Phillies: Charlie Manuel has a Zoom reunion with 2008 players, coach
A Phillies reunion is always fun, especially when Charlie Manuel is involved
The Phillies were scheduled to have Alumni Weekend in early August but with COVID-19 delaying the start of the season, a group of former players and coaches got together for a Zoom reunion.
Charlie Manuel, the winningest manager in Phillies history, had an opportunity to sit down with eight former players and coaches from the 2008 World Series team during a Zoom reunion that will be available on Youtube.
A picture of the reunion was shared on Manuel’s Twitter page.
Zoom reunion w Howard, Lidge, Burrell, Utley, Vic, Billmeyer, Eyre & Werth. Such good stuff! Loved seeing all the guys. I almost cried they said such nice things to me. Very touching. My teams @Phillies the best in my 50+ years in baseball. It’s gonna play on YouTube. pic.twitter.com/St5euMFcZe
— Charlie Manuel (@CMBaseball41) June 17, 2020
It’s good to see Manuel talking to his guys a couple of months after a health scare that put him in the hospital several times for extended periods of time.
According to Twitter posts and subsequent interviews, on Dec. 16 Manuel had infected hernia repair mesh removed in Florida. In the days to follow he had a bowel resection and was transferred from Florida to Philadelphia thanks to owner John Middleton.
On Dec. 30 he dealt with a bowel obstruction but was released from Jefferson on Jan. 11. Several former players, including Aaron Rowand, came out to check in on their former manager.
The Youtube version of this call should be excellent with Chase Utley, Ryan Howard, Shane Victorino, Jayson Werth, Brad Lidge, Pat Burrell, Scott Eyre, and former bullpen coach Mick Billmeyer along with Manuel.
That group was essentially the core of the 2008 World Series team, though Jimmy Rollins and Cole Hamels might have been the biggest pieces of that club.
When that video becomes public (likely after some edits and bleeps) we’ll have that for you here.