Noles was drafted by the Phils in 1975 and spent three years with the big club, probably best known for his brushing back Royals all star George Brett in the 1980 World Series.
Noles battled problems with alcohol early in his career and prior to the 1982 season, former Phillies manager Dallas Green — who at that point was with the Cubs — traded for Noles.
"Tell you a little bit more about my life, Tommy Helms, I see him at 3 o'clock in the morning, the great second baseman for the Cincinnati Reds, we're both going down the street, and I look over and Tommy Helms is beside me, and he rolled his window down and I looked at him and he said, 'What are you doing?' And I said, 'I'm going home.' He goes, 'You know you got traded.' I go, 'When?' He goes, 'Today!' I didn't even know it. I'd been out quite a while there. So getting traded to the Chicago Cubs, to me was at that time a blessing more than anything else because I'm going with my man, Dallas."
Noles has been the Phillies EAP since the 90s and he remembers the late David Montgomery, then the Phillies president, talking to him about the job.
"But David had asked me one day, he said, 'You're going to take a role where you're going to change people's lives,' and it intimidated me," he said.
Noles remembers his first EAP case being one of his most difficult and he was able to make a difference.
"So to help that person, I went back into David's office and I said, 'I know what you mean.' It's not just about getting them to the big leagues. I knew I'd made a difference in two people's lives, and they are very happily married today and she was able to deal with all the problems she'd grown up with and why she masked them with alcohol and drugs and painkillers at the time. So to see that person change their life was probably one of the most rewarding things I'd ever had happen in my life," Noles added.
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