Former Philadelphia Phillies manager Charlie Manuel suffered a stroke while undergoing a medical procedure in Florida on Saturday, the team announced. On Sunday, however, the Phillies provided an encouraging update.
"This morning, the Phillies received a positive update from Charlie Manuel's wife, Missy," the statement reads. "Charlie has made progress over the past 12 hours and his doctors are encouraged."
When the team earlier announced that Manuel, 79, had suffered a stroke on Saturday, the Phillies noted that, "The next 24 hours will be crucial to his recovery." Sunday's update indicates that Manuel is indeed making progress during the critical period following the stroke and the removal of the blood clot.
Manuel is a regular at Phillies' spring training games in Florida and he attended home games at Citizens Bank Park during the team's run to the National League pennant a year ago. Manuel managed Philadelphia from 2005-13 and was at the helm for the franchise's 2008 World Series championship. The Phillies went 780-636 (.551) during his nine seasons.
Before his stint in Philadelphia, Manuel managed Cleveland from 2000-02, leading the team during a 220-190 (.537) record. He owns a career 1,000-826 (.548) managerial record and has won six division titles, two pennants, and the one World Series in 2008. Manuel was added to the Phillies Wall of Fame in 2014.
Manuel played six seasons in the big leagues as a spare outfielder with the Minnesota Twins and Los Angeles Dodgers from 1969-75. He also played in Japan from 1976-81. Manuel began his coaching career in the minors with the Twins in the early 1980s.
