| Pat Moran | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Catcher /Manager | |
| Born:(1876-02-07)February 7, 1876 Fitchburg, Massachusetts, U.S. | |
| Died: March 7, 1924(1924-03-07) (aged 48) Orlando, Florida, U.S. | |
Batted: Right Threw: Right | |
| MLB debut | |
| May 15, 1901, for the Boston Beaneaters | |
| Last MLB appearance | |
| June 30, 1914, for the Philadelphia Phillies | |
| MLB statistics | |
| Batting average | .235 |
| Home runs | 18 |
| Runs batted in | 262 |
| Managerial record | 748–586 |
| Winning % | .561 |
Stats atBaseball Reference  | |
| Managerial record at Baseball Reference | |
| Teams | |
| As player As manager | |
| Career highlights and awards | |
| |
Patrick Joseph Moran (February 7, 1876 – March 7, 1924) was anAmerican professionalbaseball player andmanager. He was acatcher inMajor League Baseball from 1901 to 1914. The year after his retirement, he became a manager, and he led two teams to their first-ever modern-eraNational League championships: the1915Philadelphia Phillies and the1919Cincinnati Reds. Moran was the first manager to win National League pennants with two different teams. Moran's 1919 Reds also captured their firstWorld Series championship.
A native ofFitchburg, Massachusetts,[1] Moran played 819 games over 14 National League seasons for theBoston Beaneaters (1901–05),Chicago Cubs (1906–09) and Phillies (1910–14). A right-handed hitter, hebatted .235 with 18home runs and 262RBI. In1903, he finished tied for second in the league in home runs with seven. After1904 he did not appear in more than 100 games in a season. However, as a second-string catcher, Moran became a student of the game and especially ofpitching. In 1913–1914, he was a player-coach and, guided by his support and counsel, Phillies right-handerGrover Cleveland Alexander developed into one of the greatest pitchers of all time.
Moran retired as a player after the1914 season, and was immediately promoted to manager of the Phillies. The club had finished sixth in 1914 and was plagued by defections (and threatened defections) to the outlawFederal League. Moran swung some astute trades, acquiring key playersDave Bancroft (aBaseball Hall of Famer like Alexander),Bert Niehoff andMilt Stock.[2] Then—led by Alexander's 31 wins and the slugging ofright fielderGavvy Cravath—the Phillies improved by 17 games and won their first NLpennant. In the1915 World Series, they were defeated four games to one by theBoston Red Sox.
The Phillies then finished second in successive years, to theBrooklyn Robins in1916 and theNew York Giants in1917. With baseball disrupted by World War I (and with the December 11, 1917, trade of Alexander to the Cubs) the Phillies sank below .500 in1918 and Moran was fired.
Moran was not unemployed for long, however.Cincinnati Reds managerChristy Mathewson, the former pitching great, had been stricken withtuberculosis from exposure topoison gas during military maneuvers. When it was apparent that Mathewson was too sick to return for the1919 season, Moran was named his successor. The Reds had finished third,15+1⁄2 games behind, in 1918. Under Moran, they won 96 of 140 games in an abbreviated 1919 schedule to take the flag by nine games. They then defeated theChicago White Sox in the1919 World Series five games to three, to win Cincinnati's first undisputed world championship.
This should have been Moran's crowning accomplishment, but it would later be marred by theBlack Sox scandal. In1920, it was charged that eight key members of the White Sox had conspired with gamblers to "throw" the series. (The players were acquitted in a controversial 1921 trial but were nonetheless expelled from baseball.) In the wake of the scandal, Moran, his players and many baseball experts[3][4] furiously asserted that Cincinnati would have won the series under any circumstances.
Moran remained at the helm in Cincinnati during the early 1920s. Apart from a poor1921 campaign, the Reds fielded contending ballclubs but did not return to the World Series. The club finished second in both1922 and1923. While spending the winter of 1923–24 at his Fitchburg home, Moran was taken ill. He was able to report to the Reds' training camp inOrlando, Florida, but his condition worsened and he died there at the age of 48. The cause of death was listed asBright's Disease, akidney ailment, but some baseball historians ascribe Moran's fatal illness toalcoholism.[2][5][6]
Moran won 748 games and lost 586(.561) as a National League manager over nine seasons, and he has the most wins for any manager in a nine season span. He won six and lost seven World Series games.The Hardball Times wrote that Moran "might be the most underrated manager in baseball history ... he managed only nine seasons before dying over 80 years ago. However, in that brief stretch Moran was clearly on pace forCooperstown."[5]
| Team | Year | Regular season | Postseason | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Games | Won | Lost | Win % | Finish | Won | Lost | Win % | Result | ||
| PHI | 1915 | 153 | 90 | 62 | .592 | 1st in NL | 1 | 4 | .200 | LostWorld Series (BOS) |
| PHI | 1916 | 154 | 91 | 62 | .595 | 2nd in NL | – | – | – | – |
| PHI | 1917 | 154 | 87 | 65 | .572 | 2nd in NL | – | – | – | – |
| PHI | 1918 | 125 | 55 | 68 | .447 | 6th in NL | – | – | – | – |
| PHI total | 586 | 323 | 257 | .557 | 1 | 4 | .200 | |||
| CIN | 1919 | 140 | 96 | 44 | .686 | 1st in NL | 5 | 3 | .625 | WonWorld Series (CHW) |
| CIN | 1920 | 154 | 82 | 71 | .536 | 3rd in NL | – | – | – | – |
| CIN | 1921 | 153 | 70 | 83 | .458 | 6th in NL | – | – | – | – |
| CIN | 1922 | 156 | 86 | 68 | .558 | 2nd in NL | – | – | – | – |
| CIN | 1923 | 154 | 91 | 63 | .591 | 2nd in NL | – | – | – | – |
| CIN total | 757 | 425 | 329 | .564 | 5 | 3 | .625 | |||
| Total[7] | 1,343 | 748 | 586 | .561 | 6 | 7 | .462 | |||
| International | |
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| National | |