Former Phillies manager Charlie Manuel suffered a stroke on Saturday while undergoing a medical procedure in a Florida hospital, the club announced.
The hospital was able to attend to Manuel immediately, needing to remove a blood clot, though the Phillies said that the next 24 hours will be crucial to his recovery.
The full statement from the club:
The Phillies have been informed that while undergoing a medical procedure today in a Florida hospital, Charlie Manuel suffered a stroke. The hospital was able to attend to Charlie immediately and subsequently remove a blood clot. The next 24 hours will be crucial to his recovery, and Charlie’s family asks that you keep him in your thoughts and prayers at this time. [Phillies]Manuel, 79, managed the Phillies from 2005-2013, guiding the franchise through its golden era in a run of five straight NL East titles from 2007-2011, back-to-back NL pennants, and of course, the 2008 World Series championship – at the time, Philadelphia's first major sports title in 25 years.
His blue-collar mentality and affinity for hitting – "Hittin' Season," as he calls it – endeared him to the city and kept him around the club long after he was fired in 2013, serving as one of the Phillies' most prominent alumni ever since.
As a figure who grew wholly unique to Philadelphia, and as one of the few to have ever accomplished the impossible in this sports-crazed city, Phillies fans everywhere will absolutely be pulling for Manuel over these critical 24 hours.
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