FanHouse ChrisCoste

Charlie Manuel is going use opposite handed hitters to match up with the pitchers in the designated hitter slots. That much we know.

Other than that, though, Manuel is either playing it close to the vest or really doesn't know who he's going to use in the batting-only position for the two to four games in Tampa Bay (yes, I know they play in St. Pete, but they are the Tampa Bay Rays ... contact Bud Selig with complaints, not me).

"When I put out my lineup, I never know," he said. "I might look and change it at the last moment. Seriously, you never know."

Two options being discussed for the spot against left-handed Scott Kazmir for Game 1 are Chris Coste and Eric Bruntlett. Coste, of course, leaves the Phillies without a backup catcher, which is always a dangerous game. Bruntlett, since he's a better defensive player than Pat Burrell, would likely play left-field and move Burrell to the DH-spot. A possible issue there, though, is that sometimes guys used to playing in the field lose concentration when they move to DH.

Burrell didn't seem concerned.

The sentiment from the Philly area today is that, yes, Manny Ramirez is a stud ... but there is much more to the Dodgers' offense than the dread-locked, polarizing, left-fielder who mashes opposing pitching like no other hitter on Earth when he's locked in. At least that's how the Phillies started off matters:

The Phillies made it clear before their Tuesday workout that Manny alone would not decide the NLCS. The return of shortstop Rafael Furcal, who missed all eight regular-season games between the teams, has added depth to the Dodgers' lineup. Their young hitters, including Russell Martin, Andre Ethier and Matt Kemp, could all cause problems during a seven-game series.

I'm a tad bit surprised they omitted James Loney, but we get the point.

Of course, the rest of the article was devoted to how the Phillies plan on dealing with Manny when he digs in. Let's hear it, catcher Chris Coste:

"I think if you picked out the guy we don't want to have beat us, yeah, he's clearly the guy."

Ok, so that means you want to pitch around him and walk him should there be an available base?

"There's a book on Manny Ramirez, just like there is for anybody else," catcher Chris Coste said. "It's just that he's more likely to hit a mistake than the next guy. If our pitchers can pitch to the game plan, I don't see any reason to walk him.

Chris Coste has now been thrown into the middle of an increasingly heated rivalry ... almost entirely by accident.

Let's set the scene: Shea Stadium, Saturday afternoon. The Mets are about to lose to the Phillies for the seventh straight time. Marlon Anderson (pictured) has just gotten tossed for arguing a third strike called by umpire Dan Iassogna (also pictured). Anderson went half-berserk at what he thought was ball four (by a mile) and not only said his peace, but lobbed his helmet in the general direction of Iassogna from the top step of the dugout. One problem: the helmet hit Phillies catcher Chris Coste near a sensitive area. Would Coste retaliate with punches? Would he call for the beanball on the on-deck batter? We'll let Coste explain what he did with the helmet:

"I looked over and saw (Jose) Reyes looking at me like this (a facial expression as if to say uh oh) and honestly I wasn't even mad about it. I thought it was kind of funny and in my mind I thought 'the dugout is going to love this,' and I kicked it for the dugout. I didn't realize I was going to get booed by 40,000 people."

As Coste recounted the story, Jimmy Rollins - he of the 'we're the team to beat statement' that is far from forgotten in Queens - chimed in with a congratulations.

"Now I know at least 1% of what Jimmy Rollins feels like every time he walks out there. That's a tiny, tiny bit."

If the helmet had been kicked with a head still inside it, then that percentage goes up. Perhaps ... 2%. Probably the only time getting 40,000 people to boo you would count as "diffusing" a situation. For the Mets, well if they were looking for revenge, I'd say losing two games and having their catcher kick a Mets helmet wouldn't quite qualify as such.

Previously on FanHouse:
Mets Look for Revenge Against Phillies

Shea Stadium, circa 1985. At the top of an empty section of upper deck seats below, a fight featuring about 20 maniacs broke out, when one of them lost his footing and tumbled over about 20-25 rows of empty seats before having his fall broken by metal piping. Not only did the guy not die, he got up, dusted himself off, climbed back up the rows of seats, and got back into the fight as an active participant. I thought that was the strangest thing that could ever happen at a ballpark.

Until now.

On Thursday, during a spring training game between the Indians and the Phillies, a Michael Aubrey line drive hit a pipe causing it to burst, sending bursting water towards the field, delaying the game for five minutes. Now that's not the incident I'm talking about, but it did spark Phils' catcher Chris Coste to reminisce about the strange things that he's seen in baseball, more specifically, his time in the independent leagues:

"Anybody can just go to a baseball game and there will be 27 outs on each side, but how often do you get a rain delay when it's 80 degrees and not a cloud in the sky?" Coste said. "I've seen a guy in the dizzy bat race puncture a lung and delay the game for 40 minutes. I've seen guys get stuck in the bathroom, which delayed the game for 20 minutes. Chalk it up to a little Spring Training humor."

A punctured lung from a dizzy bat race? Wow Chris, you win. You really have seen it all. And thanks for confirming that punctured lungs can be humorous. I hate it when I visit my friends in the hospital and whip out my punctured lung jokes and they get all offended because they're sitting in their hospital beds with bats sticking out of their chests. I mean, lighten up. It's just a little spring training humor.