Philadelphia Phillies Legend Suffers Stroke

The Philadelphia Phillies announced that former manager Charlie Manuel had a stroke on Saturday.

Former Philadelphia Phillies Charlie Manuel had a stroke on Saturday while undergoing a medical procedure, per the team.

The Phillies made an announcement via release.

“The Phillies have been informed that while undergoing a medical procedure today in a Florida hospital, Charlie Manuel suffered a stroke,” per the release.” The hospital was able to attend to Charlie immediately and subsequently remove a blood clot. The next 24 hours will be crucial to his recovery, and Charlie’s family asks that you keep him in your thoughts and prayers.”

The Phillies did not disclose Manuel’s medical procedure.

Manuel, who is 79 years old, was the Phillies’ manager from 2004-13, leading them to the 2008 World Series title, beating the Tampa Bay Rays. 

That was part of a five-season stretch in which the Phillies won the National League East title, reach the National League Championship Series three times and the World Series twice. The Phillies also reach the 2009 World Series, where they lost to the New York Yankees.

Manuel was fired 120 games into the 2013 season. He ended his Phillies career with a record of 780-636. He is a member of the Phillies Wall of Fame.

He had a career managerial record of 1,000-826. He also managed Cleveland from 2000-02.

He returned to the Phillies in 2019 as their hitting coach.

Manuel played in the Majors from 1969-75. He broke in with the Minnesota Twins and played for four seasons, before playing two seasons with the Los Angeles Dodgers. He was a .199 batter with four home runs and 43 RBI. He played from 1976-81 in Japanese baseball, wrapping up his playing career with the Yakult Swallows.

But, in Japan, he won a Japan Series title in 1978, was the Pacific League MVP in 1979 and was named to the Best Nine three times.