Phillies legends will gather in Clearwater this winter for spring training
Six former Phillies and coaches will join manager Gabe Kapler’s staff in Clearwater for spring training as special instructors.
Bobby Abreu, Mike Schmidt, Dan Plesac, Brad Lidge, Larry Bowa, and Charlie Manuel have each been extended formal invitations to Clearwater. Schmidt, Bowa, and Manuel are veterans of Phillies spring training having either played or coached with the team over several decades.
Schmidt, the greatest Phillie of all-time, joins the all-time winningest manager Manuel and one of the longest-tenured members of the organization with Bowa. The 72-year-old Bowa was transitioned from the dugout as Pete Mackanin’s bench coach to special advisor to general manager Matt Klentak, a title Manuel shares.
Lidge is becoming a staple of spring training as he enters his second consecutive season as a guest instructor. While not raising a family in Colorado, Lidge co-hosts a daily radio show on MLB Network Radio.
Plesac, another member of the MLB Network, worked on the spring training staff two years ago and will be the most veteran pitching voice in the room. A reliever pitching 18 years in the majors, Plesac spent two years in Philadelphia following a trade with Toronto for minor leaguer Cliff Politte.
Abreu, a fan favorite from the early-2000’s is the newcomer to the coaching staff. Acquired as a 23-year-old outfielder from the Tampa Bay Devil Rays for Kevin Stocker, Abreu played nine seasons in Philadelphia hitting .303 with 1,474 hits in 1353 games.
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The Phillies traded Abreu and the late pitcher Cory Lidle to the New York Yankees for C.J. Henry, Jesus Sanchez, Carlos Monasterios and Matt Smith at the trade deadline in 2006.
Two names sadly missing from the list of guest instructors are pitcher Larry Andersen and the late Roy Halladay. Anderson, a long-time radio color analyst for the club, announced last season he would cut down his travel going forward. It’s likely the 62-year-old Andersen makes an appearance in Clearwater primarily as a broadcaster.
Halladay passed away over the offseason in a tragic one-person plane crash in the Gulf of Mexico. The two-time Cy Young winner lived in Clearwater with his wife and two sons, and worked with Phillies minor league pitchers on the mental aspects of the game.
A recently released autopsy revealed Halladay had morphine, an amphetamine, the antidepressant Prozac, and Ambien in his system at the time of his death. He also had a .01 blood alcohol content. The FAA requires that pilots not consume any alcohol within eight hours of flight.
The New York Daily News also reports Halladay had 72 ng/mL of Zolpidem, an insomnia drug, in his body.
Halladay’s oldest son Braden recently committed to play baseball at Penn State for manager Rob Cooper.