The "A Player's Manager" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Game's over and the Fightin' Phils won another.  Seems to run in spurts this year, but I still enjoy watching them.  My favorite this year, newcomer center fielder Ben Revere, just broke a bone in his ankle when he swung at a pitch and it hit him in the ankle.  Gonna miss watching him for the next couple of months.  Hope he gets back in time for the playoffs, since I'm sure the Phils will be back in there again.  Waiting on the post-game interviews so I can see Charlie.  Charlie would be the manager of the Phils, Charlie Manuel.  When I watch him walk to the mound during the game to make a pitching change or just give encouragement to the pitcher, I actually feel the same pain that it looks like he is feeling.  Not pain from the game, but the pain from the walk from the dugout to the mound, since you see, he is 9 months older than I am and if I had to make that walk I would be in pain also.  When Charlie speaks, I'm not sure if he is talking forwards or backwards.  Kinda mumbles his words and mashes them together, if you understand what I mean. May be from all the bubblegum he chews during the game.  And, if you don't know what I mean, tune in to a Phils game close to the end, hope they win, and wait for Charlie to talk to the press.  He seems like the nicest person and I'd love to meet him sometime.  Being 69 years old as I write this post, Charlie has had some physical problems in the past with a heart attack, quadruple bypass surgery and kidney cancer on his medical chart.  He was interviewed not long ago about his health and when he plans to retire and he said this: "Talks about when I'm retiring come up every year  I'm probably in better health than I've been in years.  I'm trying not to think about it.  It's easy to get lost in your health problems, but my interest and love of the game really helped me battle all those setbacks.  Baseball kept me going."  Charlie is the oldest manager in the majors right now and his players love him.  He spend time to get to know every one of them and what makes them tick.  He is what is called a player's coach.    Has been in professional ball from when he signed with the Twins in 1963 after graduating from high school.  Spent some time in the minors and finally made it to the "bigs" in 1969 with the Twins and then with the Dodgers until 1974.  Left fielder and pinch-hitter, he wasn't real successful until he left the United States and played in Japan.  Wildly popular for his hitting ability, he was know as "Aka-Oni" (The Red Devil) by the fans and his teammates.  In 1979 he was on track to break the Japanese record for home runs in a month until he was beaned and had his jaw broken in six places.   He came back from that injury and was voted league Most Valuable Player for 1979.  His career came to an end after the 1981 season.  

Charlie with the World Series Trophy

He returned to the states and was a scout for the Twins, manager in '83-'87 for the Twins, and then manager of the Cleveland Indians.  Signed to manage the Phils in 2004 and won the World Series in 2008.  I can remember that World Series very well.  We were on vacation in Barbados at the time and I had to follow them on my computer.  Won the series in the 5th game when we were on the plane heading home to Philadelphia.  Luckily the pilot was a Phils fan and gave the passengers a play-by-play of the final innings of the game while still in the air.  Eventually Charlie will no longer be with the Phils.  Funny, I will miss him!  If I had been a professional baseball player like I had dreamed many times, Charlie Manuel would have been my manager.  At least in my dreams it is that way!  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

Charlie's Twins Baseball Card

Charlie's Dodger's Baseball Card

One of Charlie's Baseball Cards from Japan