To paraphrase one of the slogans of the largest university in Philadelphia, they could have gone to anyone but the Philadelphia Phillies went to Pete Mackanin.

The Phillies announced on Tuesday that Mackanin, who was supposed to be interim manager only through this current homestand, would remain interim manager for the entire season and that’s about as bad an announcement as they could have made about the position. That’s because Mackanin is the epitome of an uninspiring leader, and the Phillies could have added some excitement by naming bench coach Larry Bowa to the job instead.

Yes, Bowa has been Phillies manager twice before but nothing about the man is dull. Everything about Mackanin is. The team could have named weekend broadcaster Mike Schmidt manager or promoted Reading third base coach Mickey Morandini up from Double-A and also added some pizzazz, but instead they decided to choose a leader who is as boring a manager as they are as a team. Morandini was a popular player in Philadelphia and Schmidt would have been able to implement some of the things he talks about on weekend broadcasts.

Bowa at least would have lit a fire under some of the listless veterans like Ryan Howard, who never  seem to possess a sense of urgency. After breaking a seven-game losing streak, Howard told the media it wasn’t like the Phillies were trying to lose during the streak.

That’s not the point, Ryan.

The team never showed it was upset about losing and Bowa would have changed all that by upending a few postgame buffet tables after losses. Mackanin is more likely to just shrug his shoulders and move on, like Howard.

Now they have a guy in Mackanin who will accept losing like the rest of the jaded veterans and a dull season just got a whole lot more boring.

Mike Gibson is a MLB Featured Writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @papreps , “Like” him on Facebook or add him to your network on Google.