Wednesday, August 17, 2005

I'm not sure what to make of this

Yesterday in Fort Worth, Texas 87 year old Bobby Bragan managed the Fort Worth Cats for one game to become the oldest manager in history, besting Casey Stengel by 8 days. Why is this noteworthy? Because from 1956 to 1957 Bobby Bragan managed the Pirates. Since then the Pirates have been managed by (in order) Danny Murtaugh, Harry Walker, Danny Murtaugh, Larry Shephard, Alex Grammas, Danny Murtaugh, Bill Virdon, Danny Murtaugh, Chuck Tanner, Jim Leyland, Gene Lamont, and Lloyd McClendon (according to baseball-reference.com). Bragan is probably best remembered in Pittsburgh as the guy whose firing brought in Danny Murtaugh and the end of 9 straight losing seasons in 1958, then a World Series in 1960. In the recent documentary on FSP about the 1960 World Series team, Bragan was remembered as a manager that refused to trust his talented young players. According to Maz, Bragan once pinch hit for him with the bases loaded in the FIRST INNING. The first thing Murtaugh told Mazeroski was "You're my second baseman and I'm not pinch hitting for you." I assume most of you can see where I'm headed with the mismanagement of young, talented players comments. Let's just say that my highest hope for Lloyd McClendon at the moment is that he can be remembered as our Bobby Bragan of the early 21st Century.