Phils' Manuel doesn't always go by book

An in-season diet reduced the size of Charlie Manuel's belly by several inches, but he didn't lose his gut.

Some managers are paint-by-the-numbers dugout monitors, push-button conductors in baseball pants, slaves to "the book."

Manuel has a copy of said book up there in his gray matter, but it doesn't always dictate the way he runs a game.

A good portion of his managing is done by feel, by intuition, by hunch.

He prides himself on knowing everything there is to know about his players, and makes many personnel and strategic decisions with his gut.

"There's a lot of feel in the things I do," Manuel said. "Sometimes it boils down to taking chances. Columbus did."

Manuel has followed his gut back to the National League Championship Series. He has discovered land with some of his moves, but other times his Santa Maria has sunk.

In Game 4 of the division series, Manuel removed leftfielder Raul Ibanez from the game as part of an eighth-inning double switch and replaced him with the more fleet of foot Ben Francisco.

As if on cue, Francisco covered a big chunk of ground at Coors Field and made a diving catch on a sinking liner hit by Troy Tulowitzki.

"I didn't even know he was out there," rightfielder Jayson Werth marveled after the series. "When it was hit, I said to myself, 'Raul is never going to get that.' Then, all of a sudden, Benny out of nowhere makes the play.

"I've seen Charlie make a lot of moves like that, and I've seen them work out more often than not. He's got a good feel for his players and the situation."

Sometimes Manuel's feel for a situation doesn't pay dividends.

In Game 2 of the NLCS on Friday in Los Angeles, he used his eyes and his feel in deciding that seven shutout innings and 78 pitches were enough for 37-year-old Pedro Martinez, who hadn't pitched in two weeks. Using an assortment of spotted fastballs and off-speed stuff, Martinez already had gone through the Dodgers' lineup 21/2 times. His last pitch, a fat fastball, had resulted in a long, hard-hit fly ball to center. Had someone more powerful than James Loney hit the pitch, the Dodgers might have tied the game right there at 1-all. After retiring Loney, Martinez pointed to the sky in praise, a sign that he believed he had done his job and it was complete. Manuel processed all this information in his head and gut and decided that Chan Ho Park, who had been electric the night before, would get the ball for the eighth inning.

Manuel's gut almost took him to, as he likes to say, "a good place in the game." Park faced three batters, and each one of them put the ball on the ground. The Phillies tripped over themselves defensively, then a gaggle of relievers had trouble throwing strikes as the Dodgers went on to win, 2-1, evening the series at a game each.

First-year bench coach Pete Mackanin said he has noticed that Manuel "has used a nice mix of book strategy and gut instinct" this season. Manuel actually employed "the book" early in the disastrous bottom of the eighth inning when he had third baseman Pedro Feliz move several feet toward the third-base line to take away a potential extra-base hit. Guarding the line late in a game is a strategy that some baseball men scoff at, because it opens a hole for a routine ground ball to third to become a hit. It's much like the prevent defense in football. You take away the long pass, but end up getting nickel-and-dimed underneath, and before you know it, you're giving up a game-losing field goal, or a bases-loaded walk.

Had Feliz been in his normal position, he would have gobbled up the Casey Blake ground ball that went off his glove for a hit. Park would have retired the all-important leadoff man of the inning, he wouldn't have been in a position to trip over Ronnie Belliard's bunt, and no one would be wondering why Chase Utley suddenly is having trouble throwing.

Funny game, Manuel likes to say.

Sometimes the book works; sometimes it bites you.

Sometimes a manager's hunch pays Columbus-like dividends; sometimes the boat sinks.

"The bottom line is you do your best to put the players in a position to do well, and if they do the job, you look good," Manuel said. "If they don't do the job, you look bad. But ultimately the responsibility is on the manager. It's like playing poker, drawing cards. When they don't come, you lose and the general manager gets [upset]."

Manuel developed a feeling for gut instinct by managing nine years in the minor leagues in the 1980s and 1990s. There were limited scouting reports and video resources in those days. A minor-league roster can turn over quickly, with players coming and going. Sometimes a manager decides to use a player in a situation based on a vibe he gets from the player. It's all part of managing by the gut.

Some GMs detest managers who go by instinct. They would rather see their skippers work off hard statistical data.

Phillies GM Ruben Amaro Jr. likes Manuel's use of his gut instinct.

"I am personally not a by-the-book guy," Amaro said. "I think there's a lot of value in a guy having a feel for things. Charlie knows his players and puts them in a position to be successful. Not everything works all the time."

Amaro acknowledged that the Phils' bullpen situation, with important setup man J.C. Romero out, situational lefthander Scott Eyre pitching with loose fragments in his elbow, and closer Brad Lidge walking a tightrope, is not ideal.

"We have to be creative in our situation because we don't have that seventh, eighth, ninth progression," he said. "You have to be creative. Charlie and [pitching coach] Rich Dubee do a good job managing it."

Manuel went with his gut and brought eighth-inning man Ryan Madson into a tight situation in the seventh inning in Game 3 of the division series. He has let Eyre, a guy with four career saves and none since 2004, start the ninth inning, and deftly picked spots for Lidge, who has three saves this postseason.

He picked Cliff Lee to start Game 1 of the division series over postseason-tested Cole Hamels and got excellent results. He has used starters J.A. Happ and Joe Blanton in relief and gotten mixed results.

Manuel liked the idea of using Blanton to fortify a weakened relief corps. But he could pay a price for the decision to keep Blanton in the bullpen if the righthander is not sharp in his Game 4 start because he hasn't gotten consistent work since the final week of regular season.

Whatever happens, Manuel is not about to change.

Sometimes he will go by the book.

Often he will follow his gut.

Even if it's smaller than it used to be.