Back in the day, a young Charlie Manuel didn't like being used only as a pinch-hitter

CLEARWATER, Fla. - In 1969, a 25-year-old hitter named Chuck Manuel joined the Minnesota Twins, excited to begin his major-league career. But manager Billy Martin quickly cast the rookie in a role that stunted his development and proved impossible to escape: pinch-hitter.

"That was real hard on me," Manuel said last week. "When you're sitting on the bench, you're not getting any experience."

Forty years later, Manuel's personal setbacks are essential to understanding the character of the Phillies' bench. "It helps my thinking about how to use these players, I definitely think that," the Phillies' manager said.

Though the Phillies were intrigued by several prospects this spring, their bench will once again be populated by veterans. Because playing part-time is an entirely different skill than developing as a regular, Manuel feels an ethical responsibility to find regular at-bats for young players.

The strategy was successful last season, as several older players contributed to the Phillies' championship run. Eric Bruntlett, 30 in 2008, was able to play every position except pitcher, catcher and center field. Matt Stairs, 40 at the time, pinch-hit in the fourth game of the National League Championship Series and cracked one of the most memorable home runs in team history. Geoff Jenkins, 34, who was released by the Phillies yesterday, contributed a pinch-hit double in the final game of the World Series, leading to the go-head run. Greg Dobbs, 30, was one of the top pinch-hitters in baseball all year.

Manuel's belief in a veteran bench was formed through personal disappointment. After Martin applied the pinch-hitter label to Manuel, it stuck, and the future manager never got more than 164 at-bats in a year in six seasons with the Twins and Los Angeles Dodgers. He left the majors for Japan in the mid-1970s, with a .198 career average and four home runs.

Manuel believes that pinch-hitting before he had fully developed his abilities at the plate ruined his big-league career. "Whitey Herzog said I would have hit 320, 325 home runs, and back then that was a home run hitter," Manuel said.

"From a mental standpoint, my approach when I was a pinch-hitter, I always figured that I had to do something every at-bat," he continued. "I put too much pressure on myself. But once I learned I was going to play everyday, in triple-A or in Japan, that's where I really stood out."

Indeed, Manuel hit 189 home runs as an everyday player in six seasons in Japan, including a league-leading 48 in 1980, a record at the time for an American player in that country.

This spring, the manager was impressed by 24-year-old infielder Jason Donald and 25-year-old outfielder John Mayberry Jr. Dobbs and Stairs are lefthanded, leaving the team in need of a righty bat off the bench - and both Donald and Mayberry qualified. But both were sent to the minor leagues late in spring training. Miguel Cairo, 34, or another veteran acquired through a trade, will spend the season on the Phillies' bench.

Both Donald and Mayberry, eager to remain in the major leagues, deemphasized the advantage of playing every day in triple-A.

"I think the minor leagues offer more consistency and more development," Donald said before he was demoted. "But I feel like, at the same time, I'd learn a lot in the major-league environment."

Mayberry was acquired from Texas in a November trade, and on Manuel's advice is simplifying his swing to create more contact. While displaying good power with 82 home runs in four minor-league seasons, Mayberry struck out 420 times.

He believes that most of the necessary improvement can be accomplished during spring training and completed in the majors. "I think it can be a very big step in the right direction," he said, also before he was sent down. "I don't know that you can master what you want to do in that period of time. But obviously, I would love to be able to contribute here."

Barring injury to an everyday player, neither Donald nor Mayberry will be able to play regularly for the Phillies this season. And according to Dobbs, who batted .355 as a pinch-hitter last season, a bench role could sidetrack their development.

"If you're one of the top guys in the minor leagues, you're playing everyday," Dobbs said. "It's a new skill trying to figure out how to get properly prepared to pinch-hit, being able to get comfortable with it and establish a routine."

Dobbs' routine involves watching hours of video of relief pitchers and focusing on every pitch of games that he spends on the bench. He said that young players preparing to be regulars should focus on that job rather than learning to pinch-hit.

"Take Jason Donald," Dobbs said. "He is going to be a terrific player. In his position, getting at-bats is paramount."

That is the philosophy that drove Manuel and the Phillies to demote their young players in favor of veterans. The moves provide a strong indication of the Phillies' outlook on the construction of their bench and reveal the values of a manager whose life and career were changed by limited opportunity.