Major league turnout to pay final respects

SOME DIDN'T HAVE far to go. Some traveled long distances. More than 100 arrived on a chartered flight from Florida, rising before dawn to make the journey.

Some were family. Some were baseball bigwigs, general managers and managers and coaches. Some were Hall of Famers, All-Stars and former major leaguers. Some were ordinary people fortunate enough to have their lives intersect with an extraordinary man.

All of them - 700 strong by one count - thought enough of John Vukovich, the longtime Phillies player and coach who passed away Thursday from complications related to a brain tumor, to converge on St. Andrew the Apostle Church in Gibbsboro, N.J., yesterday for a funeral Mass to pay their respects and say their final goodbyes.

Former Phillies owner Ruly Carpenter. Current executives Bill Giles and Dave Montgomery. Current and former general managers Pat Gillick, Ed Wade, Ned Colletti, Dallas Green and Gene Michael . . .

His beloved wife, Bonnie, led a delegation of family members greeting mourners by a large picture of Vukovich, one of his jerseys and a box containing his ashes. There were so many that they were still accepting condolences a half-hour after they were scheduled to stop.

It was hard not to imagine Vuke, who for years ran spring training with military precision, tapping a fungo bat on the ground, impatient at the delay.

Mike Schmidt, Scott Rolen, Curt Schilling, Bobby Abreu, Lenny Dykstra, Garry Maddox, Sparky Lyle, Greg Luzinski, Von Hayes, Darren Daulton, John Kruk, Tim McCarver, Doug Glanville, Randy Wolf, Mike Lieberthal, Larry Christenson, Mitch Williams, Bob Boone, Dave Hollins, Ricky Bottalico, Larry Andersen, Tommy Hutton, Robert Person, Kevin Jordan, Ruben Amaro Jr., Warren Brusstar . . .

The most moving moments came when his beautiful daughter, Nicole Stolarik, fought through tears to talk about her relationship with her father.

Across the church, tough and hard-bitten baseball men wept openly.

Four of the five Phillies managers he coached for - Lee Elia, Jim Fregosi, Terry Francona and Larry Bowa - plus current and former managers Charlie Manuel, Buck Martinez, Joe Kerrigan and Stump Merrill . . .

Fregosi eulogized Vukovich as an exemplary family man, noting how devoted he was to Bonnie, how proud he was when Nicole married and had triplets, how he took his son Vince on hunting trips and spent hours throwing batting practice to him.

"Whether Vince wanted it or not," he added, unable to resist taking a good-hearted jab.

On a more serious note: "If I could describe John in one word, it would be 'loyal.' He was the most loyal person I've ever met," Fregosi said. "Whether in the game of baseball or the game of life, John was a tough competitor. As a friend, a father, a grandfather, he was simply the best."

Those he played or coached with: Mike Ryan, Don Zimmer, Greg Gross, Gary Matthews, Dickie Noles, Jerry Martin, Darold Knowles, Ruben Amaro Sr., Ramon Henderson, Milt Thompson, Mick Billmeyer, Gary Varsho. Umpires Jerry Crawford and Bruce Froemming . . .

In his remarks, Montgomery asked what made Vukovich special and then attempted to answer the question.

"His passion and commitment," the Phillies' president said. "He cared so deeply for his family and for baseball. [He hated] laughter on the team bus after a tough loss. Or any loss, for that matter.

"He had a consummate knowledge of the game and a passion to teach it. It always came back to him wanting to play the game right. He wanted everyone in baseball to respect the game the way he did . . . It was that passion and caring that indeed made him special."

Current Phillies Jimmy Rollins, Chase Utley, Ryan Howard, Pat Burrell, Brett Myers, Jamie Moyer, Cole Hamels, Geoff Geary, Ryan Madson and Eude Brito . . .

They all came to pay their last respects to John Vukovich yesterday. *