Baseball managers going from the broadcast booth straight to the dugout
There was a short time in Major League Baseball history when hiring a manager who’d been in the team’s broadcast booth watching the team from ‘above’ every day, was in fashion. It was virtually non-existent before 1980. Before that year retired players had been a part of the radio or TV coverage going back as far as St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Dizzy Dean. Dean had to retire in 1941 due to a bad arm and joined the crosstown St. Louis Browns radio coverage. He un-retired for one start in 1947 which was more of a promotion by the famed Bill Veeck than anything else. Fortunately, ever the showman, Veeck never brought in Dean to manage the team although the thought had to have crossed his mind.
Former broadcasters turned managers often would say that they got a different perspective on the players and the game watching from the booth. Yet only a few teams experienced a boost by bringing in a manager who’d been in the booth.
The most notable
Joe Torre — HOF manager Joe Torre had an excellent playing career. He won a batting title with the Cardinals in 1971 and it’s not because he was a feared power hitter or speed demon. The man could just flat-out hit! Torre was enshrined in Cooperstown in 2014 as a manager. Had he not been elected as a manager there’s good reason to think that he would have been later elected as a Rule B candidate which allows for overall contributions to baseball. Yet Joe Torre was also something of a pioneer in that he used his six years of experience as an Angels television analyst to hone his skills as a manager. Prior to that it was the standard that once a manager came out of the dugout and moved into media, he’d ever return to the field as team manager.
While Torre is not the only one to have gone from the broadcast booth to the bench, he paved the way for those that came after him. In 1977 Torre began his managerial career as (briefly) as a player-manager for the Mets. He lasted parts of 5 seasons leaving in 1982 (he was fired after the 1981 strike-shortened season), to become manager of the Atlanta Braves. The Braves started very hot in 1982, winning their first 13 games which was then a new major league record since equaled by the Milwaukee Brewers in 1987 and by the Tampa Bay Rays in 2023. However, the Braves would lose the NLCS to the Cardinals and after three seasons Torre would be let go, and the only job available was with the Cardinals AAA team. A disillusioned Torre turned to the broadcast booth for the Halos.
Six years in the booth and Torre was getting better and better at his new craft. Until the Cardinals Walt Jocketty brought Torre in to take over a lousy Cardinal team that had gone 70–92 under team manager and legend Whitey Herzog. While the TV booth experience had given him a different outlook on the game, AND Torre was able to immediately turn around the Cardinals, his team’s 351–354 record over six seasons was not enough to keep him around. Fired for a third time Torre figured his time as a manager was finished. Then he got a call from the Yankees and immediately became a Hall of Fame manager winning five World Series with the Bronx Bombers. Clearly Torre had learned something which included knowing how to manage better players!
Bob Brenly — Brenly was in the broadcast booth with the Arizona Diamondbacks for three years 1998–2000. Then the team fired Buck Showalter and brought Brenly in from the broadcast booth straight into the dugout. Like Torre who started out as a catcher, Brenly also caught in big leagues for years. Catchers are often seen as good managerial material, but Brenly had never managed a team at any professional level. Of course, those 2001 Diamondbacks, behind Randy Johnson and Curt Schilling, promptly beat Torre’s Yankees to win the World Series! The D’Backs won the NL West the following year but were vanquished in the NLDS 3–0 by the Cardinals. Brenly lasted two more seasons before being dumped never to manage again.
Coincidently, both Torre and Brenly’s first World Series titles occurred after the team fired Buck Showalter. Hopefully the Mets haven’t missed something by not hiring Keith Hernandez or Ron Darling as manager for the 2024 season!
Going into the dugout from the booth does not always work
There’s another side of the coin. Even before Joe Torre, the Padres had a famous 1980 failure with the first booth-to-dugout transplant. Jerry Coleman. Known by some as the ‘Mickey Mantle of the malapropism’, Coleman was a great listen on the air, doing seemingly Dizzy Dean imitations such as “They throw Winfield out at second and he’s safe” and “There’s someone warming up in the bullpen, but he’s obscured by his number.” But as a manager Coleman only lasted one year piloting the team to a 73–89 record and a last-place finish in the NL West. That ended that. On the positive side Coleman returned to the radio booth and became a Ford C. Frick Award winner in 2005. Some people just aren’t made to be managers.
Others who’ve gone from the booth to the dugout
Larry Dierker — Houston’s Larry Dierker moved from the Astros’ broadcast booth in 1997 to the dugout, winning three consecutive NL Central titles and being named 1998 NL Manager of the year. He had six seasons as manager with only one losing season. He never managed anywhere else.
Terry Francona — went to the broadcast booth after being bounced by the Red Sox in 2011 despite having won 2 WS. Tito came back to manage the Cleveland Guardians in 2013 after one season in the booth.
Buck Martinez — like Brenly, Buck Martinez started off in the broadcast booth before going into the dugout. He began in 1987 as Jays TV color analyst and then after 14 years went into the dugout in 2000 through 2002. Then went back to the booth with the Orioles for 7 years returning to the Blue Jays booth in 2010. He won several Emmy’s and had considerably more success as a broadcaster than as a manager.
Lou Piniella — ‘Sweet’ Lou was in the New York Yankee booth for the first time in 1989 after three years managing the team as a color analyst on MSG Network. In 1990 he led the Cincinnati Reds to a World Series championship. He also had a second stint as a broadcaster during the 2006 postseason between his times as manager with the Rays and Cubs. The story goes that Lou was very calm in the booth unlike his demeanor on the field as either a player or Manager.
When managers lose their jobs it’s not surprising that some of the more personable now-former managers are considered and consider joining ESPN, MLB Network, or even local broadcast outlets. You can bet that all of the MLB current managers keep an eye on who the team has in the booth above since their future replacement might be only 150 feet away!
About the Author: Mark Kolier along with his son Gordon co-hosts a baseball podcast called ‘Almost Cooperstown’. He also has written baseball-related articles that can be accessed on Medium.com and now Substack.com.
