Report: Longtime Phillies coach Vukovich gravely ill

John Vukovich, 59, coached 17 consecutive years before moving into an advisory position after the 2004 season. He is suffering from the effects of a brain tumor.

The report has been confirmed by several sources, including the Philadelphia Inquirer, Courier Post and Vukovich’s hometown Sacramento Bee. “Vuk,” as he was known to Phillies nation and around baseball, received word several months ago that his cancer had returned. The local media was aware of the situation for some time, but honored the family's request not to release the information.

Vukovich, a former infielder, was a first-round pick of the Phillies in the 1966 draft and played parts of seven seasons with the club between 1970 and 1981. He was part of two World Series championship clubs, the 1975 Reds and 1980 Phillies.

Beerleaguer: This is a sad blow to the Phillies community, and our thoughts and prayers extend to Vuk's family tonight. On a side note, it's truly commendable that in this age of information, those closest to the situation, specifically members of the press, honored his family's right to privacy during these last few months. Speaking on behalf of someone who lives and breathes baseball, often around the clock, and on behalf of readers who might say the same, today was the first we heard of this - and we are grateful.

Comments

[That Dude]

First Tugger and then Vuk..dammit, we all know life ends and all, but with cancer and especially a brain tumor and God at such a young age. SAD, so sad.

I am glad this is a separate post, Vuk deserves it.

[That Dude]

Curt Schilling nwo has a blog and he puts in a nice mention of Vuk. 38pitches.com

[BeilerCrime]

Praying for Vuk.

[clout]

Dennis on the previous thread was asking about Brennan King and that was a nice segue to this section on Vuk because they are very similar players.

Vuk was a slick-fielding, no-hit 3Bman back in a time when major league teams actually employed such creatures. He only had 559 MLB at-bats (hitting .161) and I'd guess most of his big league time was because of his savvy and clubhouse presence.

King was a second round pick by the Dodgers out of a HS in Tennesee in 1999. The reports on him are that he is an exceptional fielder. The bad news is that he can't hit.

He doesn't strike out a huge amount but his career BB/K ratio is very ugly and the rest of his numbers are weak. He spent 3 years at AA, not showing much progress except maybe a little more pop. At Scranton last season (his first full year in AAA) he hit .261/.302/.440, the best numbers of his career. 3B is his only position and he has no speed so a utlity job is out of the question. At age 26, if he can raise that SLG to say .475, he could get a cup of coffee some day. That's probably the extent of his upside.

[MG]

It seems like the only real difference between King and Nunez is that Nunez has the added ability to be a utility player by playing SS/2B and maybe a slightly better BB/K ratio.

Otherwise, I am willing to bet King would get close to duplicating Nunez' career numbers, .243/.313/.318, if he got considerable of playing time. Still baffles my mind that Nunez is making over $2 million this year. Just an awful contract.

[That Dude]

i dont mean to sound overly sentimental, but shouldnt the comments in this thread be just for Vuk? It seems a bit cold to post theories about minor leaguers.

[eddie s.]

Praying for Vuke, and hopefully he can beat this thing like he did before so he can see that parade down Broad Street in October.

[Lake Fred]

I remember Vuke as a Phillies player. He was a late inning guy put in for defensive purposes. He is a good guy and I will pray for him and his family. I pray they can cure this wretched disease.

[Mike H.]

Terrible news. Damn cancer. Such a shame bad things happen to good people and good baseball people like Vuke.

[Rich]

I vaguely remember Vuk's biggest claim to fame, catching Pete Rose's liner to end Rick Wise's no hitter. Class guy. I wish him the best.

[GM-Carson]

Vuk was my favorite 3rd base coach of all-time. I know that's not saying much, but it means something to me.

[stjoehawk]

I used to love the video package that the Phillies would play in the middle of the first inning to tell fans to behave. The high point was when Vukovich would say 'will... be... ejected!'. When they changed the video & replaced him, it was a sad day & the video was never the same.

[JZ]

Prayers to the Vuk family, and Jason, it's commendable that local media did respect their privacy.

A sad day.

[Parker]

I dont remember Vukovich from his playing days, only from his coaching days. Despite not knowing much about him, he was the 3B coach of the 93' Phils, which permanently makes him one of my favorites. I always liked his mustache. He always looked like a Count standing over at 3B. I remember thinking he should donn a cape and tophat with the Phillies logo while standing over at third. Additionally, Vukovich is one of the all time classic names in Phillies lore (From 93 team: Vukovich, Fregosi, Francona, Dykstra, Inchavilia, Eisenreich, Morandini, Daulton). I always thought those names were awesome.

Pray for the best for Vuk, it is sad, but it is good that we can all share fond memories of a classic Phillies personality.

[Tony]

http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/16860699.htm

Vuke passed away this morning. RIP Vuke.

[GM-Carson]

dude...that sucks. really, that just bummed me out.

[Alby]

Rich: thanks for the trivia about Wise's no-hitter. That's my all-time favorite game, and IMO the single greatest game any ML player ever had.