19 June 2007: The Dust, Bitten

Tuesday, June 19 2007 @ 06:00 AM EDT

Contributed by: Magpie

Well, when you're behind Tampa Bay... no manager can survive. Ask Carlos Tosca.

Although if you had asked back before the ball games started, and someone probably did, which managers were in the most jeopardy - I would have said Mike Hargrove and Charlie Manuel.

Especially Manuel. He was inherited by his GM, Pat Gillick, which is never an easy situation; he's in the mold of Nice Guy managers, and Gillick very much prefers hard-nosed authoritarian types; and the Phillies kept finishing second. If they stumbled out of the gate this time, I said with confidence, Manuel might want to polish his resume. Stumble they did, losing 11 of their first 15 - but Gillick kept his powder dry. And now they're right back in the hunt. They've lost Freddie Garcia for the year, but they were the one team in that division that had starting pitching to spare.

Anyway, the Orioles launch into Rebuilding Chapter 11, and the question on many a mind must surely be this:

Whither Leo Mazzone, now that your lifetime bud has been cashiered?

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