Charles William Tanner (July 4, 1928 – February 11, 2011) was an American professional baseball player andmanager. Aleft fielder andpinch hitter who appeared in 396 games inMajor League Baseball between 1955 and 1962, he was known for his unwavering confidence and infectious optimism.^[1][2] As a manager for all or parts of 19 seasons, he led thePittsburgh Pirates to aWorld Series championship in1979. In his last baseball job, he served as a senior advisor to Pirates general managerNeal Huntington.

Chuck Tanner
Tanner with the Chicago White Sox in 1971
Outfielder /Manager
Born:(1928-07-04)July 4, 1928 New Castle, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Died: February 11, 2011(2011-02-11) (aged 82) New Castle, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Batted: Left Threw: Left
MLB debut
April 12, 1955, for the Milwaukee Braves
Last MLB appearance
May 8, 1962, for the Los Angeles Angels
MLB statistics
Batting average	.261
Home runs	21
Runs batted in	105
Managerial record	1,352–1,381
Stats atBaseball Reference
Managerial record at Baseball Reference
Teams
As player Milwaukee Braves (1955–1957) Chicago Cubs (1957–1958) Cleveland Indians (1959–1960) Los Angeles Angels (1961–1962) As manager Chicago White Sox (1970–1975) Oakland Athletics (1976) Pittsburgh Pirates (1977–1985) Atlanta Braves (1986–1988)
Career highlights and awards
World Series champion (1979)

A left-handed batter and thrower, Tanner signed his firstprofessional baseball contract with theBoston Braves. He played for eight seasons (1955–1962) for four teams: the Milwaukee Braves,Chicago Cubs,Cleveland Indians andLos Angeles Angels. In 396 games played, Tannerbatted .261 with 21home runs. While with the Braves, Tanner hit a home run off the first pitch in his first careerat-bat on April 12, 1955.^[3] He is the only Braves player to hit a home run in his first at-bat in Milwaukee.

Tanner is best known as a manager, having managed four teams from 1970 to 1988. His overall managerial record was 1,352–1,381 in 17 full seasons and parts of two others.^[4]

Tanner spent his entire Minor League managing career in theAngels' system. In 1963, Tanner began his managerial career with the single-AQuad Cities Angels in theMidwest League, and spent the next seven seasons climbing the Angels' organizational ladder, including managing the El Paso Sun Kings (1965-1966 and 1968), and Seattle Angels (1967). He won the Texas League title with El Paso in 1968. In 1970 he led the AAAHawaii Islanders to 98 wins in 146 games and a berth in thePacific Coast League (PCL) championship series.

Both Tanner andRoland Hemond joined theChicago White Sox from the Angels on September 4, 1970, when general managerStu Holcomb hired them asmanager and director of player personnel respectively. Tanner, who signed a two-year contract, replacedDon Gutteridge who had been dismissed two days prior. Due to the Islanders qualifying for thePCL championship series,^[5] he was unable to make his White Sox managerial debut until September 15, requiringBill Adair to serve in the interim.^[6] Tanner did not retain Adair for his staff after the season, but he namedAl Monchak andJoe Lonnett as his first- and third-basecoaches respectively on October 2, 1970.^[7] All three went on to serve in similar capacities together with the White Sox (1971–75),Oakland Athletics (1976) andPittsburgh Pirates (1977–84), with Monchak continuing as Tanner's first-base coach with theAtlanta Braves from1986 to1988.^[8]

With the White Sox, Tanner managed such star players asWilbur Wood,Carlos May,Bill Melton, and the temperamentalDick Allen, who like Tanner was a native ofLawrence County, Pennsylvania by way ofWampum. His most successful season with the Sox came in 1972, when he managed them to a close second-place finish behind the eventual World Series championOakland Athletics in theAmerican League (AL) Western Division. The pitching staff was led by 24-game winner Wood, whom Tanner had converted from a reliever to a starter. According toTommy John, "Tanner never liked to use a knuckleballer in relief, because of the way the knuckler danced and moved all over. He solved that by making Wood a starter."^[9] Tanner was voted that year'sThe Sporting News Manager of the Year Award.^[2] He also convertedRich "Goose" Gossage from a starting pitcher to a reliever, a role that led Gossage to theHall of Fame.^[2] He finished his White Sox career with a record of 401 wins and 414 losses.^[4] Tanner was replaced byPaul Richards on December 17, 1975.Bill Veeck, who had repurchased the White Sox, invited Tanner to remain in the organization in a different capacity, but the offer was declined. Tanner still had to be paid $60,000 in each of three remaining years of his White Sox contract.^[10]

John said that "Chuck Tanner once told me he never forgot the fact that he was a player. When he became a manager, he remembered how he wanted his manager to treat him."^[11]

One day later on December 18, 1975, Tanner was hired to succeedAlvin Dark as manager of theOakland Athletics.^[10] With speedy players such asBert Campaneris,Bill North,Claudell Washington, andDon Baylor, Tanner made the A's into a running team, stealing an AL league-record 341 bases.^[2] Eight players had 20 or more steals, including 51 bypinch runnersMatt Alexander (who only came to the plate 30 times) andLarry Lintz (who had one at-bat all season).^[1] However, the days of the juggernaut A's ofReggie Jackson andCatfish Hunter had passed with the coming offree agency and Tanner's switch to small-ball couldn't prop up a crumbling dynasty as the team finished second in the AL West,2+1⁄2 games behind theKansas City Royals. He finished his Athletics career with a record of 87 wins and 74 losses.^[4]

A's ownerCharlie Finley had hoped to secure a manager at a cut rate for at least three years, but ended up in a dispute with Veeck and theAmerican League (AL) over how much each team owed Tanner. AL presidentLee MacPhail ruled that the White Sox had to pay most of the $60,000 owed to Tanner for the1976 season but was released from any contractual obligation for 1977 and 1978.^[12]

Tanner returned to hisWestern Pennsylvania roots when he was traded by the A's to thePittsburgh Pirates forManny Sanguillén and $100,000 on November 5, 1976. He succeeded the recently retiredDanny Murtaugh as Pirates manager.^[12] This was the third instance in major-league history where a manager has been part of a baseball trade. (Joe Gordon andJimmie Dykes were traded for each other during the 1960 season, andGil Hodges was traded by theWashington Senators to theNew York Mets for pitcherBill Denehy and $100,000 in November 1967. Sanguillén was traded back to the Pirates in1978.

He reached the pinnacle of his managerial career in 1979 as the skipper of the Pirates'1979 World Series champion team. The team included future Hall of Famers, first basemanWillie Stargell and pitcherBert Blyleven, along with curmudgeonly stars like third basemanBill Madlock and outfielderDave Parker. Tanner guided the team together, and the players selected theSister Sledge hit "We Are Family" as their theme song. The Pirates were able to win the World Series after falling behind three games to one to theBaltimore Orioles. Hall of Fame managerSparky Anderson wrote of the Pirates, "They do everything with abandon, because that's the way Chuck Tanner wants it. He's an aggressive manager, a manager who doesn't go by the book. That's why Pittsburgh is such an exciting team."^[2] It would be the only time Tanner led a team to the postseason.

Although it was not apparent at the time, Tanner's managerial career had crested. The few seasons could not match his 1979 World Series winner, and thePittsburgh drug trials showed that serious drug problems beset the team—arguably the worst of any major league team. The most famous Pirate affected by his usage was Parker, whose cocaine habit punched a hole in his offensive production in the middle of his career. RelieverRod Scurry had it much worse; his cocaine habit ultimately forced him out of baseball in 1988 and cost him his life in 1992. Following five mediocre seasons in which the Pirates neither lost nor won no more than 84 games, but only finished as high as second place in the division once, they collapsed to 104 losses in 1985, and Tanner was fired.^[4] He finished his Pirates career with a record of 711 wins and 685 losses.^[4]

Tanner was hired by theAtlanta Braves prior to the 1986 season. This was easily his least successful managerial stop. Tanner's Braves finished last and second to last in the NL West in his two full seasons. Following a 12–27 start to the 1988 season, Tanner was fired by the Braves and replaced byRuss Nixon. He finished his Braves career with a record of 153 wins and 208 losses.^[4]

After spending five seasons as a special assistant to thegeneral manager of theCleveland Indians, Tanner was named a senior advisor to newPittsburgh Pirates GMNeal Huntington in the autumn of 2007.

In 2006, he was invited to be a coach in the 2006All Star game by NL managerPhil Garner, who had played for both the A's and the Pirates during Tanner's tenure as manager. Prior to the start of the game, Tanner threw out theceremonial first pitch.

In 2007, the Rotary Club of Pittsburgh began theChuck Tanner Baseball Manager of the Year Award. For the first three years, the award was given to a manager in Major League Baseball. In 2010, a second award was presented to the "Chuck Tanner Collegiate Baseball Manager of the Year"; the original award was renamed the "Chuck Tanner Major League Baseball Manager of the Year Award".

He was the father of former major league player and coachBruce Tanner. Tanner later opened a restaurant in his hometown ofNew Castle, Pennsylvania, which has since been sold but remains under the name, "Chuck Tanner's Restaurant".^[1] Tanner died at age 82 on February 11, 2011, in New Castle after a long illness.^[13]

• List of Major League Baseball players with a home run in their first major league at bat
• List of Major League Baseball managers with most career wins

• John, Tommy; Valenti, Dan (1991).TJ: My Twenty-Six Years in Baseball. New York: Bantam.ISBN 0-553-07184-X.

• Career statistics fromMLB, orESPN, orBaseball Reference, orFangraphs, orBaseball Reference (Minors), orRetrosheet 
• Chuck Tanner managerial career statistics atBaseball-Reference.com