Legendary Phillies manager Charlie Manuel is on the road to recovery.
Manuel, who suffered a stroke on Sept. 16, began physical therapy on Thursday in Lakeland, Fla., according to a team spokesperson.
You can typically find Manuel at Citizens Bank Park behind the cages before the game or in the back row of the press box with Larry Bowa during the game.
Health issues will keep him away from the ballpark for now, but his heart is still with the Phillies.
His official title with the club is senior advisor to the general manager, but more importantly, he’s a relaxing presence to the current crop of Phillies hitters who appreciate having a “baseball lifer” around.
“I really enjoy every time I go to the cage and Charlie Manuel is just sitting on the couch,” Nick Castellanos said. “He’s a baseball lifer that just kind of being next to him and being around him can put you in a good mental space.”
A handful of current Phillies players had him as an interim hitting coach in Aug. 2019. Bryce Harper was one of his pupils.
“He just came in and it was simple,” Harper said.
Harper’s appreciation for Manuel goes back to an unexpected interaction he had with him just over 10 years ago. He recalled a time during his rookie year in 2012 with the Nationals when Manuel complemented him on a long home run he hit against the Phillies.
“Early in my career, coming here and playing in Philly, I always knew that he loved homers,” Harper said. “That’s one of his big things. He loved watching guys hit homers and stuff. I hit a homer one night against him and the next day in BP, which was crazy, he came up to me, this is when I was 19, he came up to me and was like ‘Hey, you really got that one!’
“That’s a big thing I remember just because, I mean, Charlie Manuel, he’s a bigger than life kind of figure, especially in this division early in my career. We heard about it. Knew about it. Especially from J-Dub. Playing with [Jayson Werth]. That was one of my earliest memories.”
Kyle Schwarber said he appreciates Manuel’s famous one liners and his ability to recall at-bats.
“He’s just a great baseball mind,”Schwarber said. “You look forward to going in the cage everyday in spring training and see him sit there and you know you’re going to get a good story. You just don’t know what the story is going to be so. He’s always a positive guy who is looking to tell us how it is. He would always tell me how he watched me in college and things like that. It’s funny how he has that memory of, you know, remembering facts and things like that. We all wish him the best and we hope that he’s getting better.”
Phillies hitting coach Kevin Long is itching to see Manuel back at the ballpark so the two can resume talking smack.
“I just miss him being in the cages and around,” Long said. “We have a healthy banter. We go back and forth at each other. So I need that sucker to get back to where he needs to be and get his butt in the cages.”
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