Humble start to Manuel's managerial career

Wisconsin Rapids, which never hosted a Midwest League team after 1983, had three players who made it to the major leagues for brief stints, including Danny Clay, who pitched 17 games for the Phillies in 1988.

Of course, those lower-minors Twins also had their manager, who kept moving up the line himself, eventually managing Cleveland, and then brought a championship to Philadelphia.

The stories about Manuel's temper may be the ones they still tell, but his old players also say he could be easygoing and fun-loving. One time, they were on a losing streak so Manuel ordered everybody to the bar after the game. The drinking-in-a-different-bar rule was waived that night. The manager was buying.

"We lost the next day, too," Parham said.

Losing never went down easily. Last year, Parham took his daughters to a Phillies game in Miami. Manuel's team lost to the Marlins that night.

Afterward, Parham and his girls waited by a fence. When he saw Manuel coming out, he yelled out that he had played for him in Wisconsin Rapids.

A couple of hours later, Manuel probably would have bought Parham a beer. But right then, the Phillies manager said, "What about it?"

Another man standing nearby yelled to Manuel, what was wrong with him?

"What's wrong?" Manuel said. "We just lost a damned baseball game."

Parham's daughters were shocked, he said.

And what did he think?

"I cracked up," Parham said. "It was exactly the same way I'd left Charlie 25 years ago."

Contact staff writer Mike Jensen

at 215-854-4489 or mjensen@phillynews.com.