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Criteria For Players Who Became Managers

© Joseph J. Checkler

One of the toughest questions that Hall of Fame voters face is that of how to objectively combine the credentials of players who later go on to manage.

Strategy is more important in baseball than in any other sport. Minute details such as the positioning of outfielders and use of the bullpen can be the difference between a pennant winner and a .500 season. Giving the ball to Michael Jordan and watching him go to work is not an option. Consequently, great baseball managers, the ones who can sustain success for a prolonged period of time, are as sure to make the Hall of Fame as a 300 game winner. In fact, nine of the ten winningest managers of all time are in the Hall of Fame.

But then there is the gray area. Good players, with incomplete Hall of Fame credentials who become solid, but not legendary managers. Yes, these monsters exist. A long wait and eventual trickle down to the "last chance" Veterans Committee (with some persistent lobbying) is usually the only chance for these 'tweeners to get the nod, but should it be?

The equation gets complicated once the word manager is mentioned. Immediately, media relations and public support get intertwined with what the main job is; to win. Of course, it is impossible to correct this, because of the nature of the manager's involvement in the actual game. He sits in the dugout for the entire game, with his only visibility taking place during a trip to the mound. The less everyone sees of him, the better his team is doing (unless he pulls the Bobby Valentine "send the pitching coach to the mound" routine). His most visible period of a game is in front of the reporters after it has ended. Lucky for Bob Gibson, among others, this is not the case for players.

Connie Mack managed from the American Revolution until the Persian Gulf War, and won the most games in history. He's obviously in. Casey Stengel won more rings than Three Finger Brown could have worn, another easy choice. John McGraw, Bucky Harris, Sparky Anderson, none of these men needed to actually play ball to take the trip to Cooperstown. But there's not much else. The fact is, there are only a handful of Vince Lombardi's in any sport. So the dual life becomes the best shot for most skippers.

For argument's sake, let's look at the credentials of Joe Torre, the player. He batted a career .297, with 252 homers, and over 1000 RBI's in 16 full seasons, and won an M.V.P. He's the only player to play 500 or more games at third base, first base, and catcher. This is the bio of a solid major league ballplayer, but not a Hall of Famer. However, toss in four rings in five years as Yankee manager, and things get interesting. Obviously, the Yankees have had the resources to put a decent team on the field during his tenure, but four rings are four rings. The best argument against him is his poor managerial record before the Yankees, but look at the players he had. His early 80's Mets teams were never better than 30 games under .500, but that was strictly a roster thing (remember, Wally Backman was still young). Torre has the intangibles too. Nobody has been more embraced by the New York fans and media than the man that was introduced to the Yankees by the back page grabber, "Say it Ain't Joe."

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