Screen Shot 2013-06-22 at 8.09.48 AMI want to punch myself in the neck for featuring Howard Eskin in three blog posts today… but, this is what happens when your baseball team is bad– you can’t have nice things.

Eskin was on the WIP Morning Show today (the only times he’s on at listenable hours is when he’s a guest, because he lost his afternoon time slot) and gave his side of the story regarding his feud with Charlie ManuelHere’s the transcription via CBS Philly, where the article is, oddly, sans byline… perhaps because it’s usually Spike Eskin, Howard’s son, who writes the sports content for CBS Philly, and having a son, who works for said media outlet, writing about his father, who also works for said media outlet, on that media outlet’s website, would be a conflict of interest:

“Charlie uses me as the whipping boy, because he’s afraid to yell at the players,” Eskin told Angelo Cataldi and the 94WIP Morning Show on Monday.  “He can say he’s tough with them and all that, that’s a bunch of nonsense. Obviously they don’t pay attention to him. In the news conference I hear the media just dwells on—the reporters just dwell on Cole Hamels. Granted, Cole Hamels should have locked that down with a 3-0 lead. I get it. But when the team doesn’t score after the second inning, they scored three in the second, then they don’t score the rest of the game.”

You can say a lot of things about Charlie, but saying – in a quite arrogant tone, mind you – that he’s afraid of his players and can’t connect with them is not one of them. If anything, Manuel’s strength has been earning the respect of his players. Sure, they may not always take his hitting advice, but I don’t think he’s afraid to do some yellin’. And I can promise you that he’s not using Eskin as a venom surrogate.