The Top Ten Managers – Past and Present

It has often been said that managing a baseball team is no regular job. It’s multi-faceted and if you’re going to be remotely decent at it you’ll need more skills than just knowing the game. Having only played and never managed my recipe for success is merely an outside perspective. If I had to come up with an actual “recipe”, so to speak, it would look like this:

• one part people skills
• one part psychological skills
• one part babysitting skills
• one gallon each of courage, guts, and patience

The ten on this list had all this and more. These were the men that molded that profession into what is today. From my standpoint, where these men were concerned, it wasn’t just a career. Instead, they have made it into an art. Of the ten on this elite list, all of them have over 2,000 wins, three are still managing today, and two have losing records.

#10 – Leo Durocher (2,009-1,709, .540)

He was nicknamed Leo the Lip by his peers and for good reasons. Durocher had perfected a penchant for chatter whether on the field or arguing with umpires. Durocher played for four teams in his playing career --- the Yankees (1925 and 1928-29), the Reds (1930-33), the Cardinals (1933-37), and the Dodgers (1938-41, 1943, and 1945). He managed the Dodgers (1939-46 and 1948), the Giants (1948-55), the Cubs (1966-72), and the Astros (1972-73).

In his brief stint with the Yankees he developed a disdain for Babe Ruth who had once accused Durocher of stealing his watch. Durocher was a rather unspectacular player despite being a regular, and Babe Ruth (during their avoidance of one another) had once referred to him as “The All-American Out.” But Yanks manager Miller Huggins saw the potential that Durocher had to become a great manager, and took him under his wing on more than one occasion which created envy among other Yankee ballplayers.

Durocher played on two world champion teams namely the Yankees in 1928 and the Cardinals in 1934. He also managed the New York Giants to a title in 1954. It has been rumored that Durocher came up with the nickname of the “Gashouse Gang” for the Cardinals while he played there. When the Yankees adopted the use of uniform numbers in 1929, they gave Durocher number 2 which he wore the rest of his career as a player, coach, and manager.

#9 – Walter Alston (2,040-1,613, .558)

Interestingly enough, Alston only played pro ball one day in 1936 for the Cardinals coming in as a substitute for the great Johnny Mize, but he spent 23 seasons at the helm of the Dodgers. His one day career was highlighted in a reporter’s interview when the man asked Alston about his record as a ballplayer. According to Wikipedia, Alston replied, "Well, I came up to bat for the Cards back in '36, and Lon Warneke struck me out. That's it."

In that time period that he was a manager, he took the Dodgers to the World Series seven times winning four of them (1955, 1959, 1963, and 1965). He was also named Manager of the Year on six occasions. Alston called it quits after the 1976 season, retiring with 2,040 wins during the regular season and 23 in the post-season.

#8 – Joe Torre (2,067-1,770, .539)*

Through this last season (2007), Torre is currently the third winningest active manager in the majors. He spent 17 years as a player with the Braves (1960-68), the Cardinals (1969-74), and the Mets (1975-77) and played three positions --- catcher, firs, and third. Torre has managed four teams through the 2007 season --- namely the Mets (1977-81), the Braves (1982-84), the Cardinals (1990-95), and the Yankees (1996-2007). He has now been hired by the Dodgers for his fifth position in management.

In four years as the Mets skipper, he never had a winning season. In 1982, Torre took over the Braves and won the division, only to be swept in three games by the Cardinals in the NLCS. After the Braves fired Torre, he spent six seasons (1985-90) as the Angels’ television analyst. Torre managed the Cards from 1990 to mid-season of 1995, never made the playoffs, and finished there with a 351-354 record. When George Steinbrenner hired Torre, he was often criticized by the New York media because his prior management of clubs was anything but award winning. The Press nicknamed him “Clueless Joe”.

But within one season the aggressive journalists of the media would be humbled, if not entire shut up. It’s ironic but Torre has led a two-part career in the Bronx. The first five seasons (1996-2000) were definitely glory days as he became one of the most respected skippers in either league, winning the series four times in that time.

Since then (2001-07), he managed only two trips to the series and lost both in 2001 and 2003. What made matters worse that in 2004, the Yankees were ahead of the Red Sox in the ALCS three games to zero, and then got swept four straight. For the last three seasons (2005-07), they never made it past the divisional series. When ownership offered him a one year contract after the ’07 season, Torre perceived it as an insulting offer and walked away from the Yankees. In less than two weeks, he was hired by the Dodgers and will be joined by Don Mattingly and Larry Bowa as coaches.

#7 – Joe McCarthy (2,125-1,333, .615)

Though he’s number six on the list, McCarthy holds the distinction of highest percentage (.615) winning manager with a 2,125-1,333 record over 24 big league seasons. Despite five seasons with the Cubs and three with the Red Sox, he is most noted for the 16 seasons he managed the New York Yankees. During his tenure in New York, the Yankees went to the World Series eight times (between 1932 and 1943) and won seven, a record he shares with Casey Stengel.

He is the winningest Yankees manager on record with 1,460 wins. In addition to best overall percentage he has the highest winning percentage in the post-season with .698. McCarthy also became the first manager ever to have won pennants in both leagues having won a league title while managing the Cubs (1929) prior to being hired by the Yanks. In 1916, when the Federal League disbanded, he saw his lifelong dream of becoming a major league ballplayer go up in smoke. His first taste of being a manager happened during the 1913 season when he was at Wilkes-Barre, but it was only brief. The birth of his managing career came in 1919 with Louisville of the American Association and he won pennants in 1921 and 1925.

He was hired by the Cubs for the 1926 season and in 1929 he took them to the World Series but lost. Luckily for the Yankees, the Cubs fired him after the 1930 season and he replaced Bob Shawkey, the interim Yankees manager who took over after Miller Huggins died in September of 1929. Due to conflicts with team owner Larry MacPhail, McCarthy resigned as manager in May of 1946, took the 1947 season off, and returned to management with the Red Sox in 1948. That year he saw a one game playoff loss to the Indians keep his team out of the World Series. McCarthy managed his last game on June 18th, 1950.

#6 – Bucky Harris (2,157-2,218, .493)

Despite being revered in this group with over 2,000 victories, Harris is one of two managers in the bunch with a losing career record. He played as a second baseman with the Senators (1919-28) and the Tigers (1929 and 1931), and managed the Senators (1924-28, 1935-42, and 1950-54), the Tigers (1929-33 and 1955-56), the Red Sox (1934), the Phillies (1943), and the Yankees (1947-48). Harris served as a player-manager of the Senators from 1924-28 and the Tigers in 1929 and 1931.

Because of his age when he was a player-manager with Washington, he was often referred to as one of the “boy managers” in baseball. However, he earned a World Series title with them in 1924 and then in 1947 while managing the Yanks. He was also the Red Sox GM in 1959-60) and served as a special assistant for the expansion Senators during part of their existence from 1961-71.

Bucky Harris passed away on his 81st birthday in 1977.

#5 Sparky Anderson (2,194-1,834, .545)

George Lee Anderson was considered a good fielder but not a not a good hitter. He played only one season for the Phillies in 1959, but his no-power, .218 average put an end to his big league career. What “Sparky” or “Captain Hook” (nicknamed such for pulling pitchers quickly when not pitching well) did not accomplish on the field as a player, he more than made up for as a manager.

Anderson has managed two teams namely the Reds (1970-78) and the Tigers (1979-95). He was the first manager to ever win a World Series title in both leagues (Cincinnati 1975-76 and Detroit 1984), and has since been joined by Tony LaRussa (who has won the title with Oakland in the AL and St. Louis in the NL) as the only two managers to have accomplished.

Since retiring as a manager after the ’95 season, Anderson has made numerous media appearances, done broadcasts in the post-season with Joe Buck, and was an announcer for the Angels cable broadcast.

#4 Bobby Cox (2,255-1764, .561)

Bobby Cox is one of three men on this list that is still a current manager in the majors. Cox played for the Yankees in 1968-69 and has managed three teams --- the Blue Jays (1982-85) and the Braves twice (1978-81 and 1990-present). Prior to his return as manager, he was the GM of the Braves from 1986-90. He has been Manager of the Year four times (1985, 1991, and 2004-05) and is the only person to have won the award in consecutive years. On May 12th of this past season (2007), Cox passed Sparky Anderson for fourth winningest manager.

In 1991 when the Braves met the Twins in the World Series, it marked the first time that both teams in the series finished in last place in their divisions the year before. Cox has won 15 division titles, the most for any manager to date he has skippered the Braves to five World Series winning once. In addition to being named Manager of the Year four times in three different decades, The Sporting News has bestowed that title on him eight times.

The last time that Cox and the Braves made it to the post-season in 2005, they lost in the NLDS for the sixth consecutive time, and have not been better than 3rd in their division since. Cox is currently one of only six managers to manage 4,000 or more games having achieved that recognition on September 5th of this past season (2007).

#3 Tony La Russa (2,375-2,070, .534)

Along with Sparky Anderson, La Russa is the only other manager to win a World Series title in both leagues, doing it with Oakland (1989) and in St. Louis (2006). La Russa played seven seasons in the majors with the Kansas City/Oakland A’s (1963 and 1968-71), the Braves (1971), and the Cubs (1973). The in between years were spent in the minors due to a shoulder injury he suffered playing softball with friends during the off-season. The injury would never stop hampering him through his career.

Before La Russa became a manager, he earned a Juris Doctor from Florida State, but never practiced law saying that he would “rather ride the buses in the minor leagues than practice law for a living.” La Russa is now managing his third team in 20 years of managing at the big league level. He managed the White Sox (1979-86), the Athletics (1986-95), and is now with the Cardinals (1996-present) after taking the spot vacated by Torre’s firing.

On August 22nd, 2007 he managed his 4,409th game moving him past Bucky Harris into third place behind only John McGraw (4,769 games) and Connie Mack (7,755 games). After winning the series in ’06 there were high hopes of a Cardinals repeat but it was not to be. Much speculation followed a lackluster year in 2007 as to whether or not La Russa would stay on as manager and renew his contract. Finally, on October 22nd, he signed a two year contract to stay on as manager through the 2009 season. When this contract is complete, La Russa will have been the longest tenured manager in Cardinal history with a 14 reign at the helm of the team.

#2 - John McGraw (2,763-1,948, .586)

Often called “Little Napoleon” or “Muggsy”, John McGraw was a hard as nails ballplayer that was even harder than nails as a manager. As a player McGraw spent time with the Orioles of the AA/NL (1891-99), the Cardinals (1900), the Orioles of the AL (1901-02), and the Giants (1902-06). He was a player-manager with the AA/NL Orioles team (1899), the AL Orioles (1901-02), and the Giants (1902-06). He actually retired after the 1902 season, but then records show that he recorded around a dozen at bats in the next three seasons. But from that point on, he managed the Giants until 1932.

In 33 years of management, McGraw’s teams posted a losing record only two times. He won 11 National League pennants, and three world titles (1905 and 1921-22). A dubious record that McGraw holds is second place all time for ejections from a game with 131. He was the leader until Bobby Cox was tossed for the 132nd time in his career this last August 14th, 2007.

In 1919, McGraw became a part owner of the Giants with Charles Stoneham. McGraw then appointed himself vice president and general manager as well as team manager. This gave him total control over the baseball side of the Giants organization. McGraw retired midway through the 1932 season. Though it was pure speculation at the time that his health was the reason, it was never proven. McGraw never had a uniform number when playing (the practice didn’t really start until 1929), but his name is honored on the outfield wall at AT&T Park alongside all the Giants retired numbers.

#1 – Connie Mack (3,731-3,948, .486)

Known as the “Tall Tactician” and later “The Grand Old Man of Baseball”, I’m fairly positive that when Connie Mack started his journey, he had no idea that the ride would take 64 years, but it did and for all practical purposes, professional baseball should be eternally grateful. Mack was born two years into the Civil War in 1862 and played his first ball game on September 11th, 1886 for the NL Washington Senators. He played for the Senators (1886-89), the Buffalo Bisons (1890), and the Pirates (1891-96). He spent 1894-96 as player-manager with the Pirates, but his entire managing career after that was the Philadelphia Athletics (1901-50).

Mack was a distinguished manager in the fact that he never wore a uniform, choosing instead to wear a business suit, tie, and his fedora. Mack became a partner in ownership with Ben Shibe, but in 1936, when the last Shibe passed away, Mack became the full owner of the team. Mack won nine AL pennants and five World Series (1910-11, 1913, 1929-30). Were it not for the Cubs in 1907-08, Mack’s A’s would have accomplished the first back-to-back titles in World Series history. His 1911 and 1929 teams are often considered two of the greatest teams in baseball history. Were it not for the 1927 Yankees, Mack could have easily won that year two. His team consisted of Ty Cobb, Zack Wheat, Eddie Collins, Lefty Grove, Al Simmons, Mickey Cochrane, and a rookie named Jimmie Foxx, quite possibly the best second place team ever.

Mack was always deemed a tight-fisted owner in that he was the first manager who perceived baseball to be a business and not a game. He was once quoted as saying that he would rather see his team get off to a hot start then ultimately finish in fourth place. "A team like that will draw well enough during the first part of the season to show a profit for the year, and you don't have to give the players raises when they don't win." It was obviously a sound business plan.

Baseball Almanac http://baseball-almanac.com Baseball Library http://www.baseballlibrary.com Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MLB_All-time_Managerial_wins