Charlie Manuel won his 1,000th career game as a manager on Monday. If he's going to get win No. 1,001, it won't be in the Philadelphia Phillies dugout.
The Phillies announced on Friday they've fired Manuel and replaced him with Hall of Fame second baseman Ryne Sandberg on an interim basis. Manuel is the first manager fired in MLB this season.
General manager Ruben Amaro cried at one point during Friday's press conference and called Manuel 'a very important part of the Phillies history and our success here.' But Amaro said he recently told Manuel that the Phillies would not be renewing his contract for 2014 and, at that point, the two men agreed it would be better to start the transition now. The Phillies losing 19 or their last 23 games probably didn't help.
'It was an understanding,' Manuel said. 'I wanted to put the Philadelphia Phillies above myself.'
Said Amaro: 'Making this change is not easy for me — not easy of me personally or for the organization.'
Manuel, 69, didn't figure to be long for Philly given his age, that he's in the last year of his contract and that the Phillies have been a disappointment this season. They're now 53-67 and in fourth place in the NL East after their recent downturn, behind even the New York Mets.
'A new face, a new look, a new voice might help us,' Manuel said during Friday's press conference.
Manu.