Skip to main content

Charlie Manuel receives incredible honor from high school alma mater

Lawrence Andrew Fernandezby:Lawrence Fernandez•04/21/25•

lawandfern

Charlie Manuel
Mar 29, 2024; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Phillies former manager Charlie Manuel prepares to throw out a first pitch on opening day against the Atlanta Braves at Citizens Bank Park. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports

Charlie Manuel is an accomplished baseball lifer whose career spans stints with Major League Baseball and Nippon Professional Baseball. To honor his legacy, his high school alma mater will name its baseball field after him.

As shared by the Philadelphia Inquirer’s Scott Lauber, Parry McCluer High School will rename their baseball diamond to Charlie Manuel Field. The ceremony will take place at this Buena Vista, Virginia, school on May 3. The school hopes this event will inspire their high school baseball team to bounce back from their 1-9 start this season.

Leading the Philadelphia Phillies to victory in the 2008 World Series is Manuel’s defining achievement in a playing and managerial career that spanned over five decades. While playing in Asia, he also won the 1978 Japan Series with the Yakult Swallows and was the 1979 Pacific Series Most Valuable Player.

Before turning pro, Charlie Manuel was a four-sport star for the Fighting Blues. In addition to baseball, he also played basketball, football, and athletics. While he was keen on taking a basketball scholarship, his plan changed after his father committed suicide.

Instead, he entertained offers from MLB teams, including the New York Yankees, Detroit Tigers, and Pittsburgh Pirates. However, he signed with the Minnesota Twins in 1963 for a $30,000 minor league deal. Six years later, he made his first MLB appearance with Minnesota. He also played for the Los Angeles Dodgers before playing five seasons in Japan.

As a manager, he guided the then-Cleveland Indians for three seasons, leading them to the playoffs once. In 2005, he became the Phillies’ manager, a role he held for eight seasons. Aside from the World Series victory, the Phillies made five postseason appearances under his guidance.

In 2019, Charlie Manuel became the Phillies’ interim hitting coach, a role he held until the end of that season. It was his last coaching role in MLB. As he won battles on the baseball field, he also won bouts against a heart attack, an infected colon, and kidney cancer.