Incredibily, less than an hour after the SportsNet NY trio of Gary Cohen, Ron Darling and Keith Hernandez urged Phillies skipper Charlie Manuel to come out of his coma, the manager did exactly that, writes the Inquirer’s Todd Zolecki.

Charlie Manuel’s blood boiled afterward when he clashed with a radio talk-show host. Manuel was asked if he thought a clubhouse tirade might shake up his lifeless team.”I do at times, but it’s a timely thing,” he said. “We’re still hustling. We’re still playing hard. We might be trying to do too much. For me to go in there and stand up and throw a fit, I can go in there and tear the whole . . . locker room up. I could come here and throw every . . . chair in here out. What the hell? I don’t see how that’s going to do me any good.”

Asked if it could create some kind of urgency for his players, Manuel said, “I think they see me angry more than you think they do. I think you probably don’t see me angry. I can show you I can get angry, if you want to. Why don’t you drop by my office?”

The exchange with the radio host, who has been critical of Manuel since his hiring after the 2004 season, continued in Manuel’s office and escalated later in the clubhouse, with Manuel having to be held back and eventually led away by coaches Milt Thompson and Mick Billmeyer.

MLB.com’s Ken Mandel ID’s the radio host in question as WIP’s Howard Eskin.

(ADDENDUM : Philly Burbs’ Randy Miller has far more details on the exchange between Manuel and Eskin)