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MLB WORLD SERIES: PHILLIES v YANKEES

November 2, 2009

Charlie Manuel

PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA: Game Five

New York Yankees 6
Philadelphia Phillies 8

Q. I have two questions for you: One, Pedro for Game 6? And then two, can you talk about how you worked your bullpen tonight. Was it too soon to bring Lidge back?
CHARLIE MANUEL: Actually Pedro we will start next game. And as far as my bullpen, I wanted to bring Madson in. I wanted to see how he goes, and I kind of wanted to just give Lidge a break tonight if I could.

Q. Without knowing if there's a potential Game 7, at any point in the game, could you have had a lead big enough that you would have thought of bringing Lee out early and leaving the option for Game 7 there?
CHARLIE MANUEL: It would have to get a little bit bigger. (Laughter).

Q. Shane, how is he feeling?
CHARLIE MANUEL: Shane got hit on the finger. He had X-rays, and it's not broken, but as the game went on, his finger did -- kept swelling. He started getting some swelling in it, and it was bruised and it started getting bigger, and he was having a hard time -- he couldn't grip the ball, and he also couldn't grip the bat. You know, eventually he had to come out of the game.

Q. I know you talked about wanting to work Madson and give Lidge a break. Do you foresee Lidge being back in a closing situation?
CHARLIE MANUEL: You know something, I never, ever said that I've been away from him. Yeah, I mean, he could be back in there.

Q. I guess along the same lines, just with the break, was it that draining for him mentally, what happened to him last night? I mean, physically he hadn't pitched in a long time.
CHARLIE MANUEL: I think from a mental standpoint, I think, yeah, I guess. I know him, and I think it could bother him a little bit. Actually I think he needed to pitch last night, too, but at the same time, like I said before, too, he is one of our top guys in the bullpen. And he's been our closer for -- this is his second year, and I don't see us moving him out of that if you want to know the truth. I figured I can play with him and Madson right now, especially if things are not going good. But at the same time, Lidge has been our closer, and he definitely -- that's kind of how I see him. I mean, I see him as our closer. I've been saying that all year. I'll be glad if we go through seven games, then we'll be looking good. I don't want to hear it again, at least this winter because I'll cut my cell phone off. (Laughter).

Q. Chase seems to be really locked in, two home runs tonight. What is he doing for this team?
CHARLIE MANUEL: Chase, when he gets hot, definitely he can get hot and stay hot for a month or two. Knock on wood, hopefully he's sitting in there right now because he's swinging the bat good, and things are going real good for him.

Q. With Lee having thrown 115 pitches, realistically, how much more could you use him or spot him in the seventh game if it came to that?
CHARLIE MANUEL: What's that old saying, Burnett and -- "Spahn and Sain, pray for rain"? Got an off-day tomorrow, maybe it'll rain the next day. I can get him in on three days like you guys are talking about (smiling). No, I look at it actually in a sense right now, the seventh game would be on his day to throw in the bullpen, and I'll see what goes on from there. I'll talk to him. Dubee and I will definitely talk to him.

Q. But you're talking about an inning or two, you're not talking about starting, are you?
CHARLIE MANUEL: We don't know about that yet, but I'll talk to him about what he thinks about if he can pitch at all or something.

Q. Do you think the rest of the world is finding out what you already know here in Philly, that Chase Utley is one of the best players in baseball?
CHARLIE MANUEL: You know, I say this all the time, sometimes I don't even like to talk about him because he don't want me to. Actually he don't like for you to say a whole lot of things about him. But he's one of the most prepared, one of the most dedicated, he has the most desire and passion to play the game that I've ever been around. I used to say Kirby Puckett was my favorite player, and all those things I just said, I used to say those about Kirby Puckett, and I said Kirby Puckett was my favorite player. The only thing Kirby might have on Chase is he's a more flamboyant because he smiles a lot, and Chase is a little bit different. He's quiet and he goes about his business in a real good way. But Chase Utley is one of the most -- he's a pleasure to be around and he's a pleasure to manage. I mean that, and I could not say enough about him because that's what I think about him.
I don't want to embarrass him or nothing like that, but sometimes I tell our players, "Just play with Chase," because if you play with Chase, you've got a chance to be a pretty good player.

Q. Two things on Shane: One, do you anticipate him missing any time at all? Looked like he gave you a little conversation there to stay in the game. And the other thing is before the game you talked a little bit about staying loose and you could see that around the batting cage before the game. Did that make a difference tonight?
CHARLIE MANUEL: Yeah, probably tomorrow his finger is going to be sore. It's definitely not broken or didn't have a fracture is what they said. A couple days it probably is going to be okay. I think the fact that it started swelling and everything, that's what caused it to get real stiff and sore. But he was having some pain in it.

Q. You guys had just taken a six-run lead there in the seventh. Did you have any thoughts about taking Cliff out at that point? What was your thought process as far as bringing him back for the eighth?
CHARLIE MANUEL: When we got a six-run lead, I was watching him. Was I thinking about taking him out? Somewhat. But actually I definitely hadn't -- I wasn't ready to take him out. I definitely wanted him to go back out and I wanted him to throw some. But once they started to get some hits on him, I definitely thought it was time to go get him.

Q. Raul had been struggling against lefties throughout the series, really having a tough time. Talk about what that home run could do for your offense here and what he did different in that at-bat for you.
CHARLIE MANUEL: What he did different is it looked like he got ready and he put a nice quick bat on the ball. Here lately his swing has been getting long. And tonight his swing was much better. He was coming down and got through the ball, and a lot of times he's been rolling over the ball or kind of his hands have been drifting out and he's been hitting the ball late. His swing has been kind of long.
Tonight he was more of a pop, like he stayed stronger on his back side, pushed off his back side, made his hands quicker to the ball.

Q. Have you talked to Pedro since the end of the game? And what's his frame of mind about pitching the sixth game? And how much can you really realistically expect from him?
CHARLIE MANUEL: Pedro is ready. He has already been told. He's ready to go. I mean, how much do I expect out of him? I expect probably something similar to what we got the other night. I mean, I think that he's definitely capable of giving us -- he should go anywhere six, seven innings in a game, maybe longer, depends on how many pitches he throws early.

Q. Did you have any reaction to Larry Bowa suggesting that you guys were somehow stealing signs out of the bullpen? And if you did, were your players somehow inspired by that comment?
CHARLIE MANUEL: I didn't know anything about it until about right before the game or something. I can tell you this, if I can steal signs, I will (laughter). I mean, if I can. That means we're definitely not. I mean, or if they do, I don't know nothing about it. Usually I do. (Laughter).
No, we're definitely not stealing. We don't have their signs and we're not stealing their signs. But we are trying. (Laughter).

End of FastScripts

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