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Posted at 8:21 a.m., Saturday, October 13, 2007

Baseball: Entire Phillies staff returning next season

Associated Press

PHILADELPHIA — The Philadelphia Phillies re-signed their entire coaching staff through 2008, four days after manager Charlie Manuel got a contract extension.

Bench coach Jimy Williams, pitching coach Rich Dubee, hitting coach Milt Thompson, first-base coach Davey Lopes, third-base coach Steve Smith, bullpen coach Ramon Henderson and catching instructor Mick Billmeyer each had his contract renewed today.

"I couldn't be happier with the job my coaches did this year," Manuel said. "Their hard work paid off in a big way when we won the division."

The NL East champions finished one game ahead of the New York Mets to end a 14-year postseason drought, but were swept by Colorado in a divisional playoff series.

Dubee handled a staff that used a club-record 28 different pitchers. Thompson led an offense that led the league in runs for the second straight year.

Lopes, in his first season with the Phillies, helped the club have the best stolen-base percentage (87.9 percent) in major league history. The Phillies stole 138 bases in 157 chances.