Baseball has been vital to ex-Phillies manager Charlie Manuel in road to recovery from stroke
READING — Charlie Manuel has spent his life in baseball.
There's no place the former Philadelphia Phillies manager, now in his 62nd season in the pro game, feels as comfortable as leaning on the cage, talking hitting during batting practice.
"It's been his entire life," his wife, Missy, said. "It's his whole identity really. Even now, at 80 years old, he still has the passion."
It's that passion that has rejuvenated his life following the stroke he suffered last September.
"I feel good, sitting here talking to you," Manuel said Wednesday at FirstEnergy Stadium before taking part in the Reading Fightin Phils' Fightin Cancer Night. "I talk to everybody I see now. Well, I used to just talk to a few people I wanted to talk to, now I talk to everybody."
In the days immediately after his stroke, which occurred during a cardiac catheterization, the manager of the 2008 World Series champion Phillies couldn't speak to anyone. He had lost his ability to talk, as well as walk.
"I had periods where I could hear people talk, but when I couldn't talk back to them, it got really frustrating," Manuel said. "I used to really get uptight about it. Walking, I kind of made myself walk. Talking was hard. I took PT for about two months (it actually was longer) and took some time with my speech. I had two classes a day and it was hard."
Missy said at the beginning of his recovery Manuel didn't want to see anyone and had a lot of depression. He brightened when messages — a lot from members of the 2008 team — were played back to him.
He also seemed more, in Missy's words, energized and vibrant when he was watching the Phillies in the playoffs.
"You'd have a high like that and then you'd have a real low," Missy said. "You know, a guy like him, it was difficult for him to be in that position where he required help on practically everything."
Manuel has battled medical issues throughout his adult life. He's had three heart attacks and quadruple bypass surgery. He's had surgery for diverticulitis. He's had kidney cancer. Five years ago, he had life-threatening complications from stomach surgery.
"The stroke was not as painful as some of the other stuff," he said, "but it was like the right side where I couldn't move it and couldn't talk, couldn't walk. It was definitely the worst thing I've ever had."
Being able to walk on his own was a turning point. Manuel said the nurses at the hospital in Florida got mad at him for not buzzing them when he had to use the bathroom. He simply tried to get there on his own, even falling a few times. But he managed, willing himself onward. He said he never used the walker that was sent home with him.
Talking was different. About two weeks after his stroke, he said he could only put together one or two words.
A breakthrough occurred when Manuel's speech pathologist brought up baseball.
"She brought out all of Babe Ruth's stats to our time period, and started talking baseball," Manuel said. "And I started getting better. I don't know. Finally, I got to a place where I could put a sentence together. It definitely helped me."
"You could just see it just really accelerated how, you know, easily he could do that," said Missy, herself a breast cancer survivor.
Even Wednesday, Manuel seemed much more comfortable and able to verbalize his thoughts when talking about baseball.
When asked about what advice he would give prospects such as the guys in Reading, he responded:
"I would say if you like baseball, you gotta love it. You gotta put a lot of time into it, but if it's work for you, then maybe you're in the wrong profession. Because all the work that I've ever put in baseball, it wasn't work.
"Nowadays, we don't like practices. I'm a repetition guy. I mean that's what I've always taught. Especially when I worked with hitters. Look at mechanics and things like that, your swing and all that, but at the same time when you gotta get a lot of reps. I'm a firm believer that you get better and better the more you swing."
He then mentioned Luis Arraez of the San Diego Padres, who won the AL batting title in 2022 with Minnesota and the NL batting title last season with Miami.
"He's a guy who worked hard and he made a hitter out of himself," Manuel said. "I can tell you that by his swing and plate coverage and what he can do with the bat and things like that. There are no shortcuts to being a good hitter."
Manuel also gave his opinion on this year's Phillies team.
"They've got a real good team," he said. "I love their team. They've got a good attitude. They like to play with one another. They get along good. And I like that. And also now that we've got most of our fans back, that lifts you up every day. You'd be surprised how much that counts."
When asked who would win a series between this year's Phillies and the 2008 team, Manuel didn't hesitate. His team would prevail.
"So for about five or six years that was the closest, that was the best attitude and chemistry that I've seen stay together for that long period," said Manuel, who managed the Phillies to a franchise-record 780 wins from 2005-13. "The best I've been around.
"When I was in Cleveland, we had some big-time players, but we also used to fight among ourselves. There were a lot of individuals and things like that. And our team when I managed here, they were easy. They loved to play and they loved to come to the ballpark. And they definitely liked to play in front of our fans."
They also loved their former manager, something else that has played a factor in Manuel's recovery.
"I can tell you this, I would say 75% of the people that called me told me that they loved me," he said, "and some of the guys, and I never thought I'd hear somebody tell you, sometimes it's hard for a man to tell a man that he loves him. But you know, like when you really know somebody and they admit it, it kind of means more to you."
Manuel, a special adviser to the general manager with the Phillies, has tried to get right back into the swing of his baseball duties. He attended spring training, then threw out the ceremonial first pitch at the team's season opener at Citizens Bank Park. He was back in Philly last week for Cole Hamels' retirement ceremony. He watched Reading play Tuesday night as he goes to see the organization's prospects, and said he plans to see Triple-A Lehigh Valley and Single-A Jersey Shore later this season.
"I feel like I definitely have worked hard," Manuel said. "But I also I think I've got a ways to go, and I'm going to make sure to give myself a chance to get physically healthy."
Standing behind the cage and being in a clubhouse will continue to help Manuel reach his goal, his wife believes.
"Still it's very much an up-and-down thing," she said. "I mean, right before we came up here, there was a couple of days there where it was just bizarrely like he just had a hard time forming a sentence. And then we come up here and he does two hours on a podcast and it's just seamless. So I think, definitely baseball and his love and passion (for it) has just been really what's led him to be as successful in recovery as he has been overall."
