It turns out Charlie Manuel would have liked Cliff Lee to stay in Philadelphia. Just like in the case of his wife’s decision to buy expensive furniture, however, Charlie was powerless to stop the front office from shitting its pants. This isn’t exactly a shocking revelation but the fact that he said so publicly is a refreshing piece of honesty, regardless of how obvious that honesty is. It’s like the opposite of the lying nonsense put forth by Manuel’s boss, Ruben Amaro, on the matter. Yes, Ruben, we believe you that given the choice between “replenishing the farm system” and having the N.L.’s best rotation headlined by 2 Yankee killers, the former was a hotter priority. Or that the $9 million they saved by letting Lee go is being put to better use in the form of Shane Victorino and Joe Blanton.

Sure, the manager always wants to keep the star player because that makes his job easier. Charlie doesn’t have to worry about contracts or free agents; he just needs to fill out the lineup card and pat his guys on their butts (and even a circus clown knows that Cliff Lee’s services should have been retained). I would have liked Lee to be back but oh well, I guess I’ll have to settle for Jose Contreras.

It looks like the Phillies are just about done with their offseason errands. They’ve signed Carlos Ruiz to a 3-year deal reportedly worth $8.85 million. Last week, of course, they spent the money they should have spent on Cliff Lee on Joe Blanton. They also acquired a hopefully-versatile Jose Contreras last week for one season. Most importantly, Charlie Manuel resigned his deal with longevity by losing 60 pounds. Shane Victorino’s resigned too, though philly.com’s Matt Gelb wonders whether the acquisition of Placido Polanco will mean that the Flyin’ Hawaiian will be moved down in the order.

And finally, news broke today that Matt Stairs is no longer a Phil. He’s signed a minor league deal with the San Diego Padres, meaning that he’s now played for 11 major league teams in 18 seasons. Stairs’ departure means nothing to the Phillies from a performance perspective but he’s one of those guys fans love, precisely because of quotes like this one: “when you get that nice celebration coming into the dugout and you’re getting your ass hammered by guys-there’s no better feeling than to have that done.”

Maybe it’s because I’m a glutton for frustration that I continue to do this to myself. Or maybe it’s because, as a professional journalist, I have to know what’s going on in the major media outlets in this town. But when I do subject myself to the sports “news” outlet in this town that is the information equivalent of anti-matter, I always end up wanting to throw my radio (and myself) down a flight of stairs. You guessed it, I’m listening to WIP.

All through the day today callers to the various shows on 610 AM were basing their predictions for a Phillies World Series on the assumption that the Phillies have “heart” and the Yankees don’t. Of course, having “heart” is universally the first intangible that any local fan will go to to describe why his/her team is in the driver’s seat. The reason is that “heart” is the most readily identifiable trait that a fan can have with a team. After all, fans can’t hit a Major League pitch, run faster than Shane Victorino or make a diving play in the hole like Jimmy Rollins. But what fans can do is emote and will that their team somehow, some way will find the guidance to do exactly what they themselves are doing in their armchairs: wanting it more than the other guy.

As I write this I realize it may sound like I don’t believe that the Phillies have heart or that heart doesn’t matter in sports. Quite the opposite is true on both counts. Few teams get where the Phillies are by playing aloof or disliking each other or failing to overcome obstacles. Their individual talents are nothing without the emotional trust they have in each other and the collective focus and drive to win. Some teams are blessed with this more than others and I most definitely think of this Phillies team as one that plays ball the right way and shows that magic on the field that we call heart.

But so do the Yankees. Perhaps because of their image as a team comprised of hired guns, fans of their opponents see them as emotionally vacuous, as mercenaries along for the ride less out of love of the game and more out of greed and vanity. While this is certainly true of some players on the Yankees (and players on just about every sports team that’s ever existed), the 2009 Yankees are not some heartless machine. They went 35-8 at home after the All-Star break. They came back from a 4-0 deficit against the Angels’ best pitcher in Game 4 of the ALCS. They had the most come-from-behind wins in baseball this year. And they feature (at least) three guys who are legends of post season baseball in Derek Jeter, Andy Pettitte and Mariano Rivera.

Look, the Phillies are the defending World Champs and one of the best two teams in baseball. And most of the people who read this site have watched scores of Phillies games this year and associate both on a statistical and emotional level with their beloved team. But for every Phillies fan who bleeds red, there’s a Yankees fan who knows his team just as well and bleeds just as much, if only in a different color.

As a Red Sox fan, I have years of Yankee hating in my blood. I detest that franchise and am rooting as hard as I can for the Phillies to win. But if there’s one thing I’ve learned over the years in watching the core of the New York team as closely as I have, it’s that they’re not the heartless robot we like to think of them as. In fact, they’re a lot like the Phillies. They’re talented, hit for power, pitch well up front and play excellent defense. And they’ve got a lot of heart.

So I’ll be watching the World Series, hoping the Phillies win and probably doing all kinds of irrational stuff in the process. But this year I’ll try and keep in mind what my dad has always told me (he played minor league ball in the Dodgers system back in the day when Dodgers-Yankees made Eagles-Cowboys look like erotica): as a fan don’t forget that the other team is also trying to win the game.

The New York Post is doing its part to stir the pot. In today’s paper, the Post announces that Pedro Martinez will start Game 2 of the World Series at Yankee Stadium and they title the story “Twos Your Daddy.” That news is dressed in memories of Pedro’s days with the Red Sox when he sheepishly admitted that the Yankees were in fact his daddy.

Also, WIP and thefightins.com are reporting that the cover of today’s Post is adorned with a picture of Shane Victorino in a cheerleader’s outfit. The headline reads “Gotham Trembles: The Frillies are coming to town.”

Still unsatisfied with its inability to stir enough negative energy in the Phillies’ direction, the Post gives its readers “8 reasons NYC Kicks Philly’s Ass” with the subheader “Their fans are second rate and so is their city.” And to be sure they cover all the bases, the Post opines that “the Phanatic is a Pain in the Mascot.”

The Post quotes some nincompoop man-on-the-street as saying “Philly fans are a bunch of whiners and should learn how to dress. They should try reading GQ.” As far as I can tell, Yankees fans either dress like sophomores at Penn or blinged-out clowns with their caps at a 30 degree tilt. I’d like to see a comparison of the sartorial failures of Yankees fans vs. Mets fans. We know the preferred costume of the Mets fan: white sneakers, tube socks, jeans shorts and neck hair. Is that better or worse than the Yankees fan uniform which is just a facsimile of whatever hip hop video is currently in vogue?

I will give this to the Post: their headline after Tupac got shot: “It’s a Rap.”

Because we live in a city where the equilibrium of the collective sports mentality is as stable as Stephon Marbury, people are panicking about the Phils’ recent slump. Sure, they are coming off a 4-game sweep at the hands of the lowly Astros. And with the notable exception of Ryan Howard, the team is in a huge offensive slump (Cliff Lee has the best batting average on the team, .316, followed by Shane Victorino’s .295). Let’s not even mention the closer spot–Bob Ford has an unusual take on it–or the worst bench in the National League (Matt Stairs is now 0-29 since the A.S. Break).

All these things considered, this is exactly what baseball is. A 162-game season. Teams ride huge winning streaks and lose games in droves too. When you consider the Phillies are a long ball team, you understand that when the big bats are cold the team is going to struggle. Hell, even the Yankees (indisputably the best team in baseball) have a 4-game losing stretch on their record. The Phillies are still projected to win 93 games, worse only than the 94 and 96 likely wins for the Cardinals and Dodgers, respectively. More importantly, they have an almost 95% chance of winning the N.L. East (stats projections from coolstandings.com).

Their performance against the Astros this past weekend was bad but they did manage to only lose 3 of the last 4 games by 1-run margins against a Houston team that is a deceptive 9-games over .500 at home.  What’s more, the promise of a turnaround is on the horizon as the next 10 games are against the Nats and Mets, two teams collectively 56 games under .500.

The results haven’t been thrilling lately but the commanding position the Phils occupy allows them to tinker where necessary, try new things in other spots and also be patient where they can be. Winning 2 consecutive World Series is a very tall order and there’s a reason no N.L. team has done it in over 30 years. If the Phillies are going to pull it off they’re going to have to play better baseball but from where they currently stand, there’s no reason to think that next week at this time folks will be singing a different tune.

In today’s Daily News, Bill Conlin makes the case that Shane Victorino is the best center fielder the Phillies have ever had. Conlin makes the argument based entirely on defensive skills and lists as the other 3 candidates for the title Lenny Dykstra, Garry Maddux and Richie Ashburn. Conlin is a lot older than I am (he gave Maddux his nickname “the Secretary of Defense”) and has seen a heaping amount more Phillies baseball than I. I’m going to defer to his opinion especially since it’s based solely on defense, a part of the game that’s hard to quantify and so first-hand observation of a player is much more important to judge his defensive acumen (as opposed to offensive production, which can be discerned simply from the stats).

The area where I have trouble with this claim is that it ignores everything these guys did at the plate. Defensive skills are only part of the equation when talking about the “best” player. Furthermore, Victorino has only played 4 full seasons for the Phillies whereas Ashburn played 12, Maddux spread 12 seasons out and Dykstra was a Phil for 8 years.

Let’s take a look at each centerfielder’s career offensive numbers with the Phillies and see how they stack up:

• Richie Ashburn played 1794 games for the Phillies from 1948-1959. He amassed 2217 hits and scored 1114 runs. Ashburn only hit 22 home runs in his Phillies career, though he had 287 doubles, 97 triples and 499 RBI. He walked 946 times and struck out 455 times. Whitey stole 199 bases. His career average in Philly was .311 with an on-base percentage of .394. Because of his distinct lack of power, his OPS was a mediocre .782.
• Excepting the split season when he came to the Phillies from the Giants, Garry Maddux played 1229 games for the Phils from 1975-1986. He had 1224 hits and scored 504 runs. Maddux hit 81 home runs, 34 triples, 224 doubles and drove-in 520 runs. The Secretary of Defense walked 214 times and had 490 Ks and stole 165 bases. His average as a Phillie was .283 with an OBP of .316 and a career OPS of .723 as a Phil.
• From 1990-1996, Lenny Dykstra played 644 games in Philadelphia. Nails totalled 751 hits and scored 476 runs. He hit 47 HRs, 23 triples and 157 doubles and had 232 RBI. Dykstra walked 422 times and had 261 strikeouts and stole 152 bases. His batting average was .298 with an OBP of .400 and a OPS of .835.
• Shane Victorino has been with the Phils since 2005, playing in 564 games. He has 564 hits and has crossed the plate 334 times. Victorino has hit 43 HR, 28 triples and 103 doubles and has driven-in 211 runs. The Flyin’ Hawaiian has walked 151 times and has K’ed 239 times. His career average as a Philly is .294 and he has an OBP of .355 and a career OPS of .800.

So in comparison to the other 3, Victorino is first in no significant offensive category. Of course much of this has to do with longevity, but longevity is such a huge ingredient to the title “best ever.” In terms of averages, Ashburn’s career BA is 17 points higher than Victorino’s and Ashburn walked almost twice as much as he struck out, whereas Victorino stikes out about twice as much as he walks.

Keep in mind, none of this is meant to disparage Victorino who may (as Conlin points out) be the team’s MVP this year. Rather, I mention the offensive stats simply to cast light on the somewhat bizarre claim (and premature) that Victorino is the “best” centerfielder the Phillies have ever had.

UPDATE: Perhaps in response to my keen sense of investigative journalism, Conlin’s article now has a new title, with the qualifier “Defensive” inserted right before the word “Centerfielder.” You will note that the attached poll is still entitled “Who is the Phillies’ Best Centerfielder Ever?” You’re welcome, Mr. Conlin.

This still of Coco Crips narrowly-avoiding what appears to be a devastating right from James Shields is a great sports photo. While it has nothing to do with Shane Victorino, it is still a great baseball snapshot so I’ve decided to include it to show other incidents in which baseball players have been ejected for poor behavior. In fairness to Victorino, Shields and Crisp were tossed for fighting as oppossed to simply throwing their hands in the air, 350 feet away from the aggrieved umpire.

So my thoughts on the ejection are twofold. One, little is clearer in umpires’ minds than their willingness to eject players who argue balls and strikes. The ambiguous nature of umpires’ senses of the strike zone is one of the peculiarities in baseball that make it unlike other sports. Fundamental to this agreement that strike zones vary (at least in umps’ minds) is the ability to practice that interpretation without constant harrassment from players and managers. So it makes sense that umpires are quick to toss players who violate this rule.

In Victorino’s case, his actions after the ejection tell us a lot about the frustration that led to the incident. Facing a sweep at the hands of their closest divisional pursuer, the Phillies trotted-out their one pitcher who is completely dependent on strike zone consistency, Jamie Moyer. With Moyer relatively ineffective and out of the game, Victorino’s cool was lost as Rodrigo Lopez threw a third ball. You can understand why Shane was angry and to his credit, his reaction was fairly mild. That is, until he was tossed.

He looked like George Brett going after the pine tar gestapo, sprinting out of center field with murder in his eyes. Of the call and the incident, home plate umpire Ed Rapuano said “he’s right in the line of sight and he’s out in front of everybody, waving his arms in disgust of a pitch that I called. It’s very simple. And Charlie agreed with me.” A moot point the ejection is certainly not and two questions were raised by this incident that are worth being put to our readers:

One, are umpires too quick/too eager to insert themselves into the outcome of games? And two, to what end is the crowd’s perpetual booing following the ejection tiresome and idiotic or merely reflective of the same frustration that led Victorino to go nuts? To the patient and balanced fans of Philadelphia sports, I put these two queries to you.

UPDATE: Dan Levy chimes in on the issue at sportingnews.com

After last night’s game-winning hit, Shane Victorino’s All-Star candidacy got a big boost. Like elections for local ombudspeople, however, none of this will mean anything if you don’t vote. Shane’s numbers aren’t the best of the write-in bunch but who cares. They’re good enough for me.

Today’s Inquirer poll is “Should the Phillies Trade Kyle Drabek. Yes, for a Star Like Roy Halladay. No, He Represents the Future.” Guess what folks, the future is now; there is no guarantee the Phillies will have the World Series-contending core by the time Drabek is MLB-ready but they certainly do now. To boot, we don’t know what Kyle Drabek will become but we sure as hell know what Roy Halladay is.

Here are two things you can comfortably vote “yes” for. The first is Shane Victorino’s All-Star campaign. Nothing more need be said about that.

The second one is a little funny: today’s Inquirer poll as to whether the Flyers should extend Chris Pronger’s contract. Apparently 152 people voted “no,” which means they thought it was smart for the Flyers to trade Luca Sbisa, Joffrey Lupol, 2-first round picks and a conditional 3rd-round pick for Pronger’s services for one season. You’ve heard of Socrates? Plato? Aristotle? Morons.

• Great article from yesterday’s Inky by Bob Ford about what a bad signing Ray Emery is. It also correctly mentions the exculpatory and myopic issue of blaming Martin Biron for the Flyers’ late season collapse.
• The Phillies look to win one at home tonight for a change, assuming the weather holds up. In case you were wondering, their non-Nationals home record has fallen to 8-16 and they are now 3-4 against the American League this season.
• Raul Ibanez leads the team in batting average, home runs, RBI, OPS, runs scored, slugging percentage, hits and is tied with Shane Victorino and Pedro Feliz for most doubles.
• Harry Kalas has been posthumously inducted into the National Radio Hall of Fame. This after his 2002 induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame as the Ford C. Frick winner.
• On the Dan Patrick show, Bud Selig looked to deflect some of the effects of the steroids era away from baseball and onto football. Choose from any of the fish above and your choice will appear as the picture in the dictionary next to Bud Selig’s name. With that said, it’s always fascinated me that steroids is a much bigger deal in baseball than any other of the big three sports. Wouldn’t it stand to reason that PEDs would have bigger effect on the performance of those athletes versus hitters and pitchers?