Manuel For Success;Phillies' Boss Still Believes His Team Is Series-Worthy

PHILADELPHIA - Charlie Manuel, the son of a preacher man, is keeping the faith.
Walk into the office of the Phillies skipper and you'll find a variety of nfl throwback jerseys
inspirational quotes printed, framed and adorning the walls. The one that best suits the current state of his squad comes from former Dodgers field boss Walter Alston:
"Look at misfortune the same way you look at success. Do your best and forget the consequences."
Words to live by? Perhaps. Particularly for a man who, even while facing a seemingly endless series of setbacks and challenges, may be having the best of his six seasons at the wheel.
Prior to Sunday's 6-2 loss to Milwaukee at Citizens Bank Park, Manuel summed up this campaign and his expectations for the playoff push in an interview with Lancaster Newspapers.
"We have 26 (now 25) games left, so we still have a lot of work to do," he said. "(Chase) Utley and (Ryan) Howard are getting there. It takes a while to get your swing back, but they're getting there. And Jimmy Rollins has missed some time (due to injuries), so his swing comes and goes.
"We haven't been scoring a lot of runs, but we've been getting runs when we need to. And that's what you have to do, especially at this time of the year.
"But," he added, "this lineup can score a lot of runs, and everybody in baseball knows it."
Everybody in baseball also knows about the Phils' Big Three, the starting rotation of aces Roy Halladay, Cole Hamels and Roy Oswalt - "H2O," as it's been called. Over the past month, dating back to Aug. 8, the Big Three have won 10 of their 14 decisions and hurled six shutouts. Of their four losses, two came when the Phils failed to score.
"Last year we picked up Pedro Martinez and (Cliff) Lee and we thought that was pretty good," Manuel said of the mid-summer acquisitions that led to a second straight World Series appearance.
"This year we picked up Halladay and Oswalt, but we also have Hamels back to where New Orleans Saints jersey
he was two years ago during his MVP season when we won the World Series. You have to have pitching to win, and pitching has definitely been a big part of our team."
What has also been a big part of this team in recent summers is its September success. Over the past four seasons, the Phillies lead the league in wins (55) and winning percentage (.632) during September. Only the Yankees (59 wins; .694) have been better.
"I think it shows that we stay at it, we play the whole season," Manuel said. "Our philosophy is, 'Play every day, play in this moment, this day.'"
He paused, then nodded to his right, toward the locker room.
"It goes back to the people we have in there," Manuel offered. "Our team knows how to play in close moments. We stay on an even keel, and that's the way we've been the past two, three years."
The Phils have won 17 games each of their last three Septembers, and they're already nearly one-third of the way toward reaching that number again, having started the month with four straight victories. The most recent, a 5-4 comeback Saturday night, raised their record in games decided by two runs or less this season to 38-23, giving them a .623 winning percentage in such circumstances, the best in baseball.
They'll need more of the same down the stretch, since it's unlikely the Braves are going to San Francisco 49ers jersey
fade in the East -witness Sunday's startling rally from a 6-0 deficit against Florida - or that the Giants will falter in the wild-card chase.
"We're in a good race right now," Manuel said, his eyes brightening. "The Braves aren't going to fade. You look at their pitching, it's right there at the top of the league.
"The bottom line is, we want to win our division, get home field advantage. But it's better to get the wild card than not get in. Teams have won the wild card and the World Series."