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Phillies manager Charlie Manuel looks back on meeting Jackie Robinson

The Phillies' manager became a Dodgers fan as a kid and eventually got to meet his hero.

Charlie Manuel said he was a Dodgers fan growing up in Virginia and remembers Jackie Robinson starring in an All-Star Game. (Alan Diaz/AP)
Charlie Manuel said he was a Dodgers fan growing up in Virginia and remembers Jackie Robinson starring in an All-Star Game. (Alan Diaz/AP)Read more
    by BY RYAN LAWRENCE, Daily News
    Published 

CINCINNATI - The Phillies and Reds all wore the number 42 on the backs of their uniform jerseys on Monday night in honor of Major League Baseball's annual tribute to Jackie Robinson.

Robinson became the first African-American to play in a major league game on April 17, 1947, with the Brooklyn Dodgers. Robinson began his career as a civil rights pioneer and went on to have a Hall of Fame career.

Phillies manager Charlie Manuel said on Monday he was a Dodgers fan growing up in Virginia and remembers Robinson starring in an All-Star Game.

"I was listening to the game with my grandfather," Manuel said. "And he was telling me all about who was. And that's when I started keeping up with the Dodgers."

Manuel eventually got the opportunity to meet Robinson during his playing days.

"I remember talking to him about baseball and about the Dodgers," Manuel recalled. "I asked him questions. It was good. He was a very, kind of quiet, stern kind of guy. Real serious like."