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| Hal Lanier | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Infielder /Manager | |
| Born: (1942-07-04)July 4, 1942 (age 83) Denton, North Carolina, U.S. | |
Batted: Right Threw: Right | |
| MLB debut | |
| June 18, 1964, for the San Francisco Giants | |
| Last MLB appearance | |
| September 30, 1973, for the New York Yankees | |
| MLB statistics | |
| Batting average | .228 |
| Home runs | 8 |
| Runs batted in | 273 |
| Managerial record | 254–232 |
| Winning % | .523 |
Stats atBaseball Reference  | |
| Teams | |
| As player As manager As coach | |
| Career highlights and awards | |
Harold Clifton Lanier (born July 4, 1942) is an American formerinfielder,coach andmanager inMajor League Baseball (MLB). Known as a brainy, defense-first player, he won National League Manager of the Year as a rookie manager for leading the Astros to theNational League West division championship in 1986. From November 2014 through the end of his 2018 contract, Lanier served as the first manager of theOttawa Champions of the independentCan-Am League. From1964 through1973, Lanier played for theSan Francisco Giants (1964–71) andNew York Yankees (1972–73). He is the son ofMax Lanier, a formerMLB All-Starpitcher.
In hisrookie season Lanier posted a career-high .274batting average for the San Francisco Giants and was selected for the 1964Topps All-Star Rookie team.
Lanier once scored from first base on a bunt.[1]
Lanier ran into trouble withWillie Mays in 1965. Due to the unpredictable winds atCandlestick Park, Mays used to position the infielders on how to play the ball. When Lanier ignored his signal a couple times during a game, Mays asked managerHerman Franks to bench Lanier for a few games.[2] However, by the end of the season, Mays had made Lanier the infield captain for the Giants, in charge of taking a trip to the mound if a pitcher needed a break.[3]
In 1968, Lanier led NLshortstops inputouts (282) andfielding average (.979). After that, he moved fromsecond base to shortstop, and finally tothird base. He also played in part of two seasons with the New York Yankees.
In a 10-season career, Lanier was a .228 hitter with eighthome runs and 273RBI in 1196games played. In each of the three seasons from 1967 to 1969 he ranked last among NL qualifiers in average, on-base percentage, and slugging percentage.
Following his playing career, Lanier managed in theminors and served as third base coach for theSt. Louis Cardinals from 1981–85, including the1982 World Series and1985 National League champion teams. He was hired on November 5, 1985, to manage theHouston Astros, replacingBob Lillis.[4]
In 1986, he was named NL Manager of the Year by theBBWA andTSN for leading theAstros to their first Division title since1980 and the best record (96-66) in team history up to that point, which greatly surpassed expectations from a team that had finished fourth the previous year and hadn't won 90 games since 1980. Hal’s ego then began to grow which led to his eventual downfall as a manager.[5]Sports Illustrated, for example, had ranked the Astros as the 22nd best team in baseball prior to the season.[6]
He utilized an aggressive strategy built on pitching and baserunning meant to mirror the Cardinal teams he had coached on. The Astros had a four-man rotation of players over 26 that started at least 25 games inMike Scott (18 wins),Bob Knepper (17 wins),Nolan Ryan (twelve wins) andJim Deshaies (twelve wins); the 3.15 ERA as a team was second best in the National League. While they finished eighth in runs scored for National League teams (654), the Astros had three players steal at least twenty bases.[7] They were one game behind in the division (47-41) leading to the1986 Major League Baseball All-Star Game, held in Houston. They won ten of the 14 games after the All-Star break, which included five straight walk-off victories; they won 14 of their last 18 games to clinch the division title, which famously saw the division be clinched in the Astrodome on a no-hitter pitched by Scott on September 25.[8]
Lanier was the first rookie manager to win the Manager of the Year award, edging outDavey Johnson with 19 out of 24 first-place votes.[9] The Astros faced Johnson and the National League East championNew York Mets (who won 108 games) in the1986 National League Championship Series. The Mets would win the series in six games, as the Astros could only pull their victories from their aceMike Scott in Game 1 and Game 4 (Scott, who allowed one total earned run in two complete games, would've likely started Game 7). All six games were close: Game 3 saw a one run lead in the 9th turn into a walk off win for the Mets, while Game 5 saw the Astros lose on a walk off single in the 12th, and Game 6 saw them lose a 3-0 lead in the 9th in an eventual 7-6 loss in the 16th. In that series, Lanier did not useJim Deshaies (who had gone 12-5 as a rookie that year) at any point of the series, despite having him tabbed for starting Game 5 before it was rained out (instead, he went withNolan Ryan). He also did not use trade acquisitionDanny Darwin at any point, as he tabbed Darwin to start Game 1 of a potential World Series.[10][11]
A power struggle between Lanier and Astros' general managerDick Wagner in 1987 eventually led to Wagner leaving the team; the team went 76-86 that season, as they gave up more runs (678) than they scored as a whole (648). Indicative of their problems was Nolan Ryan, who had a 2.76 ERA (best in the National League) but a win-loss record of 8-16.[12] The Astros lost 26 of their last 37 games that year, and Lanier cited a dislocated finger injury suffered by starting catcherAlan Ashby as a key to their late fizzle.[13]
Lanier was described as an emotional manager who had moments when his temper get the best of him, and he admitted to being a firm manager (albeit one who seemed right in being firm when the team won games).[14] In 1988, the Astros lost a home game to theSan Francisco Giants. As the team prepared to eat the post-game meal, take showers, and go home, they received word they were wanted back on the field. Lanier brought out the batting cage and ordered the team to take batting practice again. Lanier was fired at the end of the season, having gone 80-82 in his third season. The Astros scored 617 runs and allowed 631, finishing eighth in both categories in the National League.[15] Astro ownerJohn McMullen cited the need for a clean slate in firing Lanier. Lanier was replaced byArt Howe. In three total seasons, Lanier had a 254-232 win–loss record.
Lanier had one major league job in the coming years, but not as manager. He interviewed for theCincinnati Reds andSt. Louis Cardinals in 1990 (Lou Pinella andJoe Torre were hired, respectively) and theNew York Yankees in 1991 (Buck Showalter was hired). He served as the bench coach for thePhiladelphia Phillies underNick Leyva for the 1990 and 1991 seasons before Levya was fired.[16]
In recent years, Lanier has managed in theindependent minor leagues. He managed for theWinnipeg Goldeyes in theNorthern League from 1996 to 2006; they reached the championship series five times but lost each time. He moved to theJoliet Jackhammers for 2006 and 2007.[17]
He moved to theCan-Am League to manage theSussex Skyhawks in 2008. While with the Skyhawks, Lanier led the team to the league championship that year over theQuebec Capitales in the Can-Am League Championship Series. He left the Skyhawks following the 2009 season to become manager of theNormal CornBelters after a horrid 2009 season, where he managed the CornBelters in the Frontier League from 2010 to 2011.[18]
On December 12, 2012, theYuma Desert Rats of the independentAmerican West Baseball League, announced they had come to terms with Lanier to manage the Desert Rats for the 2013 season, however the team folded before playing a game. On November 18, 2014, theOttawa Champions of the Can-Am League announced that Lanier would be their manager for the 2015 season.[19] On September 17, 2016, his team beat the Rockland Boulders 3-1 to win the 2016 league championship three games to two. In late 2018, Lanier was fired by Ottawa after the Champions missed the playoffs in two consecutive seasons.
Lanier's fatherMax Lanier played fifteen years and pitched in theWorld Series three times. Lanier's mother died in a Christmas Eve car crash when Hal was six years old; his father later remarried.[1]
On March 6, 1986, Lanier married Mary Ross in St. Louis.[20]
Lanier has been married three times, and has one daughter from each marriage, including a stepdaughter from his 2001 marriage to current wife, Pam.[1]
When not involved in baseball, he enjoys playing golf.
Mays, Willie (1988).Say Hey: The Autobiography of Willie Mays. New York: Simon and Schuster.ISBN 0671632922.
· Baseball Almanac