GaryMrMets
08-03-2004, 12:59 AM
http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/sports/9299887.htm
Posted on Mon, Aug. 02, 2004
On Baseball | Bowa's job status weighing on team
By Jim Salisbury
Inquirer Columnist
CHICAGO - Looking back on his firing as Phillies manager a few years ago, Terry Francona once summed it up this way:
"Everything went haywire and when things go haywire, the manager gets fired. I understand that."
Things are going haywire around this flopping Phillies team and Larry Bowa might soon learn exactly what Francona once did.
Baseball's most disappointing team lost another game yesterday and sank another game lower in the standings. At a time when contending teams should be hitting their stride, the Phillies are playing the kind of losing baseball that gets managers fired.
Bowa's job status is being discussed almost nonstop. After yesterday's 6-3 loss to the spirited Chicago Cubs, catcher Mike Lieberthal, the longest-tenured Phillie, said he'd like to see general manager Ed Wade address Bowa's uncertain status because it has become a distraction.
"I'd like to know if he's going to be here the whole season," Lieberthal said. "Everyone should know. With all the talk on TV, I think the players want to know what's going on."
Wade was not with the team in Chicago yesterday. At last check, he was not planning to be in San Diego, the next stop on this nightmarish trip that has so far produced one win and six losses as the Phils have dropped from a half-game behind the first-place Atlanta Braves to 51/2 back in just a week. Attempts to reach Wade last night were unsuccessful.
With the trade deadline passed - and the results unspectacular - Bowa's status has become the No. 1 concern on Wade's plate.
There have been strong indications in recent days that he is considering a change, and will use the remainder of this road trip to decide if Bowa stays or goes.
In his postgame remarks yesterday, Lieberthal didn't offer an opinion on whether Bowa should be fired or not. He was talking about the uncertainty of the situation and how it had infiltrated the clubhouse.
"I don't think anybody is expecting a change," he said. "But obviously, everybody is hearing it. We see it on TV. I expect Larry to be here the whole year, but you never know.
"It's all about winning in any sport, and if the players don't win, it happens."
Not all Phillies players agreed with Lieberthal's assertion that the skipper's status was a distraction.
"To be honest, none of us care," closer Billy Wagner said. "It's his job. We don't worry about it. It's hard enough worrying about our own jobs.
"We need to worry about baseball. Whatever is going on with Bo is partly because we haven't played well."
Lieberthal was right on with a few things he said after the game. In particular: Pro sports are all about winning. The players must do it. When they don't, people in charge get fired.
These Phillies were supposed to be winners, but so far they've shown little of that character, although Bobby Abreu deserves props for stepping up lately.
Lieberthal himself contributed to yesterday's loss when he took a called third strike with the bases loaded and no outs and the Phils down by three runs in the eighth inning. Chase Utley also struck out and Jason Michaels popped out to strand all three runners.
If the Phils were at home, they would have been booed - deservedly.
Since the start of July, the Phils are 13-16. Over the same span, the Braves are 21-6. The Phils have lost 13 of their last 20 and are just a game over .500.
"That's disappointing," Jim Thome said. "There were a lot of high expectations in the city, with the media and with ourselves. To be honest, it's a little embarrassing."
The Phils have spiraled downward so sharply - and they are pressing so badly - that you have to wonder if they'll even be a factor in the National League East and wild-card races the rest of the way. You can almost sense that the players have asked themselves this question.
"We need to relax," Wagner said. "It's not going to get any better if we don't start relaxing."
The Phils added a couple of solid arms to their bullpen at the trade deadline, but they needed to do more. A starter would have helped. A centerfielder would have helped. Essentially, the Phils are relying on the same cast of characters that has disappointed for much of this season to come through over the final two months.
Bowa is relying on them to save his job, if indeed it can be saved.
Bowa didn't get the infusion of talent that his weekend managerial counterpart, Dusty Baker, received. Nomar Garciaparra is a pretty nice addition. Traded Saturday from Boston, Garciaparra was in uniform and drew huge cheers from the Wrigley Field maniacs yesterday. He also capped the Cubs' decisive four-run rally in the seventh with an RBI single off Todd Jones, one of the Phillies' deadline acquisitions.
The Phillies' other deadline acquisition, reliever Felix Rodriguez, still hasn't shown up. Family matters, they say.
F-Rod will be in San Diego tomorrow to help try to stop the bleeding and this ugly Phillies free fall that may be on its way to costing Larry Bowa his job.
Posted on Mon, Aug. 02, 2004
On Baseball | Bowa's job status weighing on team
By Jim Salisbury
Inquirer Columnist
CHICAGO - Looking back on his firing as Phillies manager a few years ago, Terry Francona once summed it up this way:
"Everything went haywire and when things go haywire, the manager gets fired. I understand that."
Things are going haywire around this flopping Phillies team and Larry Bowa might soon learn exactly what Francona once did.
Baseball's most disappointing team lost another game yesterday and sank another game lower in the standings. At a time when contending teams should be hitting their stride, the Phillies are playing the kind of losing baseball that gets managers fired.
Bowa's job status is being discussed almost nonstop. After yesterday's 6-3 loss to the spirited Chicago Cubs, catcher Mike Lieberthal, the longest-tenured Phillie, said he'd like to see general manager Ed Wade address Bowa's uncertain status because it has become a distraction.
"I'd like to know if he's going to be here the whole season," Lieberthal said. "Everyone should know. With all the talk on TV, I think the players want to know what's going on."
Wade was not with the team in Chicago yesterday. At last check, he was not planning to be in San Diego, the next stop on this nightmarish trip that has so far produced one win and six losses as the Phils have dropped from a half-game behind the first-place Atlanta Braves to 51/2 back in just a week. Attempts to reach Wade last night were unsuccessful.
With the trade deadline passed - and the results unspectacular - Bowa's status has become the No. 1 concern on Wade's plate.
There have been strong indications in recent days that he is considering a change, and will use the remainder of this road trip to decide if Bowa stays or goes.
In his postgame remarks yesterday, Lieberthal didn't offer an opinion on whether Bowa should be fired or not. He was talking about the uncertainty of the situation and how it had infiltrated the clubhouse.
"I don't think anybody is expecting a change," he said. "But obviously, everybody is hearing it. We see it on TV. I expect Larry to be here the whole year, but you never know.
"It's all about winning in any sport, and if the players don't win, it happens."
Not all Phillies players agreed with Lieberthal's assertion that the skipper's status was a distraction.
"To be honest, none of us care," closer Billy Wagner said. "It's his job. We don't worry about it. It's hard enough worrying about our own jobs.
"We need to worry about baseball. Whatever is going on with Bo is partly because we haven't played well."
Lieberthal was right on with a few things he said after the game. In particular: Pro sports are all about winning. The players must do it. When they don't, people in charge get fired.
These Phillies were supposed to be winners, but so far they've shown little of that character, although Bobby Abreu deserves props for stepping up lately.
Lieberthal himself contributed to yesterday's loss when he took a called third strike with the bases loaded and no outs and the Phils down by three runs in the eighth inning. Chase Utley also struck out and Jason Michaels popped out to strand all three runners.
If the Phils were at home, they would have been booed - deservedly.
Since the start of July, the Phils are 13-16. Over the same span, the Braves are 21-6. The Phils have lost 13 of their last 20 and are just a game over .500.
"That's disappointing," Jim Thome said. "There were a lot of high expectations in the city, with the media and with ourselves. To be honest, it's a little embarrassing."
The Phils have spiraled downward so sharply - and they are pressing so badly - that you have to wonder if they'll even be a factor in the National League East and wild-card races the rest of the way. You can almost sense that the players have asked themselves this question.
"We need to relax," Wagner said. "It's not going to get any better if we don't start relaxing."
The Phils added a couple of solid arms to their bullpen at the trade deadline, but they needed to do more. A starter would have helped. A centerfielder would have helped. Essentially, the Phils are relying on the same cast of characters that has disappointed for much of this season to come through over the final two months.
Bowa is relying on them to save his job, if indeed it can be saved.
Bowa didn't get the infusion of talent that his weekend managerial counterpart, Dusty Baker, received. Nomar Garciaparra is a pretty nice addition. Traded Saturday from Boston, Garciaparra was in uniform and drew huge cheers from the Wrigley Field maniacs yesterday. He also capped the Cubs' decisive four-run rally in the seventh with an RBI single off Todd Jones, one of the Phillies' deadline acquisitions.
The Phillies' other deadline acquisition, reliever Felix Rodriguez, still hasn't shown up. Family matters, they say.
F-Rod will be in San Diego tomorrow to help try to stop the bleeding and this ugly Phillies free fall that may be on its way to costing Larry Bowa his job.