August 28, 2019
Eric Hartline/USA Today Sports
Charlie Manuel was the best manager in team history — bar none.
In what has been a frustrating 2019 season, Phillies fans almost universally embraced the return of former manager Charlie Manuel as the team's new hitting coach.
The 75-year-old former skipper, who rejoined the Phillies dugout earlier this month, is the last man to oversee glory at Citizens Bank Park and a legendary figure to observe in his natural state. Manuel is a brilliant, multi-generational baseball mind distilled into a West Virginia-brand Forrest Gump mixed with Boomhauer from "King of the Hill."
Is Charlie trying to tell us something big?
Since his return, Manuel has tweeted twice on his verified Twitter account. Once, on Aug. 17, he tweeted just the letter "I," like so.
I
— Charlie Manuel (@CMBaseball41) August 17, 2019
Then came Wednesday morning. Manuel dropped a "U."
U
— Charlie Manuel (@CMBaseball41) August 28, 2019
What is going on here? Just for reference, in the past Manuel has competently tweeted actual thoughts.
There’s been a few moments in 55yr career I’ve been proud of, but nothing that got my kids more excited than when I sat behind “Mac” @RMcElhenney 🌞🍺 pic.twitter.com/DOGGnvJMQL
— Charlie Manuel (@CMBaseball41) June 22, 2019
And yet, Manuel also hit us with an "L" and a "K" last November and this April.
L
— Charlie Manuel (@CMBaseball41) November 8, 2018
K
— Charlie Manuel (@CMBaseball41) April 2, 2019
These letters, they don't really add up to much. Try as you might, it's hard to find meaning in a string of "L-K-I-U," unless Manuel is scrambling and stylizing the word "clue" as "kliu," which he's not, because only I would think of something that stupid. But if these letters mean nothing at all, then why doesn't Charlie just, you know, delete the tweets?
Well, maybe it's because Phillies fans have done their best to parse these coded letters, heaping love on Charlie regardless of the nonsense. It's an example of the Manuel-Philadelphia relationship that's worth preserving.
no u
— Phillies depression burner account (@KingeryHype) August 28, 2019
— Dew (@_dew___) August 28, 2019
Big if true
— Eric Petroski (@EPetro10x) August 28, 2019
Gotta crack the code pic.twitter.com/LcNz0dE9B8
— Gritizen Kane (@anderslam17) August 28, 2019
U got what I neeeeeeeed
— Bad Takes and Tastykakes (@SuperTwo_Sports) August 28, 2019
Not again
— w2x (@woonXX) August 28, 2019
Charlie Butt Tweet Manuel pic.twitter.com/Hr5SzTGvbS
— w2x (@woonXX) August 28, 2019
Complete me?
— Brian Deery (@bdeery44) August 28, 2019
What r u doing to us Charlie lol 😂... What do these tweets mean?
— Lee (@_DreAmWeaVer__) August 28, 2019
Without an explanation from the man himself, it's going to be impossible to make sense of what's going on here. Sure, four butt tweets isn't unheard of over nine or 10 months, but why do they seem to come in little clusters of two? Why, Charlie, why?
The Phillies are hanging onto hope for a National League wild card spot. Manuel's teachings will have an important role in whether or not their bats can carry them to the postseason. If this is how Manuel gets his message across, there's nothing wrong with that. The sound bite of him explaining why and how this happens would be priceless, though.
