Phillies legend Trillo joins club's Wall of Fame

CLEARWATER, Fla. -- The Cubs traded Manny Trillo to the Phillies in an eight-player deal in late February 1979. The Phillies traded him to the Indians in a six-player deal for Von Hayes in December 1982.

In between, Trillo became a Phillies legend.

The Phillies announced Saturday morning that Trillo will be inducted onto their Wall of Fame on Aug. 8 as part of alumni weekend at Citizens Bank Park. Trillo not only helped the Phillies win the 1980 World Series, but he made two National League All-Star teams, won three Gold Gloves Awards and won two Silver Slugger Awards during his time in Philadelphia. He earned National League Championship Series MVP honors in 1980, when he batted .381 with two doubles, one triple and four RBIs. His biggest hit came in a thrilling and decisive Game 5 against the Astros at the Astrodome, when he tripled with two outs in the eighth inning to score two runs to tie the game.

The Phillies won in 10 innings, 8-7.

"I've been waiting for 15, 20 years," Trillo said. "I was wondering. And now I'm so happy. It's like another World Series. Oh, yeah. It's another honor. I never thought about the Hall of Fame. The only thing when I started playing baseball was being a world champion. But this one is a really, really big thing."

The Phillies are celebrating the 40th anniversary of the 1980 title in August. Trillo, 69, will be happy to see some of his former teammates, but he broke up when he thought about Dallas Green and Ruben Amaro Sr., who were tremendous influences on Trillo's life and career.

Green was Trillo's manager in 1980. He died March 22, 2017. Amaro was the Phillies' first-base coach. He died March 31, 2017.

"Too bad that we won't be able to see two great men," Trillo said, tearing up. "Those two guys were really kind of my fathers to me in baseball. Dallas Green helped me in the Minors. Ruben Amaro was another guy that helped me in the Majors. He was really close to being like a father. It's really bad that they're not here."

Trillo recalled perhaps his greatest moment -- that triple in the eighth inning in Game 5 against Astros pitcher Ken Forsch.

"[Third-base coach] Lee Elia bit my arm after I got up after the triple," Trillo said, chuckling. "I don't think that I really felt the bite because I was so happy for the triple and to get those RBIs. I was so happy that I did that. It was emotional for him too, I guess."

In his four seasons with the Phillies (1979-82), Trillo led NL second basemen in games (501), hits (516), doubles (85) and total bases (686). Interestingly, his arrival in 1979 allowed Mike Schmidt to return to third base. The Phillies played Schmidt at second base that spring.

"I was feeling like I was the rookie," Trillo said about his arrival. "You've got Pete Rose, you've got [Larry] Bowa, you've got [Bob] Boone and Mike Schmidt. They played there long before I got there."