12/25/24
March 08, 2007
Former Phillies coach John Vukovich dies : PHILADELPHIA - John Vukovich, the longest-serving coach in Philadelphia Phillies history and a member of their only World Series championship team in 1980, died Thursday. He was 59.
posted by irunfromclones to baseball at 05:58 PM - 6 comments
Curt schilling has a lengthy post on his passing (see previous thread). Sounded like an amazing guy, how sad.
posted by brainofdtrain at 08:55 PM on March 08, 2007
He was 59 years old. His teammate on the '80 World Series team, Tug McGraw, died of brain cancer at the age of 59.
posted by SummersEve at 05:42 AM on March 09, 2007
I'm assuming that Schilling doesn't throw around the term "second father" on a whim. That Schilling took so strongly to a coach who was a scout and former utility infielder (rather than a pitching coach or bullpen catcher or someone more experienced in either of those postions) tells you what a baseball man Vukovich must have been at heart. It seems he was the hardnosed, no-guff-no-gloss type whose heart was always in the game but not on his sleeve. My condolences to the Vukovich and Phillies families and anyone else connected to him. Interesting from Schilling's blog: In 2000, after I was traded away to Arizona, I would call Vuk the day before every game I pitched. I would go over my notes and compare them with his, and we’d come up with a game plan for the next day. This went on for a good, long time. I'm certain stuff like this goes on all the time. I wonder if the media will react to this the way they reacted to the Joe Girardi/Jon Lieber situation. I hope not -- the way ballplayers move around in this era, it is totally unreasonable to expect them not to retain any connection to anybody who had become a touchstone of their success at some point in their careers.
posted by The Crafty Sousepaw at 07:26 AM on March 09, 2007
Sometimes I look at Schilling, and I think, "Just shut up...". Tremendous talent, but sometimes... After looking in on the blog, maybe I'll be a little more tolerant toward CS as a man, not a "talent". Sad more players haven't checked in, but you know how it is...
posted by wolfdad at 05:48 PM on March 09, 2007
Totally with you. I love the Schilling of that post. The rest of the mouth I could do without.
posted by yerfatma at 08:02 PM on March 09, 2007
Sad... I always worry when I read that cancerous tissue is removed. It's always been my belief that cancer is like a "puff ball" dandelion...once you disturb it, POOF, the cells spread throughout. Peace, Vuke...