Charlie Manuel's Memoirs of Geisha Girls

Philadelphia Magazine's Matthew Teague has put together a really interesting feature on Phillies manager Charlie Manuel, entitled, "Charlie Manuel: Inside the Mind of a ... Genius?" There's a preview up at their Web site, but we heard Teague on the WIP Morning Show, and they got into some great stories about Uncle Charlie.

The first was about his keen ability as a hitting instructor. Teague said Charlie took him out onto the empty field, a cup of coffee in one hand, and a plate of biscuits and gravy in the other, and proceeded to give him a lesson in the finer points of the swing. Angelo could barely contain himself in getting to the next topic of interest in the article: Charlie's run in with Japanese comfort women during his time in the Land of the Rising Sun. A clipping from the Philly Mag article detailing what happened during Charlie's first trip to the bath house after the jump.

His translator — a Japanese man with the unexpected name of Luigi — entered his room. “You need to come take a bath,” Luigi said.

Manuel resisted, but Luigi explained: “This is for you. This is very special.”

Luigi and another player helped Manuel down some stairs, where he found a vast rippling bath with hot water pouring over a wall of rocks into a pool. The water steamed. Manuel felt too weak to protest, so he eased in, and the water seemed to boil the flesh off his bones. “Acchhhhhhh,” he cried, crawling into a corner of the bath to wait in solitude for a nude and water-logged death. After a while, exhaustion won its battle with pain, so Manuel laid his head back and closed his eyes. In his half-sleep, he heard distinctly feminine giggling. He lifted his head to see 40 or 50 naked Japanese women padding toward him.

Was this the “special” bath?

The women started playing with his reddish hair and muscular arms, laughing. Manuel lay there in a horror of paralysis, unable to lift even a hand. He thought, You’ve got to be kidding me.

Unfortunately, Manuel's details ended there, but from this section and the brilliant article Teague put together, we see a very different picture of the Phillies manager than the one we might be accustomed to. Sure he's still a hayseed, but he's also very worldly in his experiences and perspectives. The enduring theme that has been a part of Manuel's tenure here and at previous stops continues as well: his players love him, and completely discredit any notion that he's anything less than a great baseball mind.

>>Charlie Manuel: Inside the Mind of a ... Genius? [Philadelphia Magazine]

Comments

[Loqiel]

"Horror of paralysis". Reminds me of the "terrible peril" in Monty Python's Holy Grail. Go Uncle Cholly!

[johndewar]

Charlie Manuel: Getting quality Asian tail since the Carter administration.

[Mike H.]

Now I know how he hit all those home runs to win the Japanese World Series in the late 70s! Aka Oni, you sooooo strong...

[Camp Tiger Claw]

Holy shit. This is more Terry Mullhollhand fanfic isn't it? Fess up.

[kwahraps]

Sir Lancelot: We were in the nick of time. You were in great peril.
Sir Galahad: I don't think I was.
Sir Lancelot: You were, Sir Galahad. You were in terrible peril.
Sir Galahad: Look, let me go back in there and face the peril.
Sir Lancelot: No, it's too perilous.

[Chamomiles Davis]

I bet you're gay.

[ricky]

or seriously lacking a female

[Rick]

Isn't there a Luigi on the Phils coaching staff?