Moving From One Baseball Career to Another
What do all successful major league managers have in common? Most are former players who demonstrated advanced leadership skills, confidence and charisma, and a keen understanding of dynamics on and off the field. These are all intangibles not reflected in batting averages, ERA, or cumulative statistics. In fact, most great managers were not the ones putting up eye-popping numbers.
Still, there are a few exciting exceptions: great managers who were also superstar players. Here are a few of my favorite examples:
Joe Torre
When Torre was hired to manage the Yankees prior to the 1996 season, critics were skeptical that he’d be up to the task. Torre had previously managed three National League teams–the Mets, Braves, and Cardinals–but with mostly middling results. The day after his introductory press conference with the Yankees, the New York Daily News ran a headline referring to him as “Clueless Joe.” George Steinbrenner’s decision to hire Torre would prove shrewd, however, when Torre spearheaded the Yankee dynasty of the late 1990s.
Under Torre, the Yankees won ten division titles, six pennants, and four World Series championships. He went on to manage in Los Angeles for three seasons, leading the Dodgers to two division crowns. Torre’s excellence as a big league skipper earned him a Hall of Fame induction in 2014.
Though Torre reached the Hall of Fame because of his managerial track record, he was also a phenomenal player over 18 big league seasons. He won a Gold Glove at catcher in 1965, and earned NL MVP honors in 1971 after leading the Senior Circuit in average and RBIs. Torre finished his playing career with a .297 average and 1,185 runs batted in.
Frank Robinson
Robinson’s MLB career began with a bang as the 20-year old tied the major league record with 38 home runs as a rookie in 1956. For the next two decades, Robinson remained one of the game’s brightest stars, earning 14 All-Star selections and winning two World Series titles. To this day, Robinson remains the only person to win the MVP award in both the American and National League.
Robinson made history in 1975 when he became Major League Baseball’s first African American manager. He was actually a player-manager in his first two years on the job, and his managerial debut was nothing short of legendary. In his first game as skipper, Robinson wrote himself into the second spot in the lineup and homered in his first at-bat.
While his managerial career was not on the same level as his playing career, Robinson was still an accomplished skipper. He received the 1989 American League Manager of the Year Award after guiding the Orioles to a 33-win improvement from the year before. The stern but wise Robinson managed for a total of 17 seasons, and had the distinction of being the first manager in Washington Nationals history.
Gil Hodges
Gil Hodges belongs in the Hall of Fame, and his continued exclusion from Cooperstown remains a glaring oversight. At the time of his retirement, his 370 home runs ranked 11th on the all-time list.
Hodges became a beloved figure during his time with the Brooklyn Dodgers, and would remain a New York baseball icon when he joined the Mets for their inaugural 1962 campaign. In addition to his offensive prowess, Hodges won the first three Gold Gloves awarded to an NL first baseman.
Hodges managed the Washington Senators for five seasons before becoming Mets skipper in 1968. In 1969, the “Miracle Mets” defeated the heavily favored Baltimore Orioles in the World Series, a feat that would not have been possible without Hodges’ expert use of platoons and handling of the pitching staff.
Yogi Berra
Berra’s frequent malapropisms, which became known as “Yogi-isms,” belied the fact that he was a brilliant baseball mind with a keen intellect. A three-time MVP and ten-time World Series champion during his playing career, Berra later successfully transitioned to managing. He led the Yankees to an American League pennant in 1964, but was fired after the Yankees lost the World Series.
Perhaps Berra’s greatest achievement as a manager, however, was steering the Mets to an NL pennant in 1973. Those Mets, who adopted Tug McGraw’s “Ya Gotta Believe!” catchphrase as their rallying cry, beat the “Big Red Machine” in the NLCS despite only winning 82 games in the regular season.
Frank Chance
Chance played 17 seasons in the big leagues, spending ten of those years as a player-manager. He twice led the National League in stolen bases and was also an outstanding defensive first baseman. Chance and his teammates Joe Tinker and Johnny Evers were immortalized in the poem “Baseball’s Sad Lexicon,” which made their names synonymous with efficiently turning double plays.
As a manager, Chance became known as the “Peerless Leader.” Under his command, the Cubs won four NL pennants and two World Series titles. Chance’s .664 winning percentage with the Cubs remains the best mark by any skipper in franchise history.
Searle’s Final Say
Why have so few superstar players enjoyed success as managers? The truth is that physical talent does not always correlate with baseball acumen or tactical shrewdness. However, as proven by the aforementioned baseball legends, certain individuals are destined for greatness in all facets of the game.
