The Quiet Man

Danny Murtaugh was a man of many hats. Best known as the Bucco skipper in 1960 when the Yankees went down to his underdog Pirate club, Murtaugh also was a slick infielder that put in nine years of MLB, leading the league in stolen bases in 1941 and all NL second basemen in putouts, assists and double plays in 1948.

As a boy in Chester, Pennsylvania, he would walk along the train tracks and pick up lumps of coal that fell from railroad cars to help heat his home. Physically, he was as tough as his background. He earned a football scholarship to Villanova, but didn't accept it because his family needed him near to make ends meet.

In fact, as a player, Murtaugh worked during the off season at McGovern's Men's Store on Market Street in Chester; being a big-leaguer never went to his head.

In 1937, at the age of 19, the St. Louis Cardinals signed him. He made his MLB debut with the Phillies in 1941. Murtaugh played nine seasons for Philadelphia (1941-43, 1946), the Boston Braves (1947) and the Pittsburgh Pirates (1948-51). We couldn't confirm it, but suppose he was in the service during 1944-45.

In '48, he had his best year. Not only did he lead second basemen in the field, but he hit .290 and posted career highs in RBI (71), runs (56), doubles (21), triples (5) and games played (146) to go with a 23 game hitting streak.

In 1950 he hit .294, a career-high, but his playing days were nearing their end. His last at-bat was in September of 1951. Murtaugh's career stat line was a modest .254/8/219 in 767 games.

He began managing in the Pirates' system in 1952. He led the New Orleans Pelicans and Charleston Senators before returning to the Pirates as a coach in 1956.

In August, 1957, he took the helm of the parent club from the crusty Bobby Bragan. He would hold the job for all or parts of 15 seasons with four different stints as boss (1957-64, 1967, 1970-71, 1973-76).

When Murtaugh took over the Pirates in the middle of the 1957 season, the franchise had a fractious racial divide between the white players and the handful of blacks on the squad - Roberto Clemente, Bennie Daniels, Gene Baker, Roman Mejias, and Jim Pendleton.

He quickly changed the clubhouse attitude, letting the team know that he was about winning, and didn't care if the players were white, black, or green. Murtaugh went 84-70 in his first full campaign as manager, and was selected as the Associated Press "Manager of the Year" in 1958.

The best was just around the corner. In 1960, the Pirates won the National League pennant with 95 victories before stunning the can't-lose Yankees in the World Series.

He was selected "Man of the Year" by Sport Magazine, The Sporting News "Manager of the Year," and the Associated Press "NL Manager of the Year" once more after sending Casey Stengel's Bronx Bombers packing.

One of the players he turned around was Billy Mazeroski, who was tortured by Bragan. He was always being pinch-hit for, and spent the game looking over his shoulder, waiting for the hook to come. That's not exactly the way to build a rookie's confidence.

But Murtaugh recognized a kindred spirit - Maz came from tough times in Ohio - and told him that he was the Pirates' everyday, every inning second baseman now.

Of course, it helped that the Irish skipper had carved out a career as a gloveman at second and appreciated a flash of leather, but that quiet boost was all Maz needed to launch his Hall of Fame career.

One guy that he didn't see eye-to-eye with was Clemente; Murtaugh though he was a jake, sitting out games with minor injuries he should be playing through. Clemente, in response, never trusted Murtaugh and thought he was undercutting him. But understanding for both would come soon enough.

The Pirates stumbled after that historic 1960 series, and Murtaugh resigned for health reasons after the 1964 season (he had an ulcer) and took a front-office job, scouting and evaluating players for GM Joe Brown.

Murtaugh was pressed into service once again as an interim manager when Harry Walker was fired during the 1967 season, finished up the year, and returned to his desk job. But hey, things never work out exactly as envisioned.

Murtaugh took over the Pirates for his third stint in 1970, succeeding Larry Shepard, whose tenure had been marked by squabbling in the locker room. The laid back skipper quickly calmed those troubled waters.

It also didn't hurt that as a talent evaluator, Murtaugh knew the team was loaded and about to go off. He lobbied Brown for the job, and got it after a check-up OK'ed him for dugout duty.

Murtaugh and Clemente reached a respectful if not buddy-buddy state of detente in 1970. Murtaugh knew Clemente was the leader of the clubhouse. He started to use him as a conduit, knowing that Clemente would pass along his words to the rest of the team.

And it was a dugout loaded with strong personalities - Pops, Dock Ellis, Richie Hebner...and they all took to Murtaugh. Race never became an issue; Murtaugh fielded the first all-black nine in MLB history in 1971, explaining they were the best players he had that day.

They were plenty good enough, as the Bucs whipped Earl Weaver's Orioles for the title. Murtaugh, a champ again, retired again (and again was chosen The Sporting News "Manager of the Year"), leaving the team to his hand-selected protege, Bill Virdon.

And hey, guess what happened again? Brown canned Virdon in September of 1973, and Murtaugh, this time reluctantly, returned to managing. He stayed through the 1976 season, when he and Brown announced their retirements during the final week of the season. There were no more Series crowns for Murtaugh, but he did win a pair of division titles.

And there would be no more managing ballgames from the tranquility of his rocking chair in his manager's lair. Murtaugh died in Chester of a stroke at the age of 59, two months after retiring. His number 40 was retired by the Pirates the next year.

In 12 full seasons as Pirates manager (overall, he served parts of 15 seasons from 1957-1976), Murtaugh led his team to nine winning records and five league/division titles (1960, 1970, 1971, 1974 and 1975).

He finished second all-time in Pirates history for wins by a manager with 1,115, only behind Fred Clarke's 1,602 (1900-1915), and compiled a .540 winning percentage.

His granddaughter has even written a book about him: "The Whistling Irishman: Danny Murtaugh Remembered," by Colleen Hroncich.

In his pair of World Series wins, he defeated two Hall of Fame managers in Casey Stengel (1960 New York Yankees) and Earl Weaver (1971 Baltimore Orioles). And that's the raison d'etre for todays post.

Daniel Edward Murtaugh was passed over again by the Veteran's Committee in Hall-of-Fame voting, it was announced this morning.

His stats are in line with the other 19 HOF managers - his win percentage and Series titles are middle-of-the pack, and his win total is a little light, but still better than a couple of other guys. So where's the love?

Some say it's because he's from a small market; other say it's because he was so laid back. Some say he didn't thump his own tub enough, and others claim he was no innovator or a great X & O's man. Maybe it's a generational thing.

Here's what we know. Baseball is a game of numbers - wins, losses, averages, championships, name it, baseball has a figure for it. And since Danny Murtaugh's numbers match up against the best, it stands to reason that he should be included with the best, right? Hey, maybe next year...Pittsburgh's eternal battle cry.

The Skipper That Stirs The Drink...

While the Pirate nation waits with bated breath to find out if Rocco or Derrick join the team or if Dirt Dog makes a miraculous resurrection in Bucco colors, GW's mind got to wandering: who was the best at being maestro to a Pittsburgh ensemble when the talent was finally assembled?

Yah, we know that it's the players that make a team, but still, somebody has to fill out the lineup card. Here's our list of the top five skippers to ever run the Pirate orchestra since the days of Al Pratt, the first Allegheny manager from back in 1882:

5) Bill McKechnie (1922-1926, 409-293, .583) - McKechnie, a Wilkinsburg native who started and ended his MLB playing career with the Pirates, won 55% or more of his games in four of his five seasons at the helm, and his 1925 Bucs won it all.

They beat Washington and the Big Train, Walter Johnson, in seven games. With Kiki Cuyler, Max Carey, and Pie Traynor, he had an explosive club. Alas, his Pirate career came to a screeching halt during the ABC uprising (see Fred Clarke) and he moved on to St. Louis, the third of his five managerial stops.

McKechnie is the only skipper to win pennants with three different NL clubs - Pittsburgh (1925), St. Louis (1928), and Cincinnati (1939-40). He led his 1925 and 1940 clubs to World Championships and was twice named manager of the year.

He was an odd kinda manager for his era (this era, too!) A religious man, he didn't smoke, didn't drink, and didn't cuss. When he had a problem child who liked to party, McKechnie's Solomonic solution was to room with him. That usually calmed the situation. Not too surprisingly, his nickname was the Deacon.

McKechnie was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1962. He died at age 79 in Bradenton, Florida, where the Pirates' spring training home, McKechnie Field, is named after him.

4) Jim Leyland (1986-1996, 851-863, .496) - Before the Pirate suits gutted his lineup, the chain smoking skipper led the Bucs to three straight division titles (1990-92). But for all the players he had in the early 1990s, he couldn't get past the NLCS and suffered some of the most heart-breaking losses in Pittsburgh sports history.

In 1990, his club was outpitched by the Reds. In 1991, they lost the NLCS to Atlanta, losing a pair of 1-0 games and the series in seven after being up 3 games to 2, and 1992 - well, we'll just forget about that one.

Leyland hung around for a while, but the suits let all the stars - Barry Bonds, Bobby Bo, Doug Drabek, Andy Van Slyke - leave, and Jim eventually followed them.

In 1997, he was hired by Wayne Huizenga to manage the Florida Marlins and led them to the franchise's first world championship. In the offseason, Huizenga dismantled the team. Leyland lasted another season, and moved on to the Colorado Rockies head job in 1999.

It was one and out with the Rox, and he became a Pittsburgh-based scout for the Cardinals. You could spy him in the stands of PNC Park with Chuck Tanner. And what a commentary that was to the Pittsburgh fans.

In 2005, Leyland returned to the franchise where he spent the first 18 years of his pro baseball career, Detroit. In 2006, he guided the Tigers to a 95-67 record, their best season since 1987. They won the AL crown as a wild card, only to be dropped by St. Louis in the Series.

Leyland was recognized with the Manager of the Year award for the third time in his career, becoming the third person to win the award in both leagues. He also won The Sporting News Manager of the Year Award for the American League in 2006.

Times have been a little rougher in Motown for Jim of late, and he's working on the last year of his contract. He and his wife Katie live in Pittsburgh with their two kids.

3) Chuck Tanner (1977-1985, 711-685, .509) - Sunshine superman was the ideal guru for the "We Are Familee" Pirates of the late 70s and early 80s. In his 11 seasons, he only made the playoffs once - but whatta ride that was, as the 1979 Pirates rallied to take the Series' crown away from Baltimore.

You know the Pirates wanted him badly. They traded an over-the-hill Manny Sanguillen and threw in $100,000 to pry him loose from Charlie Finley and the Oakland A's, then only the second time a manager had been traded.

He took them to the promised land, but Pops and Dave Parker were on a downslide, and Bert Blyleven was traded. The results showed, as did Tanner's laissez faire attitude towards his players' personal lives, culminating in the low mark of Pittsburgh baseball, the drug trials of 1985.

His baby-sitting skills can be questioned, but he came up with an innovation that's still en vogue. Tanner came up with the "bridge" relievers, bringing in guys as early as the sixth inning to keep the lead, a new tactic at the time. In fact, in 1979 Grant Jackson pitched in 72 games, Enrique Romo in 84 and Kent Tekulve in a league-leading 94. They had the three highest appearance totals in the NL.

Pittsburgh and Tanner parted ways after the 1985 season, and he went to the Braves to manage three unforgettable years with an old, creaking roster.

In 2006, he was invited to be a coach in the All Star game in a classy move by NL manager Phil Garner, who played for the Pirates during Tanner's time, and Chuck threw out the first pitch. It was a great moment for both Tanner and the Pirate faithful.

He returned to the Pirates in 2008 as a senior advisor, and his rumpled golf hat is as much a part of PNC Park as the Pierogies. And Tanner has two more modest claims to fame - the Yankee Doodle was born in New Castle, where he still lives, on the Fourth of July, and hit a home run in his first MLB at bat.

2) Fred Clarke (1900-1915, 1422-969, .595) - Clarke won four NL titles and the 1909 World Series with a roster of great players brought to Pittsburgh by Barney Dreyfuss at the turn of the century. And he was one of them.

In 1900, Clarke joined the Pittsburgh Pirates as a player and manager, roles he would hold until his retirement in 1915. His team played in the first World Series ever held, losing 5 games to 3 in 1903 to the AL Boston Americans and Cy Young after their third consecutive NL title.

But he got his revenge in 1909, when his club whipped the Ty Cobb-led Detroit Tigers. Of course, having Honus Wagner and Babe Adams didn't hurt the cause, either.

He was also a cause celebrite when he instigated the ABC affair. As an assistant to Barney Dreyfuss in 1926, he was allowed to sit on the Pirates' bench but the players, egged on by a trio of vets, wanted him out of the dugout. The Pirates responded by releasing Babe Adams, Carson Bigbee and Max Carey. Still, he had enough and retired after the season.

Clarke was selected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1945 as one of the first to be elected by the Old-Timers Committee with over 1,400 wins as a manager and a lifetime .312 batting average. After his baseball days, Clarke retired to his "Little Pirate Ranch" near Winfield, Kansas, where he died at age 87

1) Danny Murtaugh (1957-1964, 1967, 1970-1971, 1973-1976, 1115-950, .540) - The Smilin' Irishman was as synonymous with Pirate baseball as Rosey Rosewell and the Gunner. He took the helm four times, and twice won World Series as a heavy underdog, with a NL pennant and 4 NL East titles to his credit.

He was named the Pirates manager in the middle of the 1957 season, replacing the acerbic Bobby Bragan. The next year, he led Pittsburgh to a second place finish.

Two years later he piloted the Pirates to their first NL flag since 1927, and led them to a 4 games to 3 victory over the heavily favored New York Yankees of Mickey Mantle and Whitey Ford, aided a bit by Bill Mazeroski’s dramatic 9th inning home run in Game 7. It was Pittsburgh's first title since 1944.

After managing the Bucs for the next four seasons, he stepped down in 1964 after a heart attack, but stayed with the club as an advisor.

In 1967 he replaced Harry "The Hat" Walker as the Pirates field leader in mid-season as a favor, but stepped down at season's end. In 1970, after spending two years in the front office, he accepted the managers job for a third time, having helped build the team from within and recognizing that it was, well, loaded. He managed the team to another first place finish, but lost to the Cincinnati Reds in the NLCS.

With a lineup that boasted of Willie Stargell, Roberto Clemente, Dock Ellis and Al Oliver, he captured the 1971 NL Pennant and then defeated the Baltimore Orioles 4 games to 3 in the World Series. After winning the crown he retired one more time, again on top of the baseball world.

But you can't keep a good man down. For a fourth time, he would come back to the Pirates at the tail end of the 1973 season to take the spot of his hand-picked replacement, Bill Virdon. He led the team to two more NL East titles in 1974 and 1975, but lost in the NLCS both years.

After the 1976 season he called it quits for the final time, suffering a stroke and dying only two months later in his Chester home. He was named the NL Manager of the Year in 1958, won the Sporting News' Manager of the Year honors twice (1960 and 1970), and in 1960, he was selected as the "Man of the Year" by Sport magazine.

o ye of little faith

1960 Bucco logo from Baseball Almanac

Does this sound familiar? A new general manager takes over a Pirate team that's laughably incompetent on the field. He blows up the roster, builds up the minors, and promises that he'll produce a contender. But the team fails to produce and goes eight more years before it comes up a winner - for a different GM. The new guy dumps a couple of vets, makes a tweak or two and viola, a world championship a decade after the plan began.

No, it's not the story of today's Bucs. But it worked for us before, and maybe it'll work for us again.

In 1950, Branch Rickey was faced with a Pirate team even worse than our current version. He blew it up and home grew some ballplayers. But by 1955, his time had come and gone. The Pirates lost 100 or more games three times in five years (they called his teams the "Rickey-Dinks"), and Joe Brown took over the reins. But Rickey, the father of the farm system, didn't leave Brown with a bare cupboard.

Dick Groat, Bob Skinner, Bill Virdon, Bill Mazeroski and Roberto Clemente were already in place. The pitching was set at the top end with Bob Friend and Vernon Law. ElRoy Face was in the bullpen as baseball's first great closer, a Danny Murtaugh innovation (Murtaugh, in my mind, is a much underappreciated manager.) Brown added Dick Stuart and Rocky Nelson in the 1958 draft and picked up super sub Dick Schofield from the Cards for Gene Freese and Johnny O'Brien, one of our twin infielders. Ducky Schofield showed the wisdom of that move when he filled in for 1960 MVP Groat in September, when he broke his wrist after getting plunked by Lew Burdette. Schofield hit .333 in that span and played golden D, helping the Bucs pull away from the Milwaukee Braves and St. Louis Cards.

He made one big deal before the 1959 season, getting Don Hoak, Harvey Haddix and Smoky Burgess from the Redlegs for slugger Frank Thomas, Whammy Douglas, Jim Pendleton and Johnny Powers. He had the starting lineup now in place and a solid middle of the pack starter.

Brown added to his depth after the 1959 season by getting Gino Cimoli and Tom Cheney from the Cards for aging vet Ronnie Kline. His blockbuster was getting Hal Smith from KC for Dick Hall, a dependable starter, Ken Hamlin and Hank Foiles. He had his catching platoon set up and a talented if wild hurler in Cheney for the bottom of the pitching rotation (not much call for the fifth starter back in the day except for doubleheaders and injuries) and long relief. Rookie Joe Gibbon served as what passed for that era's set-up man.

And sometimes the best deal is the one you don't make. During the off season, the Bucs almost traded Dick Groat straight up for Roger Maris. But Murtaugh squelched the swap, and Groat went on to win the batting title and NL-MVP in 1960.

Brown only had to make one more move early in the 1960 season, getting Vinegar Bend Mizell from the Cards for Julian Javier, who was effectively blocked by Maz, and Ed Bauta (the Cards threw in Dick Gray, too) to replace Hall in the rotation. And we all know what happened in 1960. The rest, as they say, is history.

Now do we have a core of ballplayers in place like Brown did? Does Huntington have Brown's eye in making up a lineup and deciding the role players from the position players? Do we have an excess in one position or players blocking other younger guys to deal to fill needs? And is Russell another Murtaugh? Or are we closer to the stage when Rickey took over, a decade away from respectability? Time will tell the answers. But at least we can take some solace in knowing its' been done here before.