It seems as if everyday we get a new nickname for Charlie Manuel. First, it was "Aka Oni". Then, it was "Fook". And now today, we have "Mr. Incredible".
Phillies manager Charlie Manuel discovered a poster of Mr. Incredible taped to his office door yesterday at Bright House Networks Field.
It seems that a few Phillies think Manuel has a resemblance to the cartoon character. A Mr. Incredible doll hangs between the lockers of Billy Wagner and Jon Lieber in the clubhouse.
"That don't bother me," Manuel said. "It's funny in a nice way. I told them that looked like my physique 10 or 12 years ago."
On the poster, somebody has written a favorite expression of Manuel's: "Damn, son. We gonna hit!"
Lately, the Phillies have hit.
Yesterday, Jim Thome crushed a pair of two-run homers to center field in a 10-inning, split-squad 10-9 victory over the Atlanta Braves. Placido Polanco also hit a two-run homer.
In their last six games, the Phillies (4-6) are batting .308 (70 for 227) with 14 home runs.
"That means you're hitting the ball correctly," Manuel said. "If you're thinking about hitting home runs, they're very difficult to hit. Those two balls that Thome hit and the one [Polanco] hit - those were nice, easy swings. They weren't overswinging at the ball, and they caught the ball right." [Zolecki, Inqy]
By the way, this post is dedicated to my brother, who thinks I have a man-crush on the Phils new manager.
