That Balls Outta Here
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Phillies fans have a clear favorite for manager

By George Stockburger

BALTIMORE, MD - MAY 18: Manager Joe Girardi #28 of the New York Yankees talks with Manager Buck Showalter #26 of the Baltimore Orioles before the game at Oriole Park at Camden Yards on May 18, 2011 in Baltimore, Maryland. (Photo by Greg Fiume/Getty Images)
BALTIMORE, MD - MAY 18: Manager Joe Girardi #28 of the New York Yankees talks with Manager Buck Showalter #26 of the Baltimore Orioles before the game at Oriole Park at Camden Yards on May 18, 2011 in Baltimore, Maryland. (Photo by Greg Fiume/Getty Images) /
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Phillies fans are outspoken when it comes to their choice for the next manager.

The Phillies have interviewed three very experienced former managers to replace Gabe Kapler, and according to reports, those will be the only people Philadelphia interviews.

Dusty Baker, Joe Girardi, and Buck Showalter will all get second interviews with the Phillies and are finalists for a job that could be offered as soon as next week.

It’s fast work for a front office that took nearly two weeks to decide Kapler’s fate. It’s very likely owner John Middleton asked around about candidates before firing Kapler to know what was out there.

It also helps that team president Andy MacPhail and Matt Klentak worked with Showalter in Baltimore.

While the Phillies have focused in on Showalter, Girardi, and Baker, the fan base has a clear favorite and is giving a very vocal recommendation to Klentak, who is leading his second manager search.

Of the initial 226 votes on That Ball’s Outta Here’s most recent Twitter poll Girardi had 83 percent of the vote with Baker having just a 3 percent lead over Showalter.

Shortly after Kapler was fired we ran a similar poll as an initial test of the market, and the results speak for themselves.

Girardi is the overwhelming favorite among Phillies fans to be the next manager, which would be a historic hire. Girardi would be just the second manager in baseball history to manage a team he beat in the World Series as the opposing manager.

A major reason Girardi is likely the favorite is that, unlike Baker and Showalter, he’s got that World Series ring from 2009. He was fired as a 91-win manager in 2017 and he never had a losing season with the Yankees.

Showalter is only a handful of games over .500 in his career and he’s never won a pennant. Baker has never won the World Series, but he’s won over 1,800 games as a manager and was fired after winning 97 games as Bryce Harper’s manager in Washington.

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