Donnellon: The Phillies should release Ryan Howard

'ONE OF the hardest guys I've ever had to send out," Pete Mackanin was saying as the afternoon clouds over Citizens Bank Park darkened. "Outstanding teammate, just a great guy. Always upbeat, pulled for everybody, knew his role and accepted it. Just hated to see him go, but we had to do it."

So began another chapter of the Ryan Howard saga, the latest among the comically indecisive missteps that have filled this team's encyclopedia. The Phillies' manager could have been talking about Howard this way, should have been describing him in the glowing terms on his way out that were instead used to announce the demotion of seldom-used bench player Emmanuel Burriss after the Phillies acquired a…