Charlie Manuel Returns For Field Naming
Parry McCluer High School has been playing baseball on its current field for two decades now, but if one were to ask the name of the diamond, there would likely be more than a few quizzical looks in response.
Not anymore. The anonymous field finally got a name on Saturday afternoon when it was christened Charlie Manuel Field in honor of one of Buena Vista’s favorite sons, who turned his exploits as a PM athlete into a long and successful professional career as a player and manager.
“I’m lucky,” said Manuel at the unveiling of the new field, prior to the PM baseball team’s game against local rival Rockbridge County. “I’ve been lucky all my life. I’m happy to be here. I’m happy to have the field named after me. I’m proud of that. I love Buena Vista.”
A 1963 PM graduate, Manuel was a four-sport star during his playing days at his alma mater. He had offers to play basketball in college, but he opted for baseball after batting well over .500 his senior year with the PM nine. He spent six years in the major leagues with the Minnesota Twins and Los Angeles Dodgers, but he achieved stardom in Japan.
AT THE PREGAME reception, Charlie Manuel speaks to the crowd gathered at the PM gym. (Stephanie Mikels Blevins photo)
Signing with the Yakult Swallows in 1976 and spending six years playing baseball in Japan, Manuel finished his career in the Far East with a .303 batting average and 189 home runs. His most memorable season was 1979 with the Kintetsu Buffaloes, when he posted a .324 average with 37 home runs and 94 RBI in only 97 games to win MVP honors. He was even better the next season, batting .325 to go along with 48 home runs.
Manuel gained his fame in the United States as a Major League Baseball coach and manager. After working as a manager in the minor leagues and a hitting instructor with the then-Cleveland Indians, Manuel was named manager in Cleveland in 2000 and led the Indians to back-to-back 90-win seasons. He was hired as the manager for the Philadelphia Phillies in 2005, and in his fourth season at the helm, he helped lead the Phillies to a World Series title.
In 12 seasons as an MLB manager, Manuel posted exactly 1,000 wins and a .548 winning percentage. “I’m here talking to you today because I had great players,” Manuel said.
As fond as his memories of professional baseball are, he is just as fond of his memories of growing up in Buena Vista and playing sports at PM.
Manuel, who was among the members of the first class inducted in the PM Athletic Hall of Fame, noted the time he hit a home run against Nelson County as an eighthgrader, and he mentioned one of the home runs he hit, with two strikes, during his first season as a varsity player. Like many athletes, however, some of his best memories happened off the field.
“All the jokes on the bus,” he recalled. “My teammates. I loved every time I got to play with those guys.”
Many of those friends were on hand Saturday when Manuel was honored by PM, a plan that had been in the works for about a year.
“We initially brought it up last summer,” said Parry Mc-Cluer athletic director Mike Cartolaro, “and had to go through the stages with the school board. It got OK’d in December, and we rolled with it.”
“Charlie means a whole lot to this community and to this school,” Cartolaro added.
The feeling is mutual. “My memories of Buena Vista will always be here,” Manuel said. “I love everything about it. I’ve had a long ride, but it was worth every bit of it.”
It is probably a good bet that most, if not all, of the people in Buena Vista know the name Charlie Manuel. Now most will know the name of the PM baseball field; it has Manuel’s name on it.
CHARLIE MANUEL autographs a baseball for a fan. (Stephanie Mikels Blevins photo)
HOLDING THE jersey that PM athletic director Mike Cartolaro (front, wearing khaki pants) presented to him, Charlie Manuel gathers on the field with Cartolaro and the PM baseball players and coaches. (Stephanie Mikels Blevins photo)
THREE OF Charlie Manuel’s teammates from the 1962-63 PM sports season gather with him during the pregame reception. They are (from left) Dickie Lewis, Roger Mikels and Gordy Staton.
CHARLIE MANUEL shakes hands with Rockbridge County High School senior pitcher Brady Edwards (16) as other members of the RC baseball team wait to greet Manuel during the pregame ceremony. (Stephanie Mikels Blevins photo)
RONNIE COFFEY (far left), a PM alumnus and a photographer for The News-Gazette, joins (from left) Charlie Manuel, Susan Nelson Curtis, Manuel’s niece, and PM alumnus and Athletic Hall of Fame committee member Mac Felts in looking at photos and memorabilia from Manuel’s baseball career. (Stephanie Mikels Blevins photo)
ABOVE, Charlie Manuel waves to the crowd before throwing out the first pitch. AT RIGHT, PM athletic director Mike Cartolaro presents Manuel with a Blues’ jersey with his name on it as PM principal Todd Jones watches in the background. (Stephanie Mikels Blevins photos)
CHARLIE MANUEL throws out the first pitch as PM senior Bready Houck waits behind the plate to catch it and PM athletic director Mike Cartolaro watches. (Stephanie Mikels Blevins photo)
