Sunday's rainout messed up a few things. The three-game sweep by the Boston Red Sox was not surprising, considering how the Phillies had been playing lately, but the off day on Monday had been anticipated by some of us.
There was a rumor floating about that a sweep in Beantown would give the Phillies an opportune time to dump manager Charlie Manuel. Monday was an off date on the road — a slow news day when fewer reporters were traveling with the club — therefore less publicity.
Sunday's rainout eliminated the day off, and Philadelphia lost in 12 innings in Monday's makeup game after battling back from a 6-0 deficit. Although the comeback came up short, it wouldn't have been fair to take out the loss — or the prolonged slump — on Manuel. Having said that, there are a few things to consider.
This team headed into the current series in Baltimore in a tailspin — having lost 13 of the previous 16 games — and the pitching staff is in shambles. Jon Lieber and Randy Wolf are expected back soon, and Cole Hamels may develop into the pitcher everyone expects him to be, but the Phillies are running out of time. Firing a manager isn't necessarily the best option, but this team needs to be shaken up — somehow, by someone.
General manager Pat Gillick has publicly supported his manager, and there's no indication that he has changed his stance. But barring a major trade, I can't see anything else on the horizon other than a team that's rapidly slipping from contention and a fan base that will find other things to do rather than attend games at Citizens Bank Park.
The Brett Myers situation has kind of left me baffled. If there's one thing that players, managers and general managers admire, it's swagger. Former outfielder Lenny Dykstra had it. So did his teammate Mitch Williams, even if the closer drove everyone crazy by walking the bases loaded before getting the final out in the ninth inning.
It's that intangible something or other that shows your teammates that you have all the confidence in the world that you'll get the job done. Curt Schilling definitely had it, which was how he became the stopper on some bad Phillies teams. Myers has it too.
Even fans can recognize that this young pitcher gives his club a chance to win during every outing. There's something about him that hates to lose, which is how Myers can sometimes reach back to find whatever pitch is necessary to get out of a jam.
But having Myers pitch as scheduled on Saturday against the Red Sox, shortly after his arrest on domestic battery charges, was met with mixed emotions. On one hand, who else could have pitched against Schilling and the Sox on short notice in a nationally televised game? But what about those who think that by not doing anything, the Phillies are creating the impression that overlooking Myers' indiscretion took precedence because the team didn't want to lose another game — particularly a high-profile game?
Myers' brash personality has rubbed some people the wrong way. He's not always the same — win or lose — but he can be tough to take sometimes. After a recent home game, he told a group of reporters that he is who he is and he's not going to change, saying something along the lines that people who don't accept him as is aren't true friends.
I can accept that to a certain point, mainly when there are those who just don't understand an individual's personality, but I can't accept it when it's used as an excuse to be rude, which Myers has been to the press on a few occasions.
What do the Phillies think? The organization obviously likes his swagger, but when will the team deal with the criminal charges? And when is swagger no longer tolerable? When a player starts losing? Is that the time to deal with the anger-management issues?
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