ATLANTA -- The Philadelphia Phillies were only three hours from beginning a big three-game series with the Atlanta Braves, but manager Charlie Manuel was as relaxed as could be as he sat in the visiting dugout at Turner Field.

When he learned a reporter was from Roanoke, Manuel smiled and made references to the Roanoke Athletic Club and Hidden Valley Country Club. He asked how the Salem Avalanche fared this season.

Manuel, a Parry McCluer graduate and former Roanoke resident, has the Phillies contending for the NL wild card in his first year steering the team. His players have responded to his upbeat attitude, which has been a welcome change from the intense approach of predecessor Larry Bowa.

Manuel believes that players perform better with less tension. He tries to remove that tension by joking with them, encouraging them and being honest with them.

"When I managed in the minor leagues, I think I learned that," Manuel said. "I was very hard when I first started managing in the minor leagues. I was more demanding and I was more strict.

"I've got two rules: be on time and hustle. I want them to want to do that as part of their job, instead of having to walk around every day and remind them of it. Once they buy into it and accept things, that's when you can be more relaxed."

The locker room has been a far less stressful place than it was under Bowa. Manuel has been a big reason the Phillies have been a contender this season, Philadelphia reliever Billy Wagner said.

"They've always kind of been browbeaten, and when you play for somebody that's positive, all of a sudden you start to learn that you can relax and just play the game," said Wagner, an ex-Ferrum star. "We've had some really ugly losses, and you see him in the clubhouse patting guys on the back, saying 'We'll get them tomorrow, don't worry about it, we're all right.'

"That type of reinforcement has kind of got us where we're at today."

Some of the Phillies initially were skeptical of Manuel, but they came to see he would be rooting for them whether they were doing well or poorly.

"They finally caught on that this guy's for us, not against us," Wagner said. "Charlie's a positive person. And playing in Philadelphia, it's not a positive situation. A lot of these guys haven't played under that positive influence. And when you meet somebody like Charlie, who is truly and sincerely interested in you ... it took awhile for them to kind of understand that."

Manuel talks to his players every day to try to keep them from feeling the stress of this time of year. Philadelphia, which was 86-76 last season, is 83-72 after Saturday's loss to the Reds. The Phillies, who haven't made the playoffs in 12 years, trail wild-card front-runner Houston by two games and NL East leader Atlanta by five games.

Manuel, 61, said he enjoys the high anxiety of the playoff chase.

"It's what we play for," said Manuel, who guided Cleveland to the AL Central Division title in 2001. "I came here to win. I expect us to win."

Manuel, who had heart and colon problems as a coach and manager in Cleveland, said his health has not suffered from the late-season pressure.

"I keep kind of the same demeanor every day," he said. "I don't like it when we lose, and I get upset just like the next guy does. Probably I've learned to control it more, and I've also learned to hide it. When I get away, I do things people don't see. I'll yell or I'll vent to somebody or I'll vent to the wall. Or I'll look at all the [players'] pictures on the wall ... and I'll be talking to all those pictures."

As a special assistant to Philadelphia general manager Ed Wade the past two seasons, Manuel did some scouting and served as an instructor with the Phillies and in the minors. He was named manager last November, and figures his communication skills and his ability to get along with people helped him get the job.

"He tells guys, 'Go out there and play hard, but have fun,' " said Phillies outfielder Kenny Lofton, who also played for Manuel in Cleveland.

Manuel was born in a car en route to the hospital while his mother was in West Virginia to visit her mother. His father was a preacher who died when Manuel was in high school. One of 11 children, Manuel lived in Wytheville and in the Grayson County town of Fries before moving with his family to Buena Vista when he was 12. When his teachers would ask him what he wanted to be when he grew up, he would say, "Ballplayer."

"They'd say, 'You know how hard it is to play in the major leagues?' " Manuel said. "I said, 'Yeah. That's what I'm going to do.' I remember that like it was yesterday."

He made good on that vow when he reached the majors with Minnesota in 1969.

A member of the Salem-Roanoke Baseball Hall of Fame, Manuel moved to Roanoke in 1976 and spent 20 offseasons there while a player in Japan, a minor-league manager and the Indians' hitting coach.

Manuel's mother and six of his siblings still live in this area. Manuel spent this year's All-Star break playing golf at The Homestead in Hot Springs. He left the Phillies to return to Buena Vista in late July for the funeral of his sister, Janet Manuel Woodson.

Much was made of Manuel's Virginia accent in the reports of his introductory news conference as the Philadelphia manager. That was also the case when he was hired in November 1999 to manage the Indians.

"As long as I've been in the game -- I've spent more time in the North than I have in the South -- everywhere I've been, for some reason that's the first thing they want to talk about, my accent," Manuel said with a laugh.