threecount wrote:I'm heading out to Arizona for three Phillies games May 9-11th...

Has anyone been to Chase Field? How is it?

kruker wrote:

JFLNYC wrote:I'm so excited I can't focus.

I laughed

Charlie Manuel, Philadelphia Phillies: We've saved the most interesting name on this list for last. Manuel is the winningest manager in Phillies history. He has never had a losing season in any of his eight seasons in Philadelphia. He's one of two managers in team history to have won a World Series. And he told Rumblings again this week that "I plan to keep managing -- unless I decide all of a sudden I don't want to do it." So why does his job status feel so uncomfortable? Because there's a vibe around his team that the men upstairs think it might be time for a new voice, even though GM Ruben Amaro Jr. insists it's only the media that is making an issue of this. "Honestly," Amaro told Rumblings, "I don't think about his situation at all." Asked if he was concerned about how his players would respond to having a manager with an uncertain future, Amaro said: "I don't think the players give two craps about it. I don't think it's even a factor, not with our guys … I don't know if a contract for the manager should be a motivating factor for any player. They should be motivated by winning. That's it." Meanwhile, Manuel says this only affects him when people like us ask about it. "I'm still the same guy," he said. "If I had a 10-year contract, I'd think the same way and manage the same way." But he clearly wants to keep chugging along, and management clearly hasn't climbed on board. So at some point, this situation has a chance to fire up. For the moment, though, "I find that talking about it is not good," Manuel said. "It's not good for me or anyone else."

The fascinating part about this whole subject is that if you were to compile a list of managers who could be "in trouble," it wouldn't be confined to the nine men in this group. The oddsmakers at Bovada LV just published their "First Manager to Get Fired" odds. And while Manuel topped the charts at 4-1, six of the other 10 names were guys not on the last year of their deals: Bud Black (9-2), Ron Gardenhire (5-1), Ron Roenicke (7-1), Clint Hurdle (10-1), Mike Scioscia (12-1) and John Gibbons (20-1).

What all of that reminds us, said one National League executive, is that "an extension doesn't guarantee anything." Those extensions, he said, serve more as lovely parting gifts than indicators of job security. So if they don't provide any more security, why do we all get so worked up about them?

The truth is, Tony La Russa won a World Series in the final year of a contract. Joe Torre took the Yankees to two World Series in years his contract was up (and technically managed one of them, in 2001, after his contract was up). And way back when, in another era, Walter Alston managed the Dodgers for 23 years -- on 23 one-year contracts.

So it's not as if this has never happened before. It just never happened all at once before. But now that it has, why do we have a feeling it won't be the last time?

JFLNYC wrote:Another comment from the peanut gallery.

Polar Bear Phan wrote:

threecount wrote:I'm heading out to Arizona for three Phillies games May 9-11th...

Has anyone been to Chase Field? How is it?

I'll be there May 10-12.

As for the stadium, it is downtown and easily accessible by car and the metro (which is/was a single line). The stadium itself feels a bit like a box when the roof is open (due to the walls needed for the roof) and it feels like an airplane hangar when the roof is closed. It's been a few years, but they have standard ballpark fare and some chain restaurants within the stadium. There are some bars and places nearby, but downtown Phoenix that lively.

threecount wrote:

Polar Bear Phan wrote:

threecount wrote:I'm heading out to Arizona for three Phillies games May 9-11th...

Has anyone been to Chase Field? How is it?

I'll be there May 10-12.

As for the stadium, it is downtown and easily accessible by car and the metro (which is/was a single line). The stadium itself feels a bit like a box when the roof is open (due to the walls needed for the roof) and it feels like an airplane hangar when the roof is closed. It's been a few years, but they have standard ballpark fare and some chain restaurants within the stadium. There are some bars and places nearby, but downtown Phoenix that lively.

Thanks..yea, I assume they will have the roof closed for those days cause of heat..I'm going to the Thur/Fri/Sat games..

Roger Dorn wrote:@BenRevere9: NYC the big apple!! @brianbeadling: @BenRevere9 don't even know if you could hit a big apple right now

Ace Rothstein wrote:

Roger Dorn wrote:@BenRevere9: NYC the big apple!! @brianbeadling: @BenRevere9 don't even know if you could hit a big apple right now

I laffed real loud at the bar reading this

threecount wrote:Has anyone been to Chase Field? How is it?

Trent Steele wrote:

Ace Rothstein wrote:

Roger Dorn wrote:@BenRevere9: NYC the big apple!! @brianbeadling: @BenRevere9 don't even know if you could hit a big apple right now

I laffed real loud at the bar reading this

Dear Lord, that is awesome.