You know who’s happy today? The Phillies. Because of the Stanley Cup Final and because of all of the Jim Joyce and Ken Griffey rumpus, not too many people are talking about them today. About how, you know, they’re in a total flat spin and how they can’t hit anymore and look to be playing uninspired baseball and everything.
Well, I notice of course, because I have a vested interest. But Charlie Manuel notices too, and yesterday the normal even-keeled Cholly let loose on his players for not hitting the ball:“It’s definitely not Milt Thompson’s fault. He doesn’t do the hitting. You’ve got to hold people accountable. I don’t see a young player on our roster. These guys have been around a long time. If they haven’t learned something from their hitting by now, and they don’t know some of the things that they do when they go bad . . . we can talk to them and we can tell them things that we see. I talk to them all the time, and I hear Milt talk to them . . .
“You’re the one making the outs. That’s how I look at it. It’s up to you to master your hitting. If you listen and you learn, the more you play, you should know something about yourself.”