Manuel and Lincecum's Little War of Words Should Add to SF Series Intrigue

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The Phillies are back in San Francisco this weekend where the temperatures apparently feel like October. With both teams making big trade deadline acquisitions to help bolster their respective title runs, the atmosphere at AT&T Park over the next four days should be pretty fantastic.

Not only are two of the NL's best facing off, but there was a minor battle of words between Charlie Manuel and Giants' Ace Tim Lincecum after San Fran came into Philly last week and beat the Phillies over the series.

It all started when a reporter said something about the Giants starters being "great," which Charlie Manuel didn't necessarily agree with per se.

From SFGate.com:

"They're good pitchers. You say they're great pitchers? To me, I don't know how great they are," Manuel said, as quoted in the Philadelphia Daily News.

"As they move on into their careers, the longevity part, I think that's when the greatness might come. ... When you say somebody is great, I look up there and tonight I saw a 90 (mph) fastball, 92 at best (from Lincecum). I saw a good changeup. I saw a breaking ball and I saw a cutter ... but at the same time, we can beat that. I've seen us beat that."

Now, I was listening to the Phils' presser when Charlie made these comments, and I don't believe Manuel was trying to really belittle Lincecum or Cain, but rather stress that to earn the "great" moniker you have to do it for a long period of time.

Still, his comments were a bit curious.

According to the Chronicle, Tim Lincecum "seemed floored by the quotes," and added that Manuel was probably just frustrated at the first Phils series loss in just about a month.

"They're not used to it," Linecum said. "It might have something to do with what happened in the NLCS, too. You'll have to ask him."

Gah. That stupid NLCS.

It appears the only way we can get that stupid 2010 NLCS out of our minds is if the Phils can erase those memories by winning the 2011 World Series.

That would be a nice panacea.

That said, this four game set this weekend should be a great test for both teams.

>>Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain slighted by Phils' Charlie Manuel [SFGate]

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