Phillies Legend's Stroke Progress Marked By Poem

What’s the easiest way to see how much progress former Philadelphia Phillies manager Charlie Manuel has made since his stroke in September?

Apparently, it’s poetry.

In The Athletic, Phillies beat writer Matt Gelb detailed the iconic former manager’s recovery from the stroke, which occurred during a mid-September surgery.

Since the stroke, Manuel has made steady progress in an attempt to reclaim as much of his movement and speech as possible. He has worked with both physical therapists and speech therapists, which is where his poetry comes in.

Manuel is not known as a poet. But, as a player, Manuel had some time on his hands.

He played in the Majors for six years (1969-75). He broke in with the Minnesota Twins and played with Twins legend Harmon Killebrew. “Play” might be a strong term. He made 413 plate appearances with the Twins and batted .199 with four home runs and 40 RBI.

It was during those years in Minnesota, playing alongside Killebrew, that Manuel wrote a poem. He told The Athletic that it was a poem he recited to himself, to the point where Manuel could speak it from memory for decades.

That was until after the stroke. For months in working with his speech therapist, Pam Smith, he has struggled to get his speech back. Smith has found ways to draw Manuel out, including by talking baseball through trivia with the 80-year-old Phillies legend.

It was during these sessions that Manuel disclosed that he wrote a poem during his playing days with the Twins, something that took Smith aback.

The poem was called “My Most Memorable Day.” In that poem, Manuel wrote about finding himself pinch-hitting for Killebrew, facing Baltimore Orioles Hall-of-Fame pitcher Jim Palmer and hitting a home run.

But, even in Manuel’s imagination, he comes up a bit short. The poem ends:

The roar from the stands gave a deafening scream…

Then Charlie fell out of bed, it was only a dream.

Still, Manuel’s progress has been significant since the stroke, so much so that the senior adviser to the general manager hopes his speech is ready for him to go to Spring Training next month, should the Phillies want him.

And why wouldn’t the Phillies want him to attend?

Manuel was the Phillies’ manager from 2004-13, leading them to the 2008 World Series title. That was part of a five-season stretch in which the Phillies won the National League East title five times, reached the National League Championship Series three times and the World Series twice. The Phillies lost to the New York Yankees in the 2009 World Series.

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.