PHILADELPHIA (AP) – Charlie Manuel won’t be so easy to poke fun at anymore.

Second-guessed and critiqued from the day he was hired by Philadelphia, Manuel made all the right moves this season as the Phillies beat Tampa Bay 4-3 Wednesday night to win the World Series four games to one.

He shut ’em all up and proved ’em all wrong.

“I liked every minute of it,” Manuel said. “Actually, it’s bigger than I actually felt like it was.”

The 64-year-old Manuel and Dallas Green (1980) are now the only Phillies managers with World Series rings. Green is a special adviser to general manager Pat Gillick.

“Charlie’s done outstanding,” Gillick said. “He never has a bad day. He keeps the players in the right frame of mind that is so important these days.”

Manuel’s greatest professional triumph came with a dose of sadness. His mother died during the NL championship series, and he left a workout day to attend her funeral in Buena Vista, Va., where Manuel placed a Phillies cap in his mother’s casket.

June Manuel wasn’t far from the manager’s thoughts.

“I think she’d be hollering and laughing,” Manuel said. “And I think she’d be telling us how good a team I had and all that stuff, really. And she would be saying that she’s going to walk around in Buena Vista and talk to everybody tomorrow. That’s what she would be saying.”

And people there haven’t forgot him. A banner hung on the concourse near section 113 Wednesday that read “Good luck Charlie and Phillies. Buena, Vista, Va.”

Manuel wasn’t an instant hit in fickle Philly. He sounded funny to the locals and didn’t bring the outgoing, fiery attitude of his predecessor, Larry Bowa.

Now Manuel sounds like a winner.

After two consecutive NL East titles it’s not uncommon to hear chants of “Charlie! Charlie! Charlie!” echoing throughout Citizens Bank Park.

Although fans needed time to warm to Manuel, the players loved him almost immediately. He had the support of former Phillies first baseman Jim Thome, and his folksy style was a welcome change from the contentious Bowa era.

“He has a lot to do with keeping us all confident and calm at the same time,” closer Brad Lidge said. “He’s made us feel great the entire year.”

Phillies pitcher Brett Myers said Manuel was a father figure in the clubhouse.

“We always look up to him and respect him for whatever he has to say,” Myers said before Game 5. “He keeps us up in the clubhouse and lets us be individuals, and that’s a pretty good guy to play for.”

Manuel’s no pushover, though. He pulled NL MVP Jimmy Rollins from a game in June for failing to run hard on a popup, then later benched him for arriving late to the ballpark for a game against the division rival Mets.

Manuel has made more of his managerial career than he did as a player. He batted .198 in 242 career games with the Twins and Los Angeles Dodgers, then became a star slugger in Japan.

He had a 220-190 record in his first big league managerial stop with the Cleveland Indians, leading them to the AL Central championship in 2001.

That’s now just a footnote in a career forever stamped with a World Series championship.

AP-ES-10-29-08 2307EDT