Former Phillie pitcher Cole Hamels sent his love to his former manager Charlie Manuel on Wednesday's 94WIP Morning Show.
"Charlie has had a serious impact on, not only my career, but just kind of as a person because I grew up in that clubhouse," Hamels told the 94WIP Morning Show. "He was my manager. Growing up with all my teammates I think all of us had that way that he was able to kind of project this sort of love and respect and then just the game of baseball and how we all connected.
"The thing that you learn when you are a Phillie, it's a big family. It's from the top down and you get to celebrate that and you come together, but then you then get to go out on a field in a city and then you really get to feel the love. We all had to stick together and through everything we learned just how special it is to be a player in Philadelphia and just what they're able to give you. A lot of us all came from different parts of the United States and we came together and you just hear sort of things about Philadelphia, but it's way different than what you could ever expect. It's not like the mantra you kind of get, the tough sports town. When you are playing for them you understand it and you really do come to enjoy being a part of their people. Charlie was the one that headed us and he put us in the right direction. He was behind us when things weren't going well and when things were really going well, he really looked at you going, 'You deserved this.' He was the one that really pushed us and helped us get through anything that was going wrong...so I know that's what we're trying to do for him."
Manuel suffered a stroke on Saturday, but is doing much better and tweeted a positive update on Tuesday.
Hamels spent his first nine-plus seasons with the Philadelphia Phillies from 2006 to 2015 and Manuel was his manager from 2005 to 2013.
Hamels, 39, announced his retirement on August 4th.
Hamels was a four-time All-Star (three times as a Phillie) and of course was the 2008 World Series and NLCS MVP, leading the Phils to a World Series victory.
In 294 starts with the Phillies, Hamels went 114-90 with a 3.30 ERA with 8.6 SO/9. He amazingly pitched a no-hitter on July 25, 2015 in Chicago against the Cubs during his last start with Philadelphia.