August 4, 2011GIANTS PAGEGIANTS VIDEOCSNPHILLY.COM
CSNBayArea.com staff
Phillies manager Charlie Manuel likely wasn't trying to create a war of words or give the Giants some headlines for the clubhouse bulletin board.
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But when he entertained the question Wednesday of "what makes a great pitcher?" in advance of his club's four game series in San Francisco, he pointedly excluded San Francisco's staff -- specifically Tim Lincecum and Matt Cain -- from the category of great.
That's not likely to go unnoticed by anyone wearing Orange & Black.
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His point seemed to be that his guys, in particular Cliff Lee and Roy Halladay, occupy the next rung up on the ladder.
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Here are Manuel's comments to the Philadelphia media:
"What's a great pitcher? A great pitcher is a guy who pitches quite a few years, and he has some 20-game seasons and stuff like that," Manuel said."Lincecum and Cain and their two lefties (Jonathan) Sanchez and (Madison) Bumgarner, they're good pitchers. They're very good pitchers. I said our team can hit them. Their stuff is not so overpowering and great that we can't hit them. That's what I meant, but it doesn't matter. Whatever Lincecum thinks -- good."