Vern Ruhle, former Phils pitching coach, dies at 55
In 2002, the Phillies asked second-year pitching coach Vern Ruhle to cobble together a winning pitching staff from the likes of green overachiever Brandon Duckworth, injured veteran Robert Person, swingman Terry Adams and feel-good story Joe Roa.
That team won 80 games in a disappointing, turbulent year. Ruhle was not asked to return - but he never complained.
That is Ruhle's legacy. He died Saturday night in Houston of complications from a donor stem-cell transplant for the treatment of bone cancer. He was 55.
"I don't think you're going to find a nicer human being," said Greg Gross, then the Phillies' hitting coach and now the hitting coach at Double A Reading. "The situation we were in - it wasn't the best of times. He didn't have a whole lot to work with. We were thin. He never complained, even behind closed doors. He was just a really nice guy."
Ruhle, who pitched in 327 major league games from 1974 to 1986, was the pitching coach for the Astros before coming to Philadelphia. He then went to the Mets and was preparing for the 2006 season as the Reds' pitching coach when his cancer was detected as part of a routine spring-training blood test.
Like many of Ruhle's associates, former Phillies manager Larry Bowa heard of Ruhle's cancer early last season, then, as the summer wore on, heard that Ruhle was improving enough to visit the Reds' complex in Sarasota, Fla.
"This is a total shock," Bowa said.
Bowa recalled his former pitching coach's penchant for trying to extract the good in his pitchers' bad outings.
"A guy would pitch six innings and do one thing good in one inning and Vern would stress that thing," Bowa said. "He was always positive with people. Always upbeat." *
