| George Bamberger | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Pitcher /Manager | |
| Born:(1923-08-01)August 1, 1923 Staten Island,New York City,New York, U.S. | |
| Died: April 4, 2004(2004-04-04) (aged 80) North Redington Beach, Florida, U.S. | |
Batted: Right Threw: Right | |
| MLB debut | |
| April 19, 1951, for the New York Giants | |
| Last MLB appearance | |
| April 22, 1959, for the Baltimore Orioles | |
| MLB statistics | |
| Win–loss record | 0–0 |
| Earned run average | 9.42 |
| Strikeouts | 3 |
| Managerial record | 458–478 |
Stats atBaseball Reference  | |
| Managerial record at Baseball Reference | |
| Teams | |
| As player As manager | |
| Career highlights and awards | |
George Irvin Bamberger (August 1, 1923 – April 4, 2004) was an American professionalbaseball player,pitching coach andmanager. InMajor League Baseball, the right-handedpitcher appeared in tengames, nine inrelief, for the 1951–52New York Giants and the 1959Baltimore Orioles. He later spent ten seasons (1968–77) as the Orioles' pitching coach and managed theMilwaukee Brewers (1978–80; 1985–86) andNew York Mets (1982–83).[1][2] During his playing career, he threw and batted right-handed, stood 6 feet (1.8 m) tall and weighed 175 pounds (79 kg).
Bamberger was born on August 1, 1923, inStaten Island, New York City, New York, where he was raised.[3][4] He attended McKee Vocational High School in Staten Island. He entered the military in February of 1943, and served in theUnited States Army duringWorld War II in theMediterranean andEuropean theaters of operations.[5]
Bamberger signed with the hometownNew York Giants in 1946.[6] He was assigned to theErie Sailors of theClass CMiddle Atlantic League, where he had a 13–3 record and 1.35earned run average (ERA) with eightshutouts in 18games started. Bamberger reached double digits inwins during four of his first fiveminor league seasons; he would record ten or more victories in 15 of his 18 years as a minor league pitcher, and win 213 total games during that span (1946–63), with a 3.72 ERA.[3]
Bamberger made the Giants' 28-man roster at the outset of the1951 season. In his big-league debut on April 19, 1951, during aPatriots' Daydoubleheader against theBoston Braves atBraves Field, he gave up threehits (including ahome run toSam Jethroe) and twoearned runs in twoinnings pitched.[7] Nine days later, he struggled again, as he surrendered abase on balls and then a two-run home run toJackie Robinson, while recording noouts, against theBrooklyn Dodgers.[8]
Bamberger spent the rest of that season with theTriple-AOttawa Giants of theInternational League.[3] He pitched ano-hitter for Ottawa on Father’s Day in 1951, shortly after his daughter was born.[9]
In1952, Bamberger again was a member of the big-league Giants during the season's early weeks. He appeared in five more games, all as a relief pitcher, but was largely ineffective, allowing six hits, three walks, and four earned runs in four full innings of work. After June 1, he was sent to theOakland Oaks of the top-levelPacific Coast League (PCL), going 14–6, with a 2.88 ERA. He would spend the bulk of the rest of his playing career in the PCL.[3] The Oaks transferred toVancouver,British Columbia, in 1956,[10] and became affiliated with the Orioles.[11]
Bamberger remained with the renamedVancouver Mounties for another seven years[3] until the franchise moved again,[citation needed] toDallas,Texas, in 1963. (The Mounties ceased playing for 1963-64.[12] In 1963, the already existing Dallas-Fort Worth Rangers moved from the Triple-AAmerican Association to the PCL, and Bamberger played for that team in 1963.[13][14]) In 1958, he had a 15–11 record with a 2.45 ERA.[3] That year, he had a streak of 68.2 consecutive innings without giving up abase on balls, a league record.[9] Later, as a pitching coach, he emphasized the need to throw strikes.
In the midst of his PCL tenure, however, in1959, the 35-year-old Bamberger received his third and final major league trial with the Mounties' parent club, theBaltimore Orioles. In hisAmerican League debut on April 16, Bamberger was thestarting pitcher against the defending World ChampionNew York Yankees atMemorial Stadium. He held the Yankeesscoreless for five full innings, as Baltimore built a 2–0 lead. But in the sixth, he surrendered a two-rundouble toNorm Siebern, tying the game; and then, after the Orioles had gone ahead 3–2 in their half of the sixth, he gave up the lead in the seventh frame. He left after6+1⁄3 innings, having allowed four earned runs on four hits, with Baltimore trailing by a run. (The Orioles eventually prevailed, 7–4, withBilly O'Dell getting the win in relief.)[15]
After two relief appearances with the Orioles, Bamberger returned to the Pacific Coast League, where he went 11–7, with a 2.98 ERA.[3] But that was his final chance in major league baseball, and he would spend the rest of his pitching career in the PCL, ending his career with the 1963Dallas-Fort Worth Rangers, going 7–15, with a 4.53 ERA. He never recorded adecision in the Majors, and compiled a 9.42earned run average with 25 hits and ten bases on balls allowed, and threestrikeouts, over14+1⁄3 innings.[3]
As a pitching coach, Bamberger's pitching philosophy was to throw strikes. He thought it was not rational to try and pinpoint pitches, and the key to success was changing speeds and types of pitches, while throwing down the middle.[6] He also would teach his famed illegal spitball pitch, "The Staten Island Sinker".[16][9]
Hall of Fame pitcherJim Palmer, who played over a decade for Bamberger in the minor and major leagues, said that Bamberger's strengths were in realizing each pitcher was unique, not overcoaching, remaining unflappable and never panicking. Bamberger's calm and level demeanor were an important counterbalance for Orioles pitchers in dealing with managerEarl Weaver's explosive and intense nature.[17][18][19]
In 1960–63, Bamberger served as a player-coach for the Mounties and Dallas-Fort Worth Rangers while still pitching regularly (working in 135 games, 110 as a starter).[3] While in Vancouver and Dallas-Fort Worth, he coached future major league pitchers such asDenny Lemaster,Claude Raymond,Ted Abernathy,John O'Donaghue, andLee Stange.[20][21] In 1960, the Mounties were affiliated with the Orioles, but in 1961 they changed affiliations to theMilwaukee Braves, and in 1962 to theMinnesota Twins. The 1963 Rangers were likewise affiliated with the Twins.[22][20][23][21] Then, in 1964, he retired as a player and rejoined the Baltimore organization as its roving minor league pitching instructor.[6]
The Orioles'farm system was then among the pioneers in standardizing player instruction, with career minor leaguers like Bamberger and future Orioles Hall of Fame manager Earl Weaver[24] among those providing instruction in "the Oriole Way". Bamberger observed the Orioles looked for two things in players to join their system, talent and attitude. With Bamberger playing a key role, it was developing a corps of young pitchers that would help the club win the1966 World Series.[25] In 1964, the Orioles farm system included pitchers like Jim Palmer,[17]Tom Phoebus,[26] andEddie Watt,[27] and the Orioles had already brought up young pitchers likeDave McNally,[28]Wally Bunker,[29] andSteve Barber[30] to the major league roster from its farm system; all of whom played on the 1966 world champion team.[31]
He earned a promotion whengeneral managerHarry Dalton appointed him to succeedHarry Brecheen as the Orioles' pitching coach on October 3, 1967; at the same time making Weaver the Orioles new first base coach.[32] Bamberger took over a pitching staff that often saw young stars quickly lose their effectiveness due to sore arms. Dave McNally and Jim Palmer, two stars who recovered under Bamberger, credited a routine of regular exercises instituted by Bamberger for reversing the trend.[33]
Bamberger believed that underuse, not overuse, created sore arms, thus he had both an exercise preparation regime between starts, and had his starters pitching long innings during the season . His pitchers ran every day, including sprints, believing that leg strength would improve stamina and coordination, which would maintain a pitcher's mechanics. He also had a throwing regime between starts.[6] In the Orioles three consecutive 100-plus win seasons (1969-71), reaching the World Series each year,[34] McNally threw 268.2, 296 and 224.1 innings;Mike Cuellar threw 290.2, 297.2 and 292.1 innings; Palmer threw 181 (in only 23 starts), 305, and 282 innings; andPat Dobson threw 282.1 innings in 1971.[35][36][37][38]
Serving under managerHank Bauer and thenEarl Weaver when Bauer was fired in 1968, Bamberger would remain with the ballclub through 1977 and fiveAmerican League East Division championships, three American Leaguepennants and the1970 World Series championship.[34] During that decade, he produced 18 twenty-game winners, including four for the1971 American League champions: Jim Palmer, Mike Cuellar, Dave McNally and Pat Dobson, only the second time in baseball history a single team has had four twenty game winners in a season.[39][19][40]
Bamberger signed a two-year $120,000 contract to succeedAlex Grammas as manager of theMilwaukee Brewers on January 20, 1978. The appointment reunited him with Dalton, who had become the Brewers' new general manager two months earlier. Dalton said Bamberger “was the only man we considered” for the position. The Milwaukee franchise never had a winning record in its first nine seasons, prior to Bamberger's arrival. Stating that a major goal was instilling a winning attitude, he added, "Last year the feeling I got was that we (the Orioles) should not lose to the Milwaukee Brewers. We felt they did not care, that they felt we were going to win."[41]
In his first managerial assignment, Bamberger led the1978 Brewers to a 26-game turnaround. His club won 93 games and finished third behind theYankees andBoston Red Sox in the AL East.[1] Bamberger's influence on his pitching staff was reflected by a 30 percent decrease in walks allowed (566 vs. 398) and a 20 percent decline in home runs allowed (136 vs. 109). Team ERA dropped from 4.32 to 3.65, and bothMike Caldwell (22–9, 2.36) andLary Sorensen (18–12, 3.21) enjoyed standout seasons. But a spike in offense would make an even larger mark on Bamberger's team. The 1978 Brewers hit 173 home runs (48 more than in1977) and outscored their previous year's team by 165runs, a 26 percent rise. Seven players hit double figures in home runs, and two (Larry Hisle, signed as afree agent, andGorman Thomas) eclipsed the 30-homer mark. The Brewers became known as "Bambi's Bombers."[42]The Sporting News named him its Manager of the Year.[1]
Then, in1979, Bamberger's Brewers hit 185 home runs, captured 95 victories and finished second, behind only Weaver's Orioles. However, in March 1980 during spring training, Bamberger was hospitalized with back and chest pains. He was diagnosed with aheart attack, underwent surgery and was sidelined until June 6. He re-took the reins from interim pilotBuck Rodgers, but did not finish the season, resigning on September 7 after compiling a disappointing 47–45win–loss record. He stepped down with a 235–180(.566) mark for his maiden managerial job, while turning Milwaukee into a contender for the American League pennant. The Brewers qualified for the playoffs in1981 under Rodgers and won their only AL championship in1982 withHarvey Kuenn at the helm. (The club moved to theNational League Central Division in1998.)
Frank Cashen, another former Oriole executive, hired Bamberger as manager of the struggling New York Mets for1982.[1] The Mets had gone only 41–62 (.398) underJoe Torre during thestrike-shortened1981 season. The1982 Mets—still in the early stages of a rebuilding process that would produce the1986 world championship—played at almost an identical pace (.401), led theNational League in bases on balls and finished second-worst in team ERA. Then the1983 edition started even worse. They were 16–30 (.348) on June 3 when Bamberger resigned, saying, "I've probably suffered enough."[43]
A season and a half later, during the 1984–85 off-season, Dalton called Bamberger back into harness to attempt to revive the Brewers, who had plunged into the AL East basement in1984. But this time, Bamberger was unable to turn the club around: they won only 71 games for him in1985 (with the team ERA climbing by 0.33 to 4.39) and 71 more the following season. The bright spot on the Brewers' staff was left-handed starting pitcherTeddy Higuera, who won 15 games as arookie in 1985 and 20 more the following season. Bamberger retired for a final time September 25, 1986, at age 63, turning the Brewers over to coachTom Trebelhorn with nine games left in the season. He finished his managerial career with a record of 458–478 (.489).
George Bamberger died on April 4, 2004, fromcancer at his home inNorth Redington Beach, Florida. He was 80 years old.[1]
· Baseball Almanac| Preceded by | Baltimore OriolesPitching Coach 1968–1977 | Succeeded by |
