Stop Asking Charlie If the Offense Is Going to Be Fine, Howard Eskin

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"Phillies manager challenges radio personality to fight," reads the ESPN headline...from April 19, 2007. That was back when WIP mouthpiece Howard Eskin suggested Charlie Manuel throw a tirade to motivate the troops after the team's 3-9 start to the season, which he appreciated little, waiting for Eskin at his office and challenging him (to quote Eskin quoting Charlie), "I don't like what you've been saying about me for three years and I'm gonna drop your ass right there."

Well, it appears that happy times are here again. After last night's groan-worthy home loss to the subpar Mets, Eskin again poked the bull, needling Charlie in the post-game conference about the team's lagging offense. "Do I know if the rest of the lineup is going to be fine?" snapped Charlie. "If I knew that, don't you think I'd do something about it? Does anybody else know that, Howard? Do you know that?" That was about it from there, but Eskin continued the goading as Manuel left the podium, jokingly-not-jokingly asking "When are you gonna score ten runs?," with Charlie jokingly-really-not-jokingly answering "When I knock you out."

Awesome! Well, the good news on this is that after Eskin and Manuel feuded that time six years ago--after which, Eskin claimed "His problem shouldn't be with me, it should be with the players that are ultimately going to get him fired"--the Phillies eventually came to life, finishing 89-73 and winning their first NL East title in 14 years. Here's hoping Eskin is just trying to take one for the team again here, because otherwise, this is pretty needless antagonism.

From: NBC Sports

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