Please Bowa, don't hurt 'em

Eh, Jim Thome and Pat Burrell each just knocked out their first home runs of the season last night in Philadelphia's boilerplate 4-2 win over the Expos. Read between the lines, and you'll see that Thome and Burrell are doing a fine job of knocking out hits and the start of this season; problem is, Jimmy Rollins and Bobby Abreu aren't. The old hit and run only works when your guys get on base. Doesn't look like the Phillies are taking many walks, either -- in the absance of at least one more big bopper, Larry Bowa should be paying more attention to OBP. Many of the pundits (including Jayson Stark, who is to the Phillies as Rob Neyer is to the Royals) have predicted the Phillies to land at the top of their division. But, um, that ain't going to happen while Larry Bowa's at the helm. Check out the records and division standings of Bowa's Philadelphia teams (courtesy Baseball Reference):

Year League Record Finish Manager
2003 NL East 86-76 3 Larry Bowa
2002 NL East 80-81 3 Larry Bowa
2001 NL East 86-76 2 Larry Bowa

What's at work here? Nostalgia? Nepotism? The invisible hand of Satan? Add in Bowa's brief tenure with the Padres in the late 1980s, and Bowa's managing record is supremely mediocre:

693 games 333-360 W-L .481 winning perecentage

It took a season and a quarter for Bowa to get exposed as a charlatan in San Diego. How long will the notoriously fickle Phillies phans be willing to chew over another shit sandwich after another slow start laying the groundwork for a long, long, fruitless season (3-6 at this writing)?

You heard it here first: Bowa will be the first MLB manager to get the boot in '04. Hitting coach Greg Gross should get the ax, too -- but that might have to be the subject of another post.