Jared Soares | The Roanoke Times

Teresa Manuel Schechterly (from left), Roger Manuel and Brenda Manuel Clark are shown Monday at the home of their late mother.

Courtesy of Troy Clark

Charlie Manuel played for the Minnesota Twins from 1969 to 1972.

Courtesy of the Manuel family

Members of the Manuel family are photographed circa 1950. Included are parents Charles Sr., holding baby Pres, and June, as well as children (from left) Charlie, Vickie, Bob, Roger, Brenda and Janet.

BUENA VISTA -- On Friday, Charlie Manuel and his nine siblings gathered in Buena Vista for the funeral of their mother.

Tonight, Manuel will reach the pinnacle of his career as he manages the Philadelphia Phillies in Game 1 of the World Series.

The brothers and sisters who used to cheer for "Charles Jr." when he played for Parry McCluer High School will be glued to their TV sets.

"Last week was kind of a sad week, but this week is going to be a happy and proud week," Roger Manuel of Fries said Monday at his late mother's home.

Roger is one of five Manuel siblings who still live in Western Virginia. They remain grateful to big brother Charlie, who was a high school senior when their father died.

"Charles Jr. really was the backbone of our family," Roger Manuel said. "After he started playing professional ball, he helped out with the financial part and kind of ... helped raise us."

Family tragedy

June Manuel raised 11 children, including Janet Manuel Woodson, who died three years ago. Charlie, now 64, was the third-oldest of the 11, and the eldest of the six boys. He was born in a car in West Virginia while June was visiting her mother.

Charles Sr. was a Pentecostal minister. The family lived in Wythe County and Grayson County before settling in Buena Vista when Charlie was 12.

Younger sister Brenda helped Charlie deliver The Roanoke Times when the family lived in the Grayson County town of Fries.

"He would send me to every house that had a dog, especially if we had to collect, and he'd stand out in the road and wait," Brenda Manuel Clark, 63, of Buena Vista, said with a laugh.

Charlie and his brothers used to watch the World Series on television. Charlie, who as a boy used to hit rocks and bottle caps with a stick, wanted to be a ballplayer.

One of these days, Charlie would say, I'm going to play in the World Series.

In Buena Vista, the family lived in the two-story parsonage next to Pentecostal Holiness Church, where Charles Sr. was the preacher.

Charlie became a star athlete at Parry McCluer.

"There were six of us boys, and ... we all played basketball, baseball and football," said Roger, 61. Charlie "was the guy that taught us how to play baseball and basketball ... and he did a pretty good job."

Charles Sr., who had diabetes and heart trouble, died in April 1963. Charlie, who had become a father himself a year earlier, was a senior on the Parry McCluer baseball team at the time.

"My dad left me a [suicide] letter and told me to take care of the kids," Charlie told the Bucks County (Pa.) Courier Times in an interview last spring.

June had to stay home and take care of the children. Charlie signed a pro contract with the Minnesota Twins later that year.

"Charlie helped out, and we all worked part time, and we made it," Roger said.

"Christmastime, he gave Mom money to make sure all of us had presents under the tree."

June and her seven youngest children moved out of the parsonage and into a three-bedroom ranch home in Buena Vista where June remained until her death.

"Mama kind of held everything together," Roger said. "We may not have gotten enough, but we didn't go hungry. It was kind of like growing up like a 'Walton.' "

Charlie, who was an outfielder, lived in Natural Bridge -- and played family disciplinarian -- in the off-season.

"If we did something and Mom couldn't correct us, Charlie would correct us," Roger said.

The big leagues

Charlie made his major-league debut with the Twins in 1969. He spent all or parts of six seasons in the big leagues.

His mother was a loyal fan. Roger remembered a late night when she sat in the kitchen with her fingers crossed, listening on the radio to the Twins play a road game against the team then known as the California Angels. Nolan Ryan was pitching for the Angels, and Roger advised his mother to go to bed because Charlie might not be able to get a hit off the Angels great.

She refused.

"You don't know everything," she told Roger.

In 1974, Charlie played for the Los Angeles Dodgers team that lost the World Series. He sat in the Dodgers' dugout during the World Series but didn't play because he wasn't on the postseason roster.

Charlie later achieved great success while playing in Japan. After his playing career ended, he became a Twins scout in 1982, and he bought an off-season home in the Oak Grove area of Southwest Roanoke County in which he lived until the late 1990s.

After years as a minor-league manager, Charlie became the hitting coach of the Cleveland Indians. He helped them reach the World Series in 1995 and 1997, and managed the Indians from 2000 to 2002. He has managed the Phillies since the 2005 season.

"Charlie worked very hard to get where he is today," Brenda said. "Sometimes dreams and miracles do happen."

Charlie has overcome a number of health problems, including quadruple bypass surgery in 1998 and kidney cancer in 2000. And now he has the Phillies in the World Series for the first time in 15 years.

"It's unreal," Roger said. "I'm just happy as heck for him."

So is the proud city of Buena Vista. Since 2005, there has been a sign on U.S. 60 proclaiming Buena Vista as Charlie's hometown and noting that he is the manager of the Phillies. A new sign downtown says, "Good luck Charlie 2008 World Series."

Mixed emotions

June always rooted for Charlie and the Phillies, watching their games on TV until things got too tense.

"She'd say, 'OK, you're going to have to take me riding [in the car] because I don't know if I can stay here and watch it,' " said Charlie's sister Teresa Manuel Schechterly, 53, of Buchanan, who often stayed with June in Buena Vista to take care of her.

June had a heart attack Oct. 7. Charlie called her at Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital and asked her if he should come home.

"She said, 'No, you do what you do best. I want you to win ballgames,' " Brenda said.

June died Oct. 10, the day of the second game of the National League Championship Series, at the age of 87.

Charlie called some of his siblings and asked if the funeral could wait until there was a break in the NLCS schedule. The family agreed.

On Wednesday, the Phillies beat the host Dodgers in Game 5 of the NLCS to clinch a berth in the World Series. Charlie joined his siblings -- as well as June's 24 grandchildren and 26 great-grandchildren -- at their late father's Buena Vista church for the viewing on Thursday and the funeral Friday. A number of Phillies executives attended.

Charlie put a Phillies cap in the casket.

The Manuel clan is in a happier mood this week. The Phillies will face the Tampa Bay Rays in Game 1 of the World Series tonight in St. Petersburg, Fla.

The family is waiting to hear how many tickets Charlie will be able to get for the games this weekend in Philadelphia.

"There's so many of us, I doubt he can get that many tickets," Roger said.

Charlie also has a brother Pres, who lives in Buena Vista, and a brother Darrell, who lives in Lexington.

"I hope he wins it all," Pres said.

Charlie's siblings planned to pray for him Tuesday night. But he might not need the extra help.

"He'll be competitive in this World Series because he don't want to lose," Roger said. "Even in pickup games in basketball ... he never would let me beat him."