Vukovich went to bat for Ramon Henderson

WINTER HAVEN, Fla. - Between his occasional tears, Ramon Henderson's smiles brought John Vukovich back to life.

In 2000, Henderson was part of the Terry Francona purge. Vuko-vich, slated to stay on staff, petitioned new manager Larry Bowa to retain Henderson as the major league bullpen coach instead of having Henderson re-descend into the minor league ranks.

"He talked Bowa into hiring me back. Since that day, a lot of good things have happened to Ramon Henderson," Henderson said. "Two All-Star Games [as a Home Run Derby pitcher]. I got to be a coach for the USA team [in Japan last fall]."

Henderson stopped to sob into a towel, and emerged again, smiling.

Nothing could better depict the mood with the team for which Vukovich was a player and coach for the better part of four decades. He spent the last two seasons as a front-office adviser.

He died early yesterday morning due to complications from an inoperable brain tumor. The past 2 days the Phillies played tight, entertaining exhibition games - yesterday they lost, 7-6, to the Indians in the bottom of the ninth; there was a moment of silence here yesterday for Vukovich, as there will be today in Clearwater - but there was a constant cloud.

Universally respected, Vuko-vich leaves behind a legacy of dedication, loyalty and a hard-edged kindness. No current Phillie knows that better than All-Star second baseman Chase Utley, a Vukovich favorite because of Utley's hard-nosed play despite a blue-chip pedigree. Before the 2002 season, Utley was asked to move to third base in the same season he jumped from Class A to Triple A - a double jump and a position change.

Vukovich oversaw Utley's spring development, hitting grounder after grounder at him at third, working on mechanics, footwork, hands - everything.

There formed a bond between the two that never broke. "He's been a big influence on me," Utley said. "I benefited tremendously."

Vukovich doled tough love because he was shaped by it. As a bench player, he served as the strap for then-manager Dallas Green's razor when the Phillies won the World Series in 1980.

"He was my whipping boy. I whipped his [butt] sometimes to get my message across to the other guys, and he took it and he understood it and he helped me battle the perception the guys had of me," said Green, now a front-office adviser. "I never forgot that. I never forgot how loyal he was. That was his strength. He was a very, very loyal person . . . There are a lot of backstabbers in this game. He was loyal to the guys he worked with."

More than anything else, Vuko-vich was an equal-opportunity straight shooter who was generous with advice, which he doled to Henderson when Henderson joined the Phillies' major league staff in 1998.

"He told me, 'Be very organized. Tell the truth to the players. Don't lie. They might not like the truth, but don't lie. That way, you'll earn respect.' That's the way he was," Henderson said.

And unwilling to endure pity. To the frustration of many of his friends, Vukovich would not entertain visitors the last few weeks of his life.

"It was tough for people who know him because we couldn't come up and see him," said Henderson, who tried to visit in January and was put off.

Phillies manager Charlie Manuel, a minor league peer of Vukovich's who beat several life-threatening illnesses in 2000 and 2001, understands Vukovich's reluctance.

"When I was in the hospital and I was really sick, I didn't want to talk," Manuel said. "In some ways, he might be a lot like me. I know I'm stubborn. I didn't want people to come around. I didn't want people [to pity me]. I think Vuke was that way. He was proud. He wanted people to remember him when he was happy."

Henderson did a lot of that yesterday.

"The organization lost a great baseball man. He touched a lot of people's hearts. A lot of people loved him," Henderson said. "To me, you cannot replace a guy like John Vukovich." *