Bowa, Manuel share advice on the game, life with Ocean City High School baseball team
By ELIZABETH LITTLE and JACOB WEEKS
OCEAN CITY — Ocean City High School baseball players got a surprise treat Wednesday, May 19, when legendary Major League Baseball players/managers Larry Bowa and Charlie Manuel stopped by the Fifth Street field to film a segment of an upcoming pre-game show for NBC Sports.
Called “Down the Line with Charlie and Bowa,” it is set to air May 29 as part of the pregame show.
The Red Raiders got a chance to meet the two former Philadelphia Phillies managers and listen to some sound advice on both playing America’s favorite pastime and life in general.
“Do you really want to take that and work hard, and sacrifice, and go out here every day and take ground balls and hit and hustle? It’s not just a once-a-week thing. If you really want to do it, you have to dedicate yourself. That starts right now,” Bowa said when addressing the team.
Frank Coppenbarger, a volunteer coach for the OCHS squad, worked for the Phillies for 30 years and arranged for the production crew to come to the resort.
During his time with the Phillies, Coppenbarger was director of team travel and Clubhouse Services. He even played in the minor leagues for the Salinas Angels in 1978. After decades in the sports industry, Coppenbarger retired to Ocean City in 2019.
This year he started volunteering his time to help the team as an assistant volunteer coach. He wears the OCHS baseball uniform with pride, sporting No. 47.
“I love sports and I love baseball. I wanted to be involved,” Coppenbarger said of why he got involved with the Red Raiders. “Philly is a good spot for me, too, but I really love living in Ocean City. It’s a very comfortable feeling here, I love it.”
Manuel started playing professionally in the minor league straight out of high school. In 1963, he signed with the Minnesota Twins. Manuel’s baseball career only grew from there, and he left the states to play for the Osaka Kintetsu Buffaloes in Japan, where he was voted MVP, a groundbreaking accomplishment for an American in Japanese baseball.
Manuel started managing the Philadelphia Phillies in 2004 and remained with the team until 2013, overseeing the Phillies’ 2008 World Series win against the Tampa Bay Rays.
Now he works with the players to help them perfect their swings.
“I tell guys in the major league, anywhere from 20 to 50 years old, I tell ’em, ‘you study your hitting. It’s up to you and your coach to correct the flaws in your own swing,’” Manuel said. “To know what kind of player you are, to go to the major league and become the best player you can possibly be — if you got speed, then you have to get on the base. If you are a singles, doubles hitter, then you need to get on the base. If you can bunt, you can hit and run all of this. Absolutely master your hitting.”
Being in the major leagues for so long, Bowa and Manuel also offered some inspirational words.
“You don’t get tired if you are in shape. The game is a mentally tough game,” Manuel said.
“If you want something bad enough, go and get it,” Bowa said. “I didn’t make my high school team. I got cut every year. I didn’t get drafted. So, for all of you guys who have aspirations of playing in the big leagues and nobody is looking at you, and you really want it, you gotta go get it. Go after it. Don’t let somebody tell you that you can’t.”
Even though he did not make his high school team, Bowa started playing baseball while enrolled at Sacramento City College, where he excelled in the game. Bowa joined the Phillies in 1970, playing for 11 years and winning a World Series title in 1980 before leaving for the Chicago Cubs. He closed out his playing career with the New York Mets. Bowa coached the Phillies from 1989-96, moved to other teams, returned to the Phillies as manager from 2001-04,when Manuel’s time as the Phillies manager began. Bowa then returned to coach the Phillies from 2014-17.
The show is being directed and produced by Ken Selinger. Sam Wilson will serve as co-host.
Some other words of advice
“It’s not hard to play hard.” — Larry Bowa
“It’s all about consistency, how many times I can hit the ball hard.” — Charlie Manuel
“If I’m a hitter, I got to find out how close I can stand to the end of the plate and still hit the ball.” — Charlie Manuel