FanHouse CharlieManuel

PHILADELPHIA -- And the Phillies' postseason closer is ...

Brad Blappson.

Or maybe ...

J.A. Madgeton.

That's about as clear as manager Charlie Manuel could make it Tuesday, a day before Philadelphia was to open its NL Division Series against Colorado.

"Hard to tell," Manuel said when asked who would close Game 1, if needed.

"I'll answer that when we get there. Whoever you see walking out [of the bullpen]."

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July was some kind of month. We saw, among other things, a perfect game, an All-Star Game, an exodus of players to competitive teams, our monthly ration of steroid drama, and a baseball executive who was fired for throwing down his shirt as though it were a gauntlet and challenging his players to a fight.

So once again, The Dugout calls upon the insights of Bobby Cox and Charlie Manuel to puree the month of July into a series of easily-digestible puns. Read it after the jump.

Starting Five is our wrapup of the previous day's baseball action, with a quick nod to what is ahead.

You Oughta Know ...
The Astros are a game out of first place.

A little more than a month ago -- before the games of June 20 -- Houston was dead last in the NL Central, six games behind first-place Milwaukee.

Since then the Astros have gone 19-11, including Wednesday's 4-3 defeat of the (now) first-place Cardinals with two runs in the bottom of the ninth, finishing a three-game sweep. Miguel Tejada delivered the game-winning single.

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ST. LOUIS – In past All-Star Games, Roy Halladay would look around the clubhouse and wonder if he really belonged.

It's that same reluctance to be the center of attention that has made the past week so difficult.

Halladay, officially named the American League starter Monday, described it as a "coin flip" as to whether he'd still be with the Blue Jays after the July 31 trade deadline.

As we all know, one of the biggest concerns with Major League Baseball's All-Star Game, now that it decides which league will have home-field advantage in the World Series, is the availability of pitching. Just ask Charlie Manuel, the Phillies skipper who will be managing the National League in next Tuesday's midsummer classic.

"Along with getting through the game without injuries," Manuel said, "Having enough pitching to cover the game is the most important thing."

With that in mind, I asked Manuel and Rays manager Joe Maddon -- the AL manager this year -- if they thought having a few alternate pitchers would be a good idea during a media conference call Tuesday.

The All-Star Game rosters were announced Sunday, and both the American League and National League rosters seem to be missing some names. Baseball fans unwittingly exhibited the follies of the democratic process when they failed to vote for guys like Adam Lind, Kevin Millwood, and Adam Dunn.

Of course, All-Star snubs are an annual ritual. All told, the rosters aren't bad. In today's Dugout, it's revealed that they could have been far, far worse. Read it after the jump.

June was quite a month. On the field, Randy Johnson earned his 300th win, and the Rockies caught fire after promoting Jim Tracy to manager. Off the field, Donald Fehr stepped down as executive director of the Player's Association, the Nationals drafted super-prospect Stephen Strasburg, and it was learned that everyone in the entire universe has been using steroids.

The Dugout personas of Charlie Manuel and Bobby Cox break it all down in this evening's Dugout, after the jump.

Every Sunday, MLB FanHouse empties out its notebook in Baseball Brunch.

"This concludes our test of the emergency attendance enhancement system. We now return to the regularly scheduled season."

Yes, the 13th season of interleague play wraps up Sunday, except for a Cubs-White Sox makeup game. We have survived six San Diego-Seattle games (that's more zeroes than an A-Rod paycheck).

We didn't learn much we didn't already know: the system has inherent flaws and the American League rules.

For the sixth straight year, the AL has had** the better record in interleague play – 129-108 going into today.

Take out Cleveland and Oakland, and the AL is 119-84.

"It probably is" as big a gap between leagues as in past years, one AL team official said, "until you get to the World Series. Then it doesn't matter."

Starting Five is our wrapup of the previous day's baseball action, with a quick nod to what is ahead.

You Oughta Know ...
That the Phillies are grateful to be in the NL East.

The division got out-scored 37-7 on Friday as the AL East swept in interleague play. And it's only the rest of the division's mediocrity keeping Philadelphia in first by a half-game.

After their 11th loss in 13 games, 6-1 to the Blue Jays as Ricky Romero didn't allow a hit in the first six innings, the Phillies held a team meeting.

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NEW YORK – Jimmy Rollins swears he isn't obsessed with teams from New York. He doesn't spend late nights worrying about whether the Mets might finally shake the choke collars from around their necks, doesn't wake up thinking the Yankees just might be built for October.

So why does it seem Rollins is forever talking about the Mets and the Yankees? Two seasons ago he made a remark that proved to be pretty prophetic, saying his Philadelphia Phillies were the team to beat in the NL East, and Mets fans reacted as if Rollins personally removed the frontal lobe from Jose Reyes' brain. Now from Rollins' crystal ball comes this enticing prediction: the Phillies will play the Yankees in the World Series this October.