August 17, 2006

Dallas vs. Charlie: Age in the Cage

The current four-game series between the Mets and Phillies has been weird enough as it is, with the Phillies winning all three games so far, Jon Lieber pitching a complete-game shutout last night, and Pedro Martinez giving up six runs in a single inning. But the weirdest thing of all was a pre-game confrontation the other night between Phillies manager Charlie Manuel, 62, and the team's special adviser, 72-year-old Dallas Green. It was as entertaining a fight between two men with a combined age of 134 can possibly be, and I wish I'd witnessed it in person.

It all started when the perpetually embattled Manuel was ripped on a radio show a few weeks ago by the outspoken Green, who managed the Phillies' 1980 championship team. As a result the team banned Green from the field and clubhouse for a certain period of time, but he showed up Tuesday night, leading Manuel to angrily confront him on the field prior to the game. Luckily, the confrontation -referred to as an "AARP Death Match" and "cocktail of conflicted codgers" by the Delco Times- was defused before it came to blows.

And you thought Holyfield was too old to still be fighting.

Posted by Stephen Silver at August 17, 2006 11:21 AM
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