Former Philadelphia Phillies manager Charlie Manuel talks life after stroke, how baseball played role in recovery
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Last September, Charlie Manuel couldn't speak and couldn't walk.
But after a difficult fight, the legendary former Phillies manager is looking and sounding like himself again following a stroke he had in September 2023.
"I always say a little means a lot," Manuel said in the first on-camera video since his stroke.
That's Manuel's motto right now – another Charlie-ism, if you will.
Following a stroke that left him partially paralyzed for a time, moving a little in the right direction means a lot.
"We all just had to talk to him to tell him what had happened but they were helping him and he would be OK. Sorry, it was pretty dramatic and emotional and I cry all the time," Missy Manuel, Charlie's wife, said.
Missy Manuel has pushed Charlie through months of grueling physical and speech therapy.
And of course, the one thing that has helped keep Charlie Manuel engaged is the game he loves most.
"I think it really helped, especially in my speech because for maybe two or three weeks I didn't really care about it. It was useless for me I thought," Charlie Manuel said.
"His first talking and being able to communicate — it was like how clear his memory was and cognition was as it related to baseball. He might have been confused about some other things but nothing about baseball ever left his mind," Missy Manuel said.
"Charlie Manuel was in the ICU watching Phillies games on the iPad. He could not express a lot — but you could just tell he was second-guessing and reacting to the game." Missy Manuel said.
Now that Charlie Manuel can move more freely, he's back to doing what he does best – watching the game that he's been around for more than 60 years.
"I go to Little League games, things like that, people don't know about that," Manuel said. "I'll put my hat on, glasses on. Watch Little League games, watch who's a good player, stuff like that and I watch high school games."
"He just turned 80, and doesn't seem like a big deal...I don't feel like he's ready to stop because and I don't think there's anything that should keep him from stopping because it's what he loves to do," Missy Manuel said.
Charlie Manuel was once a baseball player in the majors for the Minnesota Twins and Los Angeles Dodgers. Like any player, he had goals.
But what are his goals now?
"I still wanna enjoy baseball — baseball is something that I think I'll always be around," Charlie Manuel said. "As long as I'm living — I'm gonna stay interested in it."
Charlie Manuel is hoping that by speaking out, he can push other stroke victims to find their voice as well.
Charlie Manuel also has a line of shirts — $5 from each sale will benefit the Education for Children and Youth Experiencing Homelessness Teen Program at the School District of Philadelphia.
