Charlie Manuel returns to Phillies camp after life-threatening health scare

Charlie Manuel entered professional baseball as a teenager and has spent the majority of the last six decades around the game, making the 77-year-old more than accustomed to spending each February and March preparing for a new season.

But he was absent last year from the Phillies camp, spending spring training at his home recovering from a life-threatening health scare. He underwent an emergency bowel resection in December of 2019 and spent a month in the hospital.

Manuel’s presence – the manager of the 2008 World Series champion Phillies in the red pullover jacket behind the batting cage analyzing yet another swing – had become so familiar in Clearwater, Fla., that it was a jarring last year without him.

But earlier this month, Manuel returned.

“It’s absolutely great,” he said. “The first time I saw batting practice the other day, I flipped out. I haven’t seen BP in two years. Really, I was so happy I didn’t say anything. I just stood there and watched. I watched every bit of it ... Here at spring training, I can’t explain to you how I feel. Excited.”

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Manuel is one of the Phillies’ senior advisers to the general manager, which keeps him around the ballpark during the season and sends him to the minor-league outposts to check in on prospects.

But he never made it to a ballpark last summer as he continued to recover from his surgery, and COVID-19 restrictions limited how many people could attend games. He wasn’t around the batting cage or wearing his pullover jacket, but Manuel still kept his eyes on the team.

“Let me tell you something,” Manuel said. “Last year when the Phillies were playing, they played 60 games, and the ones that I could see on television, I saw from the start of the game, every pitch, all the way to the end of every game on TV. If I needed to, I could get out of my chair in between innings and get a drink from the refrigerator or something like that. I didn’t miss a pitch. I can honestly say that.”

Manuel said he feels good, and he was in a great mood Friday as he talked about the team he’s watched this spring in Florida. He’s around the batting cages, spending February and March the way he knows best. A new season is five weeks away, and Manuel will be ready.

“I mingle and talk to so many people, I missed that,” Manuel said. “I missed that part of talking and seeing the players play and sitting there analyzing them and watching them play the game and how we hit and how we pitch and how we play the game. I could see that on television, but nothing is like going to the ballpark and going into the clubhouse and going down to the field and conversing with the players. ... Telling them how good they are. I like to mingle. I missed it. I definitely missed it.”

The Phillies will likely play a seven-inning game on Sunday against the Detroit Tigers when they open Grapefruit League play in Lakeland, Fla. Ivan Nova will start for the Phillies and the only broadcast of the game will be the Tigers’ radio call, which can be heard on MLB’s website. ... The Phillies announced that they have agreed to terms on 2021 contracts for all of their players who are not yet eligible for arbitration.

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