| Danny Murtaugh | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Second baseman /Manager | |
| Born:(1917-10-08)October 8, 1917 Chester, Pennsylvania, U.S. | |
| Died: December 2, 1976(1976-12-02) (aged 59) Upland, Pennsylvania, U.S. | |
Batted: Right Threw: Right | |
| MLB debut | |
| July 3, 1941, for the Philadelphia Phillies | |
| Last MLB appearance | |
| September 6, 1951, for the Pittsburgh Pirates | |
| MLB statistics | |
| Batting average | .254 |
| Home runs | 8 |
| Runs batted in | 219 |
| Managerial record | 1,115–950 |
| Winning % | .540 |
Stats atBaseball Reference  | |
| Managerial record at Baseball Reference | |
| Teams | |
| |
| Career highlights and awards | |
Daniel Edward Murtaugh (October 8, 1917 – December 2, 1976) was an Americansecond baseman,manager, front-office executive, andcoach inMajor League Baseball (MLB). Murtaugh is best known for his 29-year association with thePittsburgh Pirates, with whom he won twoWorld Series as field manager (in1960 and1971). He also played 416 of his 767 career MLBgames with the Pirates as their second baseman.
Murtaugh appeared in all or parts of nine big-league seasons, initially for thePhiladelphia Phillies (1941–43, 1946) andBoston Braves (1947) before joining the Pirates (1948–51). He threw and batted right-handed and was listed as 5 feet 9 inches (1.75 m) tall and 165 pounds (75 kg).
A native ofChester, Pennsylvania, Murtaugh was working with his father atSun Shipbuilding & Drydock Co. after he graduated fromChester High School when he took a pay cut to start hisprofessional baseball career at age 19 in 1937. After signing with theSt. Louis Cardinals, he joined the Redbirds' extensivefarm system, initially as a member of theCambridge (Maryland) Cardinals of the Class DEastern Shore League. In June 1941, in the midst of Murtaugh's second consecutive stellar season with theHouston Buffaloes of theTexas League, the Phillies purchased his contract; he then made his MLB debut on July 3 as a defensive replacement forHal Marnie against Boston atBraves Field.[1] The following day he started both ends of a July 4doubleheader and essentially took over as the Phils' regular second baseman.
As arookie, Murtaugh led theNational League instolen bases with 18, even though he played only 85 games after his acquisition from Houston in late June. In 1942–43 he got into 257games before joining theUnited States Army in August 1943 forWorld War II service. He declined the opportunity to play baseball in the United States and served in combat with the97th Infantry inGermany.[2]
Returning to baseball in1946, he played in only six games for Philadelphia before he was sold back to the Cardinals' organization. AtTriple-ARochester, Murtaughhit .322 and his 174hits were tied for first in theInternational League. The Braves then selected him in the 1946Rule 5 draft, but Murtaugh played in only three early-season games for them before he was again sent to Triple-A. At 29, he had another good offensive season, hitting .302 forMilwaukee. Although his performance did not earn Murtaugh a return to the Braves, it led to perhaps his biggest break when, on November 18, Boston included him in a five-player trade to the Pirates, where he spent the rest of his big-league career.
His most productive season came in his first year with the Bucs,1948, when he hit .290 and posted career highs in hits (149),runs batted in (71),runs scored (56),doubles (21),triples (5) andgames played (146). He started a career-high 145 games as the Pirates' second baseman. After a subpar1949, Murtaugh rebounded by hitting a personal-best .294 in1950. Overall, Murtaugh was a .254 career lifetime batter with 661 hits, eighthome runs and 219 RBI in 767 games.
After retiring as a player, Murtaugh managed theNew Orleans Pelicans (1952–54), the Pirates'Double-A farm club, and the unaffiliated Triple-ACharleston Senators (April 19–July 16, 1955). In 1956 he returned to the Pirates as a coach underBobby Bragan. In his second year in the job, onAugust 4, 1957, he succeeded Bragan as skipper with the Bucs 36–67 and one game out of last place; under Murtaugh, they perked up to win 26 of their final 51 games. In his first full season,1958, Murtaugh led the Pirates to a surprise second-place finish in the National League. He went on to hold the Pittsburgh job for all or parts of fifteen seasons over four different terms (1957–64, 1967, 1970–71, 1973–76).
In1960, his third full season as their manager, Murtaugh guided the Bucs to the first of the twoWorld Series championships they won under his command. After they captured the National Leaguepennant by seven full games over the Milwaukee Braves, they stunned the heavy-hittingNew York Yankees in the1960 World Series—won in Pittsburgh's lastat bat byBill Mazeroski'swalk-off home run in theninth inning of Game 7. The Yankees outscored Pittsburgh 55–27, and administered three thrashings (16–3, 10–0 and 12–0), but the resilient Pirates took the other four contests by a run differential of only +7 (6–4, 3–2, 5–2 and 10–9).
From 1961 to 1964, his Pirates had only one over-.500 season and, after the conclusion of the1964 campaign, Murtaugh stepped down as manager just before his 47th birthday. He had been battling health problems, sometimes reported as aheart ailment.[3] He moved up to the Pirate front office as a key assistant in charge of evaluating players forgeneral managerJoe L. Brown. After the 1965 season, he turned down feelers from theBoston Red Sox to join their organization as vice president, player personnel. Then, in1967, when his immediate successor as the Pirates' manager,Harry Walker, was fired July 17, Murtaugh returned as interim pilot for the remainder of the 1967 season, after which he returned to the front office.
Well aware of the abundance of talent in the Pittsburgh system, Murtaugh asked to reclaim the managing job afterLarry Shepard was fired in the last week of the1969 season. Once medically cleared, he began his third term as skipper of the Pirates on October 9, 1969; hours after Murtaugh's re-hiring,Don Hoak, 41, his third baseman on the 1960 World Series champions and a manager in the Pirates'farm system, died of aheart attack after believing he was a leading contender to manage the parent club.
Murtaugh's first two clubs won the 1970–71National League East Division titles. Although the1970 squad fell in that season'sNational League Championship Series to theCincinnati Reds, Murtaugh's1971 Pirates would bounce back. On September 1, 1971, Murtaugh was the first manager in major league history to field a starting lineup consisting of nine black players (including both African Americans and Afro-Latin Americans); the Pirates beat the Phillies 10–7 in that game.[4] The next month, they defeated theSan Francisco Giants in theNLCS and then captured the1971 World Series with a memorable comeback from a two-games-to-none deficit against the favoredBaltimore Orioles. That World Series was marked by the brilliant performance of futureBaseball Hall of FamerRoberto Clemente, who batted .414 with twelve hits to lead his team to the championship.
Citing renewed health concerns — he had been hospitalized for chest pain during the 1971 season[3] — Murtaugh again resigned as manager after the world title. He moved back into the Pittsburgh front office, and his hand-picked successor,Bill Virdon (center fielder for his 1960 champions), took over for1972 — although Murtaugh, as manager of the reigning World Series champs, did return to uniform to manage the National League entry in the1972 Major League Baseball All-Star Game inAtlanta, a 4–3 triumph for the Senior Circuit.
With the1973 Pirates scuffling with a 67–69 mark on September 5, Brown fired Virdon and asked Murtaugh to reclaim his old job. Murtaugh reluctantly returned to managing, his fourth term in the post, and stayed through the1976 season, winning NL East titles in1974 and1975 but falling to theLos Angeles Dodgers and the Reds in the NLCS in successive years. After a second-place finish in1976, both Murtaugh and Brown announced their retirements during the final week of the season.
Murtaugh suffered astroke on November 30, 1976, just two months after retiring. After falling into a coma, he died at age 59 on December 2 at Crozier-Chester Medical Center inUpland, Pennsylvania.[5] His funeral occurred on December 6 at Our Lady of Peace Roman Catholic Church inFolsom, Pennsylvania, attended by over 800 people, including multiple members of the Pirates organization:Willie Stargell,Bill Robinson,Bruce Kison,Dave Giusti,Larry Demery,Jim Rooker,Al Oliver, andBob Robertson. CoachesDon Leppert andJosé Pagán also attended, along withSteve Blass andManny Sanguillen. Afterwards, a 70-car procession led Murtaugh's body to its resting place at Sts. Peter and Paul Cemetery inMarple Township.[6] The number 40 he wore as the Bucs' manager was retired by the Pirates on April 7, 1977.[7]
Murtaugh was a two-time winner (1960 and 1971) ofThe Sporting News Manager of the Year Award. He compiled a 1,115–950–3 record in 2,068 games (.540),[8] second in Pirates history behind onlyFred Clarke. In addition to his two National Leaguepennants and world championships, he won four Eastern Division titles (1970–1971-1974–1975), and no Pirates manager has won more division titles in their tenure since his death. In twelve full seasons as manager, he led the Pirates to a winning record nine times; his five postseason appearances with the Pirates is still the most by any manager in team history.
| Team | Year | Regular season | Postseason | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Games | Won | Lost | Win % | Finish | Won | Lost | Win % | Result | ||
| PIT | 1957 | 51 | 26 | 25 | .510 | 7th in NL | – | – | – | – |
| PIT | 1958 | 154 | 84 | 70 | .545 | 2nd in NL | – | – | – | – |
| PIT | 1959 | 155 | 78 | 76 | .506 | 4th in NL | – | – | – | – |
| PIT | 1960 | 155 | 95 | 59 | .617 | 1st in NL | 4 | 3 | .571 | WonWorld Series (NYY) |
| PIT | 1961 | 154 | 75 | 79 | .487 | 6th in NL | – | – | – | – |
| PIT | 1962 | 161 | 93 | 68 | .578 | 4th in NL | – | – | – | – |
| PIT | 1963 | 162 | 74 | 88 | .457 | 8th in NL | – | – | – | – |
| PIT | 1964 | 162 | 80 | 82 | .494 | 6th in NL | – | – | – | – |
| PIT | 1967 | 79 | 39 | 39 | .500 | 6th in NL | – | – | – | – |
| PIT | 1970 | 162 | 89 | 73 | .549 | 1st in NL East | 0 | 3 | .000 | LostNLCS (CIN) |
| PIT | 1971 | 162 | 97 | 65 | .599 | 1st in NL East | 7 | 4 | .636 | WonWorld Series (BAL) |
| PIT | 1973 | 26 | 13 | 13 | .500 | 3rd in NL East | – | – | – | – |
| PIT | 1974 | 162 | 88 | 74 | .543 | 1st in NL East | 1 | 3 | .250 | LostNLCS (LAD) |
| PIT | 1975 | 161 | 92 | 69 | .571 | 1st in NL East | 0 | 3 | .000 | LostNLCS (CIN) |
| PIT | 1976 | 162 | 92 | 70 | .568 | 2nd in NL East | – | – | – | – |
| Total[8] | 2,068[a] | 1115 | 950 | .540 | 12 | 16 | .429 | |||
