Baseball Player-Managers

A low-value cost-saving measure is long gone

The late Pete Rose is MLB’s most recent player-manager. He well may be the last in a fairly long line of player-managers. According to Wikipedia in the history of MLB there have been 221 player-managers, 59 of whom are in the Hall of Fame.

Player-managers have been around since pro baseball got started

When professional baseball began, having a player-manager was a good way for teams to save money. And it was also a good way for the player-manager to make more than he would were he only a player. 47.5% (105 total) of the player-managers began doing double duty before 1900 the first being John Clapp in 1872 for the Middletown (CT) Mansfields in the National Association. At least one man served as a player-manager in every major league season from Clapp's debut through 1955.

In the modern era beginning in 1901, through 1930, there were 82 player-managers. The most well-known ones include HOFers John McGraw, Nap Lajoie, Frank Chance, Hughie Jennings (the man hit by a pitch more than any other player in history), and Roger Bresnahan. Even HOFer Cy Young took a turn as Red Sox player-manager in 1907. HOFer the “Big Six” Christy Mathewson, did it for one season for the Reds in 1916.

As time went on, popular players became player-managers because it was thought to help with game attendance. I find the idea of going to a baseball game to see a manager absurd. HOFer Ty Cobb was not exactly a popular ballplayer outside of Detroit, where late in his playing career he served as player-manager for the Tigers, from 1921-26.

Since 1930 there have only been 37 player-managers with only four in the past 50 years, (HOFer Frank Robinson, HOFer Joe Torre, Don Kessinger, and not HOFer Pete Rose). HOF manager Leo Durocher led the Brooklyn Dodgers to the World Series in 1941. HOFer Mel Ott led the New York Giants from 1942-47. Let’s just leave it that Ott was a much more effective player than he was a manager. Cleveland Indians (Guardians) HOF shortstop and player-manager Lou Boudreau led the team for nine seasons and piloted the team to a 1948 World Series victory – the last time Cleveland held the crown.

Aside from Boudreau, in the modern era, here are the other nine World Series winning player managers.

John McGraw (1904 NY Giants)

Fielder Jones (1906 White Sox)

Frank Chance (1907-08 Cubs)

Tris Speaker (1920 Indians)

Bucky Harris (1924 Nationals/Senators)

Rogers Hornsby (1926 Cardinals)

Gabby Street (1931 Cardinals)

Bill Terry (1933 Giants)

Frankie Frisch (1934 Cardinals)

All of them between 1904 and 1934. Only Fielder Jones and Gabby Street are not HOFers, but they do have great baseball names.

Will there ever be an MLB player manager again?

Baseball is harder to play today than ever, and the game itself is more complicated. The incentive to save a salary is not there and hasn’t been in a long time – longer than 50 years. The most recent player-managers Kessinger and Rose received criticism for putting themselves in the lineup, Kessinger going on record saying that he did not play himself enough for the 1979 White Sox who went 73-87. Yeah Don, it probably wouldn’t have made the difference. Just saying.

Bill Terry when he became player-manager felt he was somewhat alienated from his teammates. That totally makes sense. And he was on a WS winner! Pete Rose’s hiring by then Reds owner Marge Schott was more a publicity stunt than anything else. That did not end well as we all know. The Blue Jays flirted with having HOFer Paul Molitor take over as player-manager in 1997 but then thought the better of it. HOFer Barry Larkin also was considered by Reds GM Jim Bowden in 2000 but again passed on that thought. If you are a future HOFer you clearly have a better chance, but I don’t see any player taking over as player-manager going forward.

Could Mike Trout serve as player-manager for the Angels when Ron Washington retires? I would not put a publicity stunt like that past Angels owner Artie Moreno, but it’s highly doubtful. The Halos would much rather have Trout play 130 games or more and do what he used to do on the field.

For what it’s worth, I’d like to see a current MLB manager wear something other than a uniform in the dugout a la Connie Mack or Pat Riley. It would be cool to see even if it only lasted one game! I don’t believe there’s a rule against it. Just a whole lot of stale tradition. Kind of like being a player-manager.

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 Substack.com. Mark can be reached on x @almostcoop and almostcooperstown@gmail.com