Charlie Manuel is 66 years old, and has had complications with his health in the past.
Three of his contemporaries have either announced retirement, or will be announcing retirement.
As we know, Bobby Cox, 69, is calling it quits after the conclusion of this season. Joe Torre, 70, has also announced that he is stepping down. There has also been a buzz about Tony LaRussa, 65, looking into walking away from the game as well.
Dennis Deitch, of the Times Staff, asked Charlie if he’s thought about hanging it up soon. His response was:
“If it’s baseball, I don’t think I’ll ever say I’ve had enough of it,” Manuel said. “I have a lot of respect for those guys. They probably feel like they have things they want to do, but when they get out they might want to come right back.”
With Torre being the oldest manager currently in the MLB retiring, and Cox, the second oldest retiring, this would make Manuel MLB’s current oldest manager in the league. He has Cito Gaston, of the Toronto Blue Jays, beat by two months and 13 days.
The current average age of managers in the league now is 55 years old. The youngest being the Seattle Mariners interim manager, Daren Brown, at 43.
There are currently 10 managers who fall into the range of 50-55 years old, five of whom are 53 years old.
Fortunately for Philly fans, if it were up to Manuel, Philadelphia would hold the two oldest managers of all-time.
When asked when he would think about resigning Manuel responded, “I can see myself managing at 85. Pennsylvania’s known for having old coaches and managers.“
When Manuel made that statement he was referencing Joe Paterno of the Penn State Nittany Lions, but, what came to my mind was the oldest MLB manager to ever manage baseball, Connie Mack, who managed the Philadelphia Athletics until he was 87.
Manuel admits that his whole life is baseball. He tells Deitch:
“I don’t go nowhere…I go home and go to the ballpark. I go from the ballpark to the airplane and to a hotel…That’s all I do. I might walk downtown before I go to the ballpark, but I don’t go to bars. If I were younger, I’d go to bars. But that’s all I do. That’s all I want to see.”
So in light of all the manager retirement news, Manuel is here to stay…as long as it’s his choice.
For more writing from Vincent Heck visit www.vincentheckwriting.com
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