| Danny Ozark | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Manager | |
| Born:(1923-11-24)November 24, 1923 Buffalo, New York, U.S. | |
| Died: May 7, 2009(2009-05-07) (aged 85) Vero Beach, Florida, U.S. | |
Batted: Right Threw: Right | |
| Career statistics | |
| Games managed | 1,161 |
| Managerial record | 618–542 |
| Winning % | .533 |
Managerial record atBaseball Reference  | |
| Teams | |
| As manager As coach | |
| Career highlights and awards | |
Daniel Leonard Ozark (bornOrzechowski; November 26, 1923 – May 7, 2009) was an American professionalcoach andmanager inMajor League Baseball (MLB).
As manager of thePhiladelphia Phillies, Ozark led the team to three consecutiveNational League East Division championships (1976–1978), but each year his team fell in theNational League Championship Series. He was the fourth manager to reach the Championship Series (National League orAmerican League) in three straight seasons and the first to lose all of them (Whitey Herzog would join him on the same day).
As a coach, he was a member of theWorld Series championship teams of the1965 and1981Los Angeles Dodgers, underHall of Fame managersWalter Alston andTommy Lasorda.
A native ofBuffalo, New York, Ozark grew up inCheektowaga, New York, and attended East High School.[1] Ozark signed with theBrooklyn Dodgers as a teenager and spent over three decades in the Dodger organization. His playing career as aminor leaguefirst baseman lasted all or portions of 18 seasons over 22 years (1942; 1946–61; 1963) and was interrupted byUnited States Army service duringWorld War II, where he saw combat atThe Battle of the Bulge.[2] The 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m), 195 lb (88 kg) Ozark, who batted and threwright-handed, hit over 200home runs during his minor league career, including two 30+ homer seasons. In 1956, he became a playing manager with Brooklyn's Class BWichita Falls Spudders farm club of theBig State League, and rose through their system in succeeding years all the way to theTriple-A level, winning a division championship with the 1963Spokane Indians of thePacific Coast League.
In1965, he came to the Major Leagues — and the Los Angeles Dodgers — as a coach forWalter Alston. Ozark served eight years (1965–72) on Alston's staff, coaching at first and third bases and in the dugout.
Ozark was named manager of the last-place Phillies on November 7, 1972. He succeededFrank Lucchesi, who had been fired four months earlier in July, and general managerPaul Owens, who served in the interim for the remainder of the1972 campaign — and then hired Ozark.[3] The Phillies showed steady improvement in Ozark's first three seasons, and in1976 broke through by winning 101 games, a club record at the time. The Philadelphia club featured a core of players led by two futureHall of Famers:third basemanMike Schmidt and left-handedpitcherSteve Carlton. But in the 1976 NLCS, they faced one of the most powerful teams of the era, the defending world championCincinnati Reds, and they dropped the Series in three straight games, as the Reds went on to asecond successive title.
In1977, the Phils again won 101 games to cruise to the NL East title. This time, against the Dodgers, they were poised to take a 2–1 Series lead when Los Angeles rallied for three runs in the ninth inning of Game 3 to steal the victory. The following night, in the midst of a driving rainstorm, the disheartened Phils fell toTommy John's complete game as the Dodgers won the pennant, three games to one.
In1978, they won only 90 games, but still prevailed by two games in their division, earning the right to face the Dodgers in an NLCS rematch. Again the Phillies lost in four games.
During the 1978–79 offseason, the Phils signed free agentPete Rose away from the Reds. Fresh off his 44-game-hitting streak season, Rose was expected to put Philadelphia over the top in1979. But the Phillies—plagued by injuries and a lack of pitching depth—played poorly all season and were still two games under .500 on August 31 when Ozark was replaced byDallas Green.[4]
Tommy Lasorda knew Ozark from the Dodger organization and selected Ozark to serve as a coach for the National League team for the1979 All-Star Game inSeattle. After the Phillies fired him, Ozark returned to the Dodgers in1980 as third-base coach under Lasorda (and was a member of the Dodgers'1981 World Series championship team), until the two had a falling-out during the1982 season and Ozark was released. He joined the archrivalSan Francisco Giants as a coach in 1983–84 as a member ofFrank Robinson's staff, and served as the Giants'interim manager in1984 when Robinson was fired August 5. The Giants won 24 and lost 32 under Ozark, remaining in the basement of the NL West.
Throughout his managerial career, he was frequentlylampooned for hismalapropisms as a public speaker. Two of his most famous were "We're alive; we can still tie 'em" and "EvenNapoleon had hisWatergate."[5]
| Team | Year | Regular season | Postseason | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Games | Won | Lost | Win % | Finish | Won | Lost | Win % | Result | ||
| PHI | 1973 | 162 | 71 | 91 | .438 | 6th in NL East | – | – | – | – |
| PHI | 1974 | 162 | 80 | 82 | .494 | 3rd in NL East | – | – | – | – |
| PHI | 1975 | 162 | 86 | 76 | .531 | 2nd in NL East | – | – | – | – |
| PHI | 1976 | 162 | 101 | 61 | .623 | 1st in NL East | 0 | 3 | .000 | LostNLCS (CIN) |
| PHI | 1977 | 162 | 101 | 61 | .623 | 1st in NL East | 1 | 3 | .250 | LostNLCS (LAD) |
| PHI | 1978 | 162 | 90 | 72 | .556 | 1st in NL East | 1 | 3 | .250 | LostNLCS (LAD) |
| PHI | 1979 | 133 | 65 | 67 | .492 | (fired) | – | – | – | – |
| PHI total | 1,105 | 594 | 510 | .538 | 2 | 9 | .182 | – | ||
| SF | 1984 | 56 | 24 | 32 | .429 | 6th in NL West | – | – | – | – |
| SF total | 56 | 24 | 32 | .429 | – | – | – | – | ||
| Total[6] | 1,161 | 618 | 542 | .533 | 2 | 9 | .182 | |||
On the morning of May 7, 2009, Ozark died at age 85 at his home inVero Beach, Florida. Ozark was survived by his wife of 60 years, Ginny; two children, Dwain and Darlene; three granddaughters; and four great-grandchildren.[7]
In 2010, Danny Ozark was inducted posthumously into the National Polish-American Sports Hall of Fame.[8]
