CHARLIE'S EARNED AN EXTENSION

Michael Smerconish

August 23, 2007

CHARLIE Manuel has earned a contract extension.

And I don't feel the need to await the outcome of the current, critical 10-game home stand that may well determine the team's playoff fate to say so.

We already know that Manuel's Phillies have overachieved this season. They entered spring training with an average starting rotation and a questionable bullpen. For those counting, that's two different recipes for the same disaster.

The team was flawed, but it's not Charlie's job to sign the best players. It's his job to manage the ones he's given.

He's done that effectively despite a disabled list longer than his lineup card.

Think about it. Chase Utley, Ryan Howard, Shane Victorino, Michael Bourn and Rod Barajas have all spent time on the disabled list this year.

Then there are the pitchers. Brett Myers and Tom Gordon. Freddy Garcia and Jon Lieber. All have barely pitched this year.

Scott Mathieson never returned after Tommy John surgery last year, and Ryan Madson hasn't pitched since the end of July. Last week, Adam Eaton was added to that list after reporting shoulder inflammation.

A few days later, Mike Zagurski, Eaton's replacement on the roster, also hit the DL himself.

In all, 16 players have landed on the DL since the start of spring training. But despite losing the league MVP (Howard), the team's best player (Utley), its opening-day starter (Myers), and its closer (Gordon), the Phillies are squarely in both the wild-card and division title hunts.

Evaluating the job a coach has done requires more than adding up wins, losses and playoff appearances. It requires an honest assessment of what the team actually is capable of accomplishing.

Truthfully, given the patchwork of lineups they've employed this year, the big names they've gone without, and the flaws they entered the season with, the Phillies should not be above .500.

But they are. And it might be that a team like this - unlucky and facing constant adversity - is the best barometer of Manuel's effectiveness.

Not convinced?

Well, Charlie's extension needn't be based on this season alone. Consider: Manuel's teams went 173-151 in his first two seasons as manager. That's more wins than any Philadelphia manager's first two seasons since 1915.

Manuel's 88 wins two years ago were the most since the 1993 World Series team. It was also the most victories for a Phils rookie manager since 1982.

Charlie's slow-speak and quiet demeanor may not earn him the diehard support once offered to his predecessor, Larry Bowa (who I'm sure many would consider a better in-game strategist than Manuel). But take any two Phillies' seasons under Bowa (he managed for four years) and compare them to Charlie's two. Bowa never won 173 games over two seasons - any combination.

You could make the argument that the core players have changed for the better. But consider this: Down 2-1 in the 8th inning against the Washington Nationals last week, Manuel sent Russell Branyan to pinch hit with a runner on base. Branyan had been signed earlier in the week to add a left-handed bat to the Phils' depleted bench.

In his first appearance in a Phillies uniform, Branyan hit the game-winning home run.

It was Manuel who lobbied general manager Pat Gillick to sign Branyan. The manager and the player had shared time together in the Cleveland Indians organization a few years earlier.

Or how about this: Cole Hamels was in the midst of a shutout against the Nationals last Thursday. The Phils led 4-0 in the 7th inning, but the Nats had two runners on base with two outs.

Manuel replaced Hamels with Antonio Alfonseca, who struck out Felipe Lopez to preserve the shutout. The Phils went on to win, 4-2.

After the game, Hamels admitted he was exhausted. His manager's timing, it seems, was right on. Those are the moves Phillies fans should remember when assessing Manuel's job performance. The Phils took two of three in that series in Washington, with both wins directly attributable to Manuel.

This being Philadelphia, I know some will choose instead to dwell on last Sunday's 7th-inning implosion in Pittsburgh, specifically Manuel's decision to remain with his starter Kyle Lohse. But no one could have foreseen what became a seven-run onslaught.

But truth be told, a manager's on-the-field actions probably affect only a handful of games each season.

Managing 25 guys (or in Manuel's case, a merry-go-round of players from the minor leagues and the waiver wire) through 162 games is more than in-game strategy and post-game press conferences. At some point, the manager must be credited with keeping the players who do manage to suit up competitive and focused. These Phillies, for all their flaws and adversity, are proof of that.

Larry Bowa was given a full presidential term to get the job done. At the very least, Charlie Manuel has earned the same.

Maybe starting a chant of "Four more years" is premature, but look what he's done with a congressional term. *

Listen to Michael Smerconish weekdays 5:30-9 a.m. on the Big Talker, 1210/AM. Read him Sundays in the Inquirer. Contact him via the Web at www.mastalk.com.