiently despite Jim Thome's heroics.

The 2004 club, picked by virtually every observer as the favorite in the National League East, showed its colors by basically quitting in late July in Florida.

Since then, the Phillies have fired Bowa, Kerrigan, Vukovich and Wade. The heartless on-field performances remain.

So, for the third straight summer, I'll make this plea: Gut this team and start from scratch. General manager Pat Gillick most likely has seen enough to know that adding some middle relievers and "innings eaters" isn't enough.

This team doesn't have either the heart or the talent to win this division. So why trade prospects in a vain hope at chasing the wild card?

Manuel will pay for the team's shortcomings and embarrassing play.

Hopefully, after he goes, there will be nobody else for the frauds to hide behind.

PhilaTrivia. The Phillies called up pitcher Scott Mathieson from double-A Reading on Thursday. Who was the last Phillie to jump directly from double A without having played in triple A?

Recipe for success. The American Hockey League finals were played by my two favorite pig-outs: Chocolate and Beer (better known as Hershey and Milwaukee).

The Hershey Bears won the franchise's ninth AHL championship last week. In case you missed it, the Phantoms won the Calder Cup in 2005, proving that eastern Pennsylvania can, indeed, produce winners.

And none of their best players rode a motorcycle without a helmet.

Bang! The Washington Nationals fired bullpen coach John Wetteland on Thursday. Wetteland, a noted practical joker who would set off firecrackers in the pen during games, was deemed insufficiently serious about his job.

Youth must be served. A 24-year-old sportswriter was named general manager of the Minnesota Wild last week.

If I knew what the Minnesota Wild were, I'd be jealous.

What's that smell? A new golf course opened Wednesday on a decontaminated former landfill in Jersey City, N.J. Kind of makes those "What exit?" jokes seem tame, huh?

Trivia answer. Righthander David Coggin, on June 19, 2000. Cliff Politte had made the jump in 1999. (Answer courtesy of readingphillies.com.)

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Post a question or comment for Don McKee at http://go.philly.com/askmckee, or by e-mail at dmckee@phillynews.com.

[Elster88]

It's always the manager's fault.

[Elster88]

]the league's worst batting average with runners in scoring position (.237).

Cherry-picker.