`New' Manuel takes charge.(Knight Ridder Newspapers)

CLEVELAND _ Charlie Manuel is 57 years old, and you can see it in every wrinkle on his face.

It's a baseball face, with leathery skin and squinting eyes from all of those days on dusty diamonds under an unrelenting sun _ everywhere from Wytheville to Wisconsin Rapids to Wilson.

In Manuel's face, you see 38 years of baseball in 20 cities, including two in Japan. He has spent a lifetime waiting for Monday, for a chance to manage in the big leagues _ with a clean bill of health.

Yes, Manuel was the Tribe manager a year ago, but he never was the Charlie Manuel that General Manager John Hart thought he had hired. Two major colon surgeries in four months drained much of Manuel's energy _ and what was left, nearly was sucked dry by the massive injuries to the pitching staff.

Even in the second half of the season, when the Indians had the best record in the American League, Manuel struggled with his physical problems.

"I didn't get on players like I should," he said Sunday. "Sometimes, a guy wouldn't run out a ball, and I knew I should confront him . . ."

But the zest just wasn't there.