Charlie Manuel’s Farewell Tour Is Getting Kind of Lengthy

The way it usually goes with mid-season manager firings is this: Manager gets fired. Everybody in the press spends a day or two writing about what went wrong. Then everybody starts to look at the new manager and what he might bring to the job going forward. It’s usually a quick process.

Clearly, Charlie Manuel is a little bit different. Maybe it’s because he won a World Series, or maybe it’s because fans perceive that GM Ruben Amaro Jr. was more deserving of the ax, but “Cholly” isn’t quite fading away from the Philly scene.

The latest evidence? Today is a big ol’ Charlie Manuel celebration at Ponzio’s Diner, Bakery and Bar in Cherry Hill. WIP’s broadcast teams are there all day, and Manuel himself will show up at 4 p.m. to join Anthony Gargano and Glen Macnow on-air. Somewhere Ryne Sandberg is starting to feel like Conan O’Brien when O’Brien hosted The Tonight Show. And yes, this scenario means that Manuel is playing the part of Jay Leno. How are we supposed to miss Charlie if he never actually goes away?