A few people called after the Phillies named former coach and shortstop Larry Bowa as the club's new manager. For those who are interested, I like the selection, even though others pointed out that I had previously written that former catcher Bob Boone or New York Yankees coach Willie Randolph were the likely choices.
To clarify, I made that prediction shortly after the regular season had ended and before any interviews were conducted. My thinking at the time was that Boone had managerial experience (Kansas City) and would bring a different approach to the team, something that the brass seemed to be seeking.
Randolph has spent the last few years coaching a team that wins constantly. He will manage in the major leagues someday. It just won't be in Philadelphia in 2001. I felt somewhat vindicated when Boone was hired to manage the Cincinnati Reds after Randolph turned down the job.
My personal selection all along was Bowa. I just didn't think that he had a snowball's chance in July because of the bridges that he burned since he left town on a sour note a few years ago and especially after he snubbed the 20-year reunion of the 1980 world champion Phillies.
Like the new manager, I had a feeling that general manager Ed Wade's original overture was just a courtesy call. However, the way Wade and Bowa were speaking to the media after his interview convinced me that the little guy was coming back to Philadelphia.
A reader approached me at a football game on Oct. 28 and asked me who the new manager would be. I told him that my thinking had changed and that I was convinced that either Bowa or longtime coach John Vukovich would be the choice.
Vukovich certainly would have deserved the job as a reward for his long and loyal service to the organization, but some fans would have interpreted it as an indication that the club would just be plodding along on the same course.
Bowa would bring a spark to a team that needs one badly. Like Boone, Bowa has managed before. In 1986, the former shortstop took a job leading San Diego's Triple-A club at Las Vegas. In 1987 and for part of the 1988 season, he was the Padres skipper.
Bowa has interviewed for other managerial openings several times but never got the job. Some cited his record as a big-league manager (81-127), and others pointed out his fiery attitude and approach. It took more than 12 years in purgatory, but it's about time some club gave him the chance to prove that he has matured and mellowed. But has he?
"The one thing that I will bring to this ballclub is intensity, and these guys will go out and play hard every night," Bowa said at his Nov. 1 news conference. "I'm not going to sit up here and guarantee wins — I know that's very difficult to do — but they will play hard. If they don't want to play hard, maybe they should be on another ballclub."
The new manager's feistiness got him to the big leagues in the first place. A 16-year career in the majors, including five All-Star Game appearances, isn't bad for a kid who wasn't good enough to make his high school team.
Of two things I am certain. Had Bowa managed the 2000 team, his intense personality might have sparked a few more wins — not many, maybe a half-dozen or so. And when the roster was decimated during the July purge that sent Curt Schilling, Rico Brogna, Ron Gant, Mickey Morandini, etc., packing, he would have made a lot more noise about it.
On the stadium front, recent reports indicate that the Acme warehouse near the sports complex is getting another look. The warehouse is on the south side of Pattison Avenue just east of the T-Warehouse, which is the proposed site for the new Eagles stadium.
It's not the Navy Yard, but it's a lot better than 12th and Vine streets. Since it's already in an industrial zone, there shouldn't be any significant opposition from South Philadelphia residents. At this point, I say go for it!
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