John Vukovich

John Vukovich, 59, one of the most popular and respected coaches in Phillies history, died of brain cancer early yesterday at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital. Mr. Vukovich, better known as "Vuke" to everyone in baseball, spent 41 years in professional baseball and 31 with the Phillies as a player, coach, interim manager and front-office adviser. Fiercely loyal to his family, friends and the Phillies, Mr. Vukovich had a tough exterior, but those who knew him also saw his considerable soft side.

The Phillies' quartet of general manager Ed Wade, adviser Dallas Green, assistant GM Ruben Amaro, and scouting director Mike Arbuckle formulated their first list of managerial candidates yesterday. By the end of the afternoon, they had a dozen names that interested them. The only candidates Wade revealed were longtime Phillies coach John Vukovich and former Phillies catcher Darren Daulton. "We've got a group of guys who have some level of experience in the major leagues, we have Darren who has no major-league staff experience, and we have guys with big-league managerial experience on the list," Wade said.

DODGERS President and CEO Dennis Mannion: Former Phillies front office executive. General manager Ned Colletti: Ex-Philadelphia Journal sports writer who became close friends with Phillies senior adviser Dallas Green and late coach John Vukovich when all worked for the Cubs. Vice president Tommy Lasorda: Proud native of Norristown. Third-base coach Larry Bowa: Former Phillies player, coach and manager. First-base coach Mariano Duncan: Played for Phillies' 1993 pennant-winning team.

I take great exception to the letter titled "Phils' Pantheon" (letter, Aug. 7). It seems that the author has some agenda regarding the Phillies and their willingness to recognize the accomplishments of black and Hispanic players. He also seems to think that the Phillies organization has failed to recognize the 1980 World Championship Team, and claims that the club has placed too much emphasis on the 1993 National League Champions. He centers most of his argument on the Phillies Wall of Fame.

Former major-league infielder Denis Menke became the sixth member of new manager Nick Leyva's Phillies coaching staff yesterday, joining the club as hitting coach. Menke, 48, has coached in the major leagues eight years, the last six with the Houston Astros, for which he has been third-base coach, first-base coach and hitting instructor. He also served two years as first-base coach for the Toronto Blue Jays. An infielder for 13 seasons with the Milwaukee and Atlanta Braves, Astros and Cincinnati Reds, Menke had a lifetime .250 average in 1,598 games.

If all goes well in two rehabilitation appearances at single-A Lakewood this weekend, Wayne Gomes will rejoin the Phillies' bullpen Tuesday in Pittsburgh. Without Gomes, the bullpen has struggled. "Setup men are just as valuable as closers," Phillies manager Larry Bowa said before last night's game against the Baltimore Orioles. "If you can't get to your closer, what good is it?" Gomes was a key setup man, compiling a 4-1 record with a 3.45 earned run average in 25 appearances before suffering a strained patella tendon in his right knee on May 29. At the time of the injury, it was estimated Gomes would miss eight to 10 weeks.

The Phillies officially began their managerial search yesterday when general manager Ed Wade met for nearly three hours with a man he has known for more than 20 years. "I thought it went very well," Wade said after his lengthy interview with John Vukovich, the longtime Phillies coach who had worked under four managers in Philadelphia. "We covered everything that needed to be covered," Wade said. "He did an outstanding job with the interview and I still consider him a solid candidate.

Less than a week after he was fired as the Phillies' dugout assistant, Hal Lanier has surfaced as a leading candidate to replace Stump Merrill as manager of the New York Yankees. "I hope so," Lanier said from his Florida home last night. "I'd like to get back into managing. I see people getting fired and people getting hired whose credentials aren't as good as mine. " Lanier managed the Houston Astros from 1986 through 1988, and won the National League West in his first year.

Lee Elia will be signed to a one-year contract as Phillies manager for 1988 sometime early this week, a high-level source within the organization said yesterday. At the same time, the source indicated, the Phils will announce that third- base coach Jim Davenport will not be back next season but that coaches Claude Osteen, Mike Ryan and Del Unser will return. Phils officials declined comment yesterday. Because the Phils did not fill Elia's spot on the coaching staff when he replaced John Felske as manager June 18, those moves would leave them with two coaching vacancies for next season.

Those Phillies - who won over this city with belly-flop catches and inside pitching, with the reckless joy with which they played the game - are the National League champions. They defeated the Atlanta Braves, 6-3, last night to claim the league pennant for the first time since 1983. On Saturday night in Toronto, they will play the Toronto Blue Jays in the first game of the World Series. When the final out was recorded - reliever Mitch Williams enticed Bill Pecota to strike out swinging at 11:17 p.m. - the Phillies, grown men, with families and mortgages, leaped into the air and huddled together and piled on top of one another, just as they have hung together all through the turbulence of the long baseball season.

CLEARWATER, Fla. - If you want to know what it's like to be traded to the Phillies these days, just ask Ty Wigginton. "I can't think of too many times in my life when I got off the phone that I had that big of a smile on my face," the utility infielder said recently from his North Carolina home. Wigginton, 34, has good reason to smile. In 10 big-league seasons, he has participated in zero postseason games. In fact, the vast majority of his baseball career has been spent playing for losing teams.

THE IMAGE of the Philadelphia sports fan as a little over the top, quick to find fault and just as quick to express that displeasure with long and loud boos, occasionally obnoxious and always hyperopinionated is absolutely true. It's also only half the story. We are just as extreme in the opposite direction. When players and teams show heart and hustle and grit and determination, mirroring the lunch-pail image the region has of itself, the resulting adulation is all out of proportion as well: Fred Shero, before the Flyers won their first Stanley Cup: "Win today and we walk together forever.

Patch work For the rest of the season, the Phillies will wear a circular black patch on their right sleeves to honor the late Robin Roberts. And it's not just the players who will don Roberts' No. 36 on their sleeves - everyone from clubhouse personnel to athletic trainers had the patch sewn onto their polo shirts. According to the Baseball Hall of Fame, the first known use of a memorial patch on a baseball uniform was in 1876 when Tom Miller, a catcher for St. Louis, died during the season from a kidney disease.

DODGERS President and CEO Dennis Mannion: Former Phillies front office executive. General manager Ned Colletti: Ex-Philadelphia Journal sports writer who became close friends with Phillies senior adviser Dallas Green and late coach John Vukovich when all worked for the Cubs. Vice president Tommy Lasorda: Proud native of Norristown. Third-base coach Larry Bowa: Former Phillies player, coach and manager. First-base coach Mariano Duncan: Played for Phillies' 1993 pennant-winning team.

Position: Utility Height, weight: 6-1, 210 Age: 31 Birthdate: July 2, 1978 Hometown: Los Angeles College: Oklahoma Years pro: 5 How acquired: Selected off waivers by Phillies on Jan. 15, 2007. This year: In 97 games this year, Dobbs hit .247 with 20 RBI. He battled through a bad calf that has limited his playing time. Career: Dobbs hit .301 in 2008 and has evolved into a huge presence off the bench. The Phillies hope he can help off the bench in the postseason as he did a season ago. His versatility has made him invaluable to manager Charlie Manuel, who has used Dobbs in five different positions on the field.

There once was a sportswriter at the Philadelphia Journal named Happy N. Fine, and when he was issued his first paycheck from that unique institution, he crossed Market Street to the bank. The teller looked at the check, looked at Happy, and said, "And I'm Sad N. Blue. I ain't cashing it. " True story, just like the story that there were four competing newspapers in the city not that long ago, with the Journal playing the role of the painted clown. Some of the writers who put on the makeup, the funny nose and the floppy shoes were tremendous talents, some were just along for the ride, and at least one was headed for the penitentiary.

I take great exception to the letter titled "Phils' Pantheon" (letter, Aug. 7). It seems that the author has some agenda regarding the Phillies and their willingness to recognize the accomplishments of black and Hispanic players. He also seems to think that the Phillies organization has failed to recognize the 1980 World Championship Team, and claims that the club has placed too much emphasis on the 1993 National League Champions. He centers most of his argument on the Phillies Wall of Fame.

They're not just numbers. If they were just numbers, nobody would retire them and put them on walls. If they were just numbers, players wouldn't buy them from teammates. Kids wouldn't fight with other kids on their Little League team to wear the ones they want. And adults wouldn't be able to memorize their pin code by repeating over and over: Mike Schmidt and Steve Carlton. Mike Schmidt and Steve Carlton. Mike Schmidt and Steve Carlton: 2032. Numbers aren't just a way for fans to identify players on the field.

It's always a big event when the Boston Red Sox come here to play the Phillies. This was no exception. A sellout crowd of 9,111 came to Bright House Networks Field to salute John Vukovich, worship the sun, and watch a watered-down Phillies lineup lose, 11-10. Red Sox fans were plentiful - and loud. That was not the sound of boos after Kevin Youkilis doubled in the fifth inning. It was Red Sox fans harmonizing Yoooo. David Ortiz hit a mammoth homer, Cole Hamels struggled on the mound, and Ryan Howard, Chase Utley, Jimmy Rollins and Aaron Rowand all sat out - much to the disappointment of Phillies fans, one of whom said, "They brought their big guns [Ortiz and Manny Ramirez]

John Vukovich, 59, one of the most popular and respected coaches in Phillies history, died of brain cancer early yesterday at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital. Mr. Vukovich, better known as "Vuke" to everyone in baseball, spent 41 years in professional baseball and 31 with the Phillies as a player, coach, interim manager and front-office adviser. Fiercely loyal to his family, friends and the Phillies, Mr. Vukovich had a tough exterior, but those who knew him also saw his considerable soft side.