Lesley's Last Word: Charlie Manuel, A Class Act
By Lesley Van Arsdall
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- The day after he was dismissed by the Phillies, Charlie Manuel was greeting fans and signing autographs at the Granite Run Mall.
Given the circumstances, most people would probably not have honored that commitment , but not Charlie. He was supposed to stay an hour and a half, yet spent nearly two and a half hours there. That's just how Charlie is, a class act.
It shouldn't have ended the way it did for Charlie. Fired just days after he won his 1,000th game as a major league manage, Manuel is the most successful manager in Phillies history: almost nine years and 780 wins and a World Series title. He was handed a team with a depleted bullpen, an aging core and a team completely dependent on its starting rotation. What more could he have done?
Ryne Sandberg, good luck.
