Most notably, he was the manager of the Philadelphia Phillies, where he achieved a record of 190 victories and 194 defeats (.495), across all or part of three seasons (1985–1986 and the first 61 games of 1987), before being succeeded by Lee Elia.

After winning the division title with the 1979 Vancouver Canadians of the Pacific Coast League, Felske was named as the bullpen coach for the Toronto Blue Jays under skipper Bobby Mattick for 1980 and 1981.

When Mattick stepped down in favor of Bobby Cox, Felske joined the Philadelphia farm system, and won another PCL divisional title in 1983 with the Portland Beavers.

Hall of Fame left-hander Steve Carlton was coming to the end of his career, and youngsters called up to replace aging veterans fell short of expectations.

While the 1986 club improved to second place in the NL East Division and 86 wins, it finished 21+1⁄2 games behind the frontrunning rival and eventual champion New York Mets.