Forty years after leaving Temple, Jeff Manto, Conwell-Egan’s baseball team head coach and former Phillie, finally graduated earlier this week, writes Matt Breen for The Philadelphia Inquirer.
His interest in returning to school was sparked two decades ago, when a woman kept heckling him during a game while he was managing a Phillies minor league affiliate. After the game, he approached the woman, who turned out to be Arlene Dowd, a Temple employee of over 20 years.
“I finally said, ‘Lady, what do you want?’” said Manto. “She said, ‘I’m your counselor. Get your butt back to school.’”
Manto, a Bristol native, was 22 credits short when he left Temple in 1985 after being drafted by the California Angels. He wanted to graduate, but playing 16 professional seasons, coaching for 20 years, and raising three kids left him with no time to fulfill that goal.
But over the years, he always remembered Dowd, and in 2020, he returned to Temple to continue his studies. To finish his degree, he took one class a semester. The 60-year-old graduated on Thursday with a bachelor’s degree in general studies.
Jeff Manto’s journey from the batter’s box to the graduation stage is full of heart—read the full story in The Philadelphia Inquirer to see how it all came together.
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