They don’t call them the Fightin’ Phils for nothing.
Phillies pitchers Cole Hamels and Brett Myers had a verbal altercation after Game 5 of the World Series on Monday, according to an Internet report.
Now the Phillies are dealing with the fallout while trying to prepare for tonight’s Game 6.
The Phillies deny there was any altercation, saying Myers was joking with Hamels.
But according to a Yahoo Sports report, Myers walked past Hamels and said, “What are you doing here? I thought you quit.”
A witness told Yahoo that Hamels then responded with an expletive, and that a team official ushered Myers away.
Hamels’ desire to pitch came into question after his Game 3 start when he lost to the Yankees, and afterward was quoted as saying, “I can’t wait for it to end.”
“It’s been mentally draining,” Hamels went on. “At year’s end, you just can’t wait for a fresh start.”
Phillies manager Charlie Manuel said the two are friends — and that Myers’ remark was misunderstood.
“When you say, ‘Manny being Manny,’ or something like that, well, Brett was being Brett,” Manuel said.
“Brett likes to throw that jab at you, and sometimes it doesn’t matter who’s around, and I think people when they hear that sometimes, they don’t know how to take it.
“So they take it — kind of put it where they want it to be or take it as they’re looking to take it. And I think that’s what happened. I think that was just actually Brett playing around, messing with him.”
Myers told The Philadelphia Inquirer that there was no confrontation.
Of bigger concern to the Phillies is whether Hamels is mentally ready to pitch a possible Game 7. Manuel talked to Hamels after Game 5 and came away encouraged.
“I felt very good about it, really,” Manuel said of the conversation.
“I know Hamels. I’ve been a Hamels guy ever since I seen him pitch in Lakewood, and when I first came to work here, I never, ever — I want you to listen to this — I never, ever questioned his mental toughness, because he’s just as tough as anybody on our team. And I mean that. That part I’ve never, ever doubted.”
Manuel did not say who would start any Game 7, but Hamels seems like the logical choice. Despite his struggles this season, the 2008 World Series MVP is a better candidate than rookie J.A. Happ or Cliff Lee pitching on two days’ rest.
“I’m not hesitant to pitch [Hamels] no time, but we’ve got [tonight] to play,” Manuel said.
“I’m not going to say who’s going to pitch. Cole Hamels can pitch for me any time. We’re just not ready to say — we’ve got to play [tonight]. We’ve got to win [tonight’s] game, and that’s kind of how we do it, and that’s kind of how it’s going to stay.”