Minor league manager Ultimately, injuries, including his beaning in Japan, cut Manuel's playing days short. He returned to the United States to work as a scout for the
Minnesota Twins organization before turning to coaching. As a minor league manager for nine years in the Twins' (–) and
Cleveland Indians' (–) farm systems, Manuel compiled a 610–588 (.509) record, winning the
Pacific Coast League and
International League championships in his final two seasons (–93). He was named Manager of the Year three times (, 1992, ) and managed the IL All-Star team in 1993.
Cleveland Indians coach and manager Manuel returned to the Majors in 1988 as the Indians' hitting coach (–, –), where under his tutelage, the Tribe led the American League in runs three times (1994–, 1999) and set a franchise record in 1999 with 1,009 runs, becoming the first team to score 1,000 runs since the
1950 Boston Red Sox. The club also led the league in home runs in 1994 and 1995. From to , he served as the Indians' manager, becoming the 37th manager in Indians history. The 2000 season had a 44–42 start, but Manuel's squad caught fire after the All Star break and went 46–30 the rest of the way to finish 90–72. The team had one of the league's best offenses that year and a defense that yielded three gold gloves. However, they ended up five games behind the
Chicago White Sox in the Central division and missed the wild card by one game to the
Seattle Mariners.
2001 saw a return to the postseason. After the departures of
Manny Ramírez and
Sandy Alomar Jr., the Indians signed
Ellis Burks and former
MVP Juan González, who helped the team win the Central division with a 91–71 record. One of the highlights came on August 5, when the Indians completed the biggest comeback in MLB History. Cleveland rallied to close a 14–2 deficit in the seventh inning to defeat the
Seattle Mariners 15–14 in 11 innings. The Mariners, who won an MLB record-tying 116 games that season, had a strong bullpen, and Manuel had already pulled many of his starters with the game seemingly out of reach. Seattle and Cleveland would eventually meet in the
ALDS, with the Indians taking a 2 games to 1 lead, then losing two straight to drop the series 3 games to 2. Following the season, Manuel received a single third place vote in
American League Manager of the Year voting, finishing in a tie for sixth. The 2002 season started with eleven wins in their first twelve games, but the team sputtered thereafter, finishing April with a .500 record before spiraling with losing records in each of the next three months. He was fired as manager of the Cleveland Indians on July 11, 2002, with the team at 39-47, over a contract dispute with general manager
Mark Shapiro, who Manuel said "wasn't totally honest". Manuel finished his time as Indians' manager with a record of 220 wins and 190 losses.
Philadelphia Phillies manager 2004–06 Shortly after he was fired as manager for the Cleveland Indians, Manuel was hired by the
Philadelphia Phillies as special assistant to the
general manager. After the season, Manuel was hired as the club's 51st manager, replacing
Larry Bowa. In
the 2005 season, the Phillies went 88–74, only one game back of the Wild Card. Following the season, Manuel received three votes in
National League Manager of the Year voting, finishing in sixth place. In , the Phillies finished just short of the playoffs once again, this time three games back of the wild card. However, the season did have certain positives that boded well for next season. Second-year slugger
Ryan Howard hit a franchise-record 58 home runs, second baseman
Chase Utley was named a starter in the
2006 MLB All-Star Game, and rookie pitcher
Cole Hamels showed progress and the potential to one day become the club's ace. After once again just missing the playoffs, Manuel received three second-place votes in
National League Manager of the Year voting, finishing in fifth place.
2007 The team got off to a slow start again in 2007 (in 2005, they opened at 9–12; in 2006, 6–10). They began the season with a 3–9 record and during the Phillies' post-game press conference following the team's 8–1 loss to the
New York Mets on April 17, 2007, Philadelphia radio personality
Howard Eskin repeatedly questioned Manuel why he did not challenge his players. Eskin, a controversial afternoon drive host on local sports-talk station
WIP-610, had criticized Manuel since the manager's hiring three years earlier. The Phillies proceeded to lose two of their next three games after the confrontation before going on a five-game winning streak. After the streak, the Phillies took another step back, winning only 5 of their next 13 games. The Philles were still one game below .500 on July 19 and only four games over .500 on August 25. From August 25 through the end of the season the Phillies went 23–11 to overtake the Mets. Manuel's Phillies battled injuries all season, including losing newly acquired pitcher
Freddy García for the season. Howard, Utley, and Hamels also missed significant playing time. Hamels led the pitching staff with a 15–5 record, while
Jimmy Rollins set the Major League Baseball record for at bats in a season with 716 through all 162 games played, and was named NL MVP. In a dramatic finale to the season, the Phillies captured the
National League East title from the collapsing Mets, but were swept in the first round of the playoffs by the
Colorado Rockies. Manuel finished second in balloting for the
National League Manager of the Year Award for 2007.
2008–09 The 2008 season started out much like 2005 through 2007, as the Phillies once again got off to a slow start with a record of 8 wins and 10 losses. They recovered quickly after their slow start to go over the .500 mark on April 24. They peaked at 22 games over the .500 mark on the final day of the season, winning 92 games and earning 1st place in the NL East for the second consecutive year. On October 29, Manuel guided the
2008 Phillies to their second world title. It was his first
World Series ring after years of close calls (including the 1997 Cleveland Indians). He was voted by fans as MLB "
This Year in Baseball Awards" Manager of the Year, and finished second in balloting for the
National League Manager of the Year Award for the second consecutive season. Manuel reached a contract agreement with the Phils on December 9, 2008, to keep him with the team through the 2011 season. during their visit to the White House On October 21, 2009, Manuel became the first manager in
franchise history to lead the Phillies to two consecutive World Series appearances. It was the first time a National League team won back-to-back pennants since the 1995–96
Atlanta Braves. During the
2009 World Series, Manuel was criticized for not pitching
Cliff Lee in Game 4, a game the Phillies eventually lost. He defended his decision by noting that Lee had never pitched on three days' rest before. Manuel finished sixth in balloting for the 2009 National League
Manager of the Year Award.
2010–11 In
2010, Manuel managed the Phillies to their fourth consecutive NL East title. The Phillies became the third NL team in history to play in the
postseason in four consecutive seasons, joining the Braves (1991–1995,
excluding 1994) and the
New York Giants (1921–24). The Phillies finished the season at 97–65; it was the first time in franchise history that Philadelphia had completed a season with Major League Baseball's best record. In November, the
Rotary Club of Pittsburgh named Manuel the recipient of its
Chuck Tanner Major League Baseball Manager of the Year Award. However, the Phillies would be eliminated by the eventual World Series champion
San Francisco Giants in the NLCS. Following the season, Manuel finished fifth in balloting for the 2010 National League
Manager of the Year Award, marking the sixth consecutive season in which he received votes for Manager of the Year. In September 2011, Manuel again led the Phillies to the NL East title, their fifth consecutive in as many years, and quickest post-season clinch ever: at game #150. During the sweep of the final series against the
Atlanta Braves on September 26–28, records were set. First on the 26th, with the Phillies' 4–2 victory, he became the second manager in Phillies' history to manage a team to at least 100 wins in a season, after
Danny Ozark during back-to-back 101-win seasons in
1976 and
1977. The next day, with the Phillies' 7–1 victory, Manuel moved into a franchise-record tie with
Gene Mauch with 645 regular-season victories. In the final game of the season with a victory in 13 innings, he led the Phillies to a franchise-record 102 regular season wins. With the victory he picked up his 646th win, setting a new Phillies' managerial record for victories and assuring that the Phillies would face the red-hot St. Louis Cardinals, who defeated them in the NLDS. Following the season, Manuel finished fourth in balloting for the 2011 National League
Manager of the Year Award, marking the seventh consecutive season, and eighth (and final) time overall, in which he received votes for Manager of the Year.
2012–13 In 2012, he managed the Phillies to an 81–81 record. It marked the first time since 2006 the Phillies failed to reach the postseason. In 2013, Manuel won his 1,000th game on August 12. However, Manuel did not win another game with the Phillies, and after the team lost their 15th game out of 20 after the All-Star Break, Manuel was fired on August 16. He was replaced by third-base coach
Ryne Sandberg. Reaction around the league and from the Phillies fan base mostly consisted of sadness and gratitude to Manuel for his tenure. Several Phillies veterans, including
Chase Utley and
Cole Hamels, expressed regret and guilt, believing their lack of production led to Manuel's firing; they said that they viewed Manuel as a fatherly figure. Sandberg commented the next day, "It was a roller coaster of a day emotionally. It affected me and I think it affects the players." Manuel received praise from the media for his class in handling the situation, and sportswriters mostly exonerated him of the blame for the Phillies' performance, focusing on his not having had better players. When asked if he had enough pieces to win the last two years, he said "The last two years? No. I can straight face tell you that." He finished with a record of 780 wins and 636 losses. ==Managerial record==