Here's hoping history repeats itself

By Steven Lienert

Let's flash back to late August, 1979.

The Phillies were the three-time defending N.L. East champions, but in each postseason they bowed out in the NLCS.

The team went out and signed Pete Rose during the 1979 offseason, so that was supposed to be the year the Phillies finally got over the hump.

Instead, the team was a paltry two games under .500 on August 31.

Paul "Pope" Owens had seen enough. He immediately fired Danny Ozark and replaced him with Dallas Green, whose managerial style made Larry Bowa look like Florence Nightingale. And nevermind Green hadn't managed a day in the Major Leagues prior to coming down from the front office.

Green came in and immediately instituted a 'We, not I' policy, which ruffled quite a few feathers in the Fightin's dugout. In the end, though, Green delivered the only World Championship in the 123-year history of the franchise.

Bob Boone later said that while the 1980 Phillies could have won with any manager, Green was responsible for removing the "country-club atmosphere." After Green was inducted into the Phillies Wall of Fame on Tuesday, he was quoted as saying "Baseball players today have too many reasons for excuses."

Country-club atmosphere. Too many excuses. He might as well be talking about the current Phillies.

Bowa's too hard on us; Charlie Manuel is too soft. Well, who would be just right?

Nobody.

That's why the front-office folks need to stop worrying about how the players feel about their manager and get the best guy available. They obviously made a monumental error by hiring Manuel instead of Jim Leyland, who has led the Tigers to the a 36-18 record, currently the best in baseball. By the way, Detroit was 20 games under .500 last season.

The Phillies, on the other hand, were 86-76 the year before Uncle Charlie took over. It kind of makes me want to market rubber-band bracelets that say "What Would Leyland Do?"

Sometime around the All-Star break, Pat Gillick should have enough evidence that Manuel can't manage. But will he have the same stones that the Pope had in 1979?

The Phillies are actually enjoying one of the better stretches in team history. They have finished with 80 or more wins in each of the past five seasons, which was previously accomplished, ironically enough, during the Ozark-Green era from 1974-1980.

The Phils finished one game behind the Houston Astros last season for the N.L. wild card. The Astros went on to win the National League pennant.

The Phillies are currently in third place with a 27-26 record, 5 1/2 games behind the Mets. Of Philadelphia's 11 losses in May, seven were by one run. Manuel was solely responsible for two of those losses, and he played a significant part in at least three more. Flip just three of those games around, and the Phils are 30-23, 2 1/2 games back. Over the course of a full season, that's 10-12 games difference, which separates playoff teams from those playing fantasy football.

Here's hoping history repeats itself. This Phillies team needs to have the country-club atmosphere removed. They need to stop making excuses. They need a mid-season managerial change to help put them in the playoffs.

Steve Lienert can be reached at stevel@phillysportsline.com or at stevelienert@hotmail.com