LOS ANGELES - Six days and four baseball games later, Phillies manager Charlie Manuel will return to Roanoke, Va., today to bury his mother tomorrow.
June Manuel died Friday morning, before Game 2 of the National League Championship Series, at Roanoke Memorial Hospital after a brief illness. She was 87.
Manuel said the plan all along was to fly after last night's Game 5. In a decision he said his mother would have supported, Manuel chose to stay with his team after learning of her death.
He knew, even if the series had been extended to a Game 6 in Philadelphia tomorrow, he could attend the funeral and still return in time to manage.
"My mom and I are very close," said Manuel earlier this week. "I knew she would definitely want me to finish the season. . . . There's no way I'd miss her funeral, but at the same time, hopefully, this is going to work out."
Added Manuel: "This is something you've got to deal with, and it's all part of life. You have to definitely be strong and find a way to get through."
Has being far from home been difficult these last few days?
"Not really, when you say far away from home," Manuel said. "Nowadays it seems with all the travel that I did to get down there through the years, I kind of got used to it. And to me, home seems very close. So it's not too far that I can't get there, and I think that's what makes things easier at times, too."
Last Friday, Phillies centerfielder Shane Victorino also was dealing with his own grief as his grandmother, Irene Victorino, died at 82. Last week, Victorino said he might miss her funeral. On Tuesday, Victorino said that is now unlikely.
"The plans are to put it off until after the World Series," said Victorino, whose family is Catholic.
Have memories of her given Victorino a little extra inspiration?
"She might be the one that's lifting me up," said Victorino, who had the critical game-tying two-run home run in the eighth inning of Game 4 on Monday. "It's nice to be able to forget about what's going on off the field. You can get away. Get away from family because it's definitely a sad time. God's first, family's second, and after that everything falls into place."
