Charlie Manuel

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Charles Fuqua Manuel, Jr. (born January 4, 1944), is a retired Major League baseball outfielder (MLB), as well as a former Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) player.

He appeared in more than six MLB seasons with the Minnesota Twins and Los Angeles Dodgers during his career before starring with the Yakult Swallows and Kintetsu Buffaloes in NPB.

Manuel earned the 1979 Pacific League Most Valuable Player Award after four seasons in NPB.

He coached and managed the Cleveland Indians and managed the Philadelphia Phillies, winning the World Series in 2008.

Manuel made John Mallee as the Phillies' hitting coach for the remainder of the season on August 13, 2019.

Early life

Despite being born in Northfork, West Virginia, Manuel's family was actually living in Virginia at the time, and he lived in Virginia throughout his childhood. He was born in a car while his mother, June, was visiting her mother. Manuel's father, Charles Sr., was a Pentecostal minister, and the family lived in Wythe and Grayson Counties in Virginia until they settled in Buena Vista, Virginia, when Charlie, the third of 11 children and the oldest son, was 12.

Manuel played baseball, football, basketball, and track and field at Parry McCluer High School in Buena Vista, where he captained the baseball and basketball teams. Basketball was his first passion, and he had received scholarship offers in the sport, but his plans and his life would drastically change right before his high school graduation.

Manuel's father died in April 1963 after being terribly ill with diabetes and heart problems. Charlie — who had just married with a child – asked that he care for his mother and siblings, leaving behind a suicide note. He turned down a basketball scholarship and a University of Pennsylvania to consider offers from the Pittsburgh Pirates, Detroit Tigers, Minnesota Twins, and New York Yankees, eventually signing with the Twins out of high school in 1963 for $30,000 ($270,000 in current dollar terms).

Personal life

Manuel has survived a heart attack, quadruple bypass surgery, a blocked and infected colon, and kidney cancer. He worked in the dugout with a colostomy bag underneath his jacket during his Indian days.

Manuel's mother June died in Buena Vista, Virginia, on October 10, 2008, at the age of 87. She had suffered a heart attack earlier this week. He was able to attend his mother's funeral because of the Phillies' playoff schedule.

Melissa "Missy" Martin, his husband, was married to him in 2015. He and his wife Susan are married in Florida. Chuck and Julie have two children, three step-children, Collin, Hailey, and Allie; and five grandchildren.

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Playing career

Manuel's 1971 topped the Portland Beavers by.372/.764 points, leading the International League in each category. In the Pacific Coast League, he batted.329/.433/.600 for the Albuquerque Dukes. Manuel batted.290/.483 with 624 RBIs in 3,430 at bats in the minor leagues, his highest at bats.

Manuel was a member of the Minnesota Twins from 1969 to 1976, and the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1974 and 1975, mainly as a pinch-hitter and left fielder. He was referred to as "Chuck" Manuel on his first Topps baseball cards. In 384 at bats, he batted.198 runs at bats.

Manuel's baseball career began when he left the United States to play in Japan. Manuel was dubbed "Aka-Oni" (The Red Devil) by fans and colleagues, who was largely known for his tenacious style of play and his power-hitting skills.

With 42 home runs (3rd) and 97 runs batted in (fiveth), he helped the Yakult Swallows to second place for the first time in franchise history. With 39 home runs (3rd in the league) and 103 RBIs (5th), he helped the Swallows win their first pennant and the Japan Championship Series in 1978.

Manuel played for the Kintetsu Buffaloes in the Pacific League's first eight weeks of the 1979 season. He was on a spree to smash the Japanese record of 16 home runs in a month. He was beaned by Soroku Yagisawa's pitch at a game against the Lotte Orions on June 19, 1979, effectively stopping Manuel from breaking the record. In six places, Manuel's jaw was broken. He was wearing a dental bridge as a result of a minor leagues crash. There was no way for doctors to wire together, so they stuck three metal plates in his head and deleted nerves from his face. Manuel was released from the hospital after six weeks and reopened playing regularly, against the advice of doctors and worried families. The Buffaloes were struggling to hang on to the Pacific League lead and had never won a pennant. Manuel wore a football facemask helmet to shield his jaw. He wore the helmet for the first few games but decided against using it because it obscured his view at the plate. He took the home run crown in 1979 after a 37 home runs to finish the season. He led Kintetsu to its first pennant victory. He was named Most Valuable Player (leading the league),.434 (2nd in the league), and 94 RBIs (5th) as the nation's first American to receive the award since 1964.

Manuel shocked Japanese baseball by going to Virginia for a week to attend his son's high school graduation. Manuel's contract enabled it, but team officials were incredulous that he would leave the team two games out of first place with three weeks to play in the first half of the season. Manuel was back to lead the team in the second half championship and the pennant. He finished the season on a high note (leading the league) with 88 runs (4th), 48 home runs (leading the league), and 129 RBIs (leading the league). To that point, it was the best season for an American player in Japan. Manuel received no awards this year.

He returned to the Yakult Swallows in 1981 after being released by Kintetsu for labour talks.

Manuel ended his productive career in Japan with a.303 career average, 189 home runs, and 491 RBIs. In those days, he was considered one of the finest imported baseball players to Japan, as well as brothers Leron and Leon Bass.

Manuel learned to speak Japanese during his stay in Japan. In the United States, the language skills and experience in Japan were invaluable for coaching players such as So Taguchi and Tadahito Iro.

Managing career

Manuel's playing days came short due to his injuries, including his beaning in Japan. He returned to the United States to work as a scout for the Minnesota Twins organization before turning to coaching. Manuel compiled a 610–588 (.509) record in his nine years as a minor league manager for the Twins (1983–1987) and Cleveland Indians (1990–1993) farm systems, winning the Pacific Coast League and International League championships in his last two seasons (1992-1993). He was voted Manager of the Year three times (1984, 1992, 1993), and he coached the IL All-Star team in 1993.

Manuel returned to the Majors in 1988 as the Indians' hitting coach (1988–1999), where he served under his tutelage (1989–1995), becoming the first team to post 1,000 runs since the 1950 Boston Red Sox. In 1994 and 1995, the club also led the league in home runs. He was the Indians' manager from 2000 to 2002, leading the team to the American League Central Division title in 2001. He was India's 37th boss.

On July 12, 2002, he was fired as the Cleveland Indians' boss due to a labour dispute. He finished with a record of 220 victories and 190 losses.

Manuel was hired by the Philadelphia Phillies as special assistant to the general manager after he was fired as the Cleveland Indians' general manager. Manuel was hired as the team's 51st manager following the 2004 season, replacing Larry Bowa. The Phillies went 88-74, just one game behind the Wild Card in 2005.

The Phillies fell just short of the playoffs in 2006, this time three games behind the wildcard. However, the season did have some positives that bode well for next season. Ryan Howard, the second-year slugger, earned a franchise-record 58 home runs, second baseman Chase Utley was named a starter in the 2006 MLB All-Star Game, and rookie pitcher Cole Hamels showed improvement and the potential to be the club's ace on the first day.

In 2005, the team got off to a slow start (in 2005, they opened at 9-12; in 2006, 6–10). They started the season with a 3–9 record and a post-game press conference following the team's 8–1 loss to the New York Mets on April 17, 2007. Philadelphia radio personality Howard Eskin frequently questioned Manuel why he did not threaten his players. Eskin, a controversial afternoon drive host on local sports-talk station WIP-610, had slammed Manuel since the manager's hire three years ago. Following the clash, the Phillies lost two of their next three games before going on a five-game winning streak. The Phillies took another leap forward in their next 13 games after a string of losses, winning only 5 of their next 13 games. On July 19th, the Phillies were still one game below.500 on July 19, and only four games over.500 on August 25. The Phillies went 23–11 from August 25 to overtake the Mets at the end of the season.

Manuel's Phillies suffered with injuries all season, including the loss of newly acquired pitcher Freddy Garca for the season. Howard, Utley, and the Hamels all missed significant playing time. Hamels dominated the pitching staff with a 15-5 record, while Jimmy Rollins set a new Major League Baseball record for at bats in a season with 716 games played, earning the distinction of National League MVP for the first time in a season with 716 total. The Philadelphia Phillies earned the National League East title from the collapsing Mets, but the Colorado Rockies eliminated them in the first round of the playoffs. Manuel came in second place in the National League Manager of the Year Award for 2007.

The 2008 season got off to a slow start with 8 wins and 10 losses, much like 2005 to 2007. They recovered quickly after their slow start to reach the.500 mark on April 24. On the final day of the season, they dominated 92 games and earned 1st place in the NL East for the second year in a row. Manuel led the 2008 Phillies to their second world title on October 29, 2009. It was his first World Series appearance after years of close calls (including the 1997 Cleveland Indians). He was named Manager of the Year by fans as MLB "This Year in Baseball Awards." Manuel signed a labor deal with the Phillies on December 9, 2008, committing him to the team through the 2011 season.

Manuel became the first manager in franchise history to lead the Phillies to two straight World Series appearances on October 21, 2009. It was the first time a National League team had fought back-to-back pennants since the 1995–96 Atlanta Braves. Manuel was chastised for failing to pitch Cliff Lee in Game 4, which the Phillies eventually lost. Lee defended his decision by claiming that he hadn't pitched on three days' rest before. Manuel came in sixth in the 2009 National League Manager of the Year Award.

Manuel led the Phillies to their fourth straight NL East title in 2010. The Phillies were the third NL team to play in the postseason in four seasons, beginning with the Braves (1991–1995, except 1994), and the New York Giants (1921–24). The Phillies finished the season 97-65, the first time in franchise history that Philadelphia had a season with Major League Baseball's best record. Manuel was named the recipient of the Chuck Tanner Major League Baseball Manager of the Year Award in November. However, the Phillies will be eliminated by the eventual World Series champion San Francisco Giants in the NLCS.

Manuel led the Phillies to their fifth straight appearance in as many years in September 2011, with the quickest post-season clinch ever: at game #150. Records were set during the sweep of the Atlanta Braves' last series against the Atlanta Braves on September 26-28. Danny Ozark became the second manager in the Phillies' history to lead a team to at least 100 wins in a season after coming back to back-to-back 101-win seasons in 1976 and 1977. Manuel's next day, with the Phillies' 7–1 victory, was the start of a franchise-record tie with Gene Mauch, who has 645 victories in regular season. With a win in 13 innings, he led the Phillies to a franchise-record 102 regular season victories. With his win, he won his 646th game, a new Phillies' managerial record for victories and assuring that the Phillies will face the St. Louis Cardinals, who beat them in the NLDS.

He led the Phillies to an 81–81 record in 2012. It was the first time in five years that the team had failed to qualify for the postseason.

Manuel won his 1,000th game on August 12 in 2013. Manuel did not win another game with the Phillies, and after the team lost their 15th game out of 20, Manuel was fired on August 16. He was recalled by third-base coach Ryne Sandberg. The majority of reactions surrounding the league and the Phillies fan base expressed sadness and gratitude to Manuel's service. Several Philadelphia veterans, including Chase Utley and Cole Hamels, expressed regret and regret after learning that their lack of production resulted in Manuel's dismissal; they regarded Manuel as a father figure. "It was a roller coaster of a day mentally," Sandberg said the next day. It affected me and I suspect it has a lot of others, and I suspect it is affecting the players." Manuel was lauded by the media for his guidance in the situation, but sportswriters largely dismissed him of the Phillies' results, focusing on his lack of having better players. When asked if he had enough pieces to win the last two years, he replied, "the last two years?" No. I can tell you straight out that I can." He had a record of 780 victories and 636 losses. Manuel is the only one to have won 1,000 games out of a team's six seasons. He is also one of only a dozen players to have won a thousand games without losing a thousand (of which, six are in the Hall of Fame). Despite stepping down, Manuel returned to the Phillies in 2019 as a senior advisor to the General Manager.

He was hired as the Phillies' hitting coach on August 13, 2019, replacing John Mallee.

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