Gene Mauch | |||
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Infielder / Manager | |||
Born: Salina, Kansas |
November 18, 1925|||
Died: August 8, 2005 Rancho Mirage, California |
(aged 79)|||
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MLB debut | |||
April 18, 1944, for the Brooklyn Dodgers | |||
Last MLB appearance | |||
September 28, 1957, for the Boston Red Sox | |||
MLB statistics | |||
Batting average | .239 | ||
Home runs | 5 | ||
Runs batted in | 62 | ||
Games managed | 3,942 | ||
Win–loss record | 1,902–2,037 | ||
Winning % | .483 | ||
Teams | |||
As player
As manager |
As player
As manager
Gene William Mauch (November 18, 1925 – August 8, 2005) was an American professional baseball player and manager. He played in Major League Baseball as a second baseman for the Brooklyn Dodgers (1944, 1948), Pittsburgh Pirates (1947), Chicago Cubs (1948–49), Boston Braves (1950–51), St. Louis Cardinals (1952) and the Boston Red Sox (1956–57).
Mauch was best known for managing four teams from 1960 to 1987. He is by far the winningest manager to have never won a league pennant (breaking the record formerly held by Jimmy Dykes), three times coming within a single victory. He managed the Philadelphia Phillies (1960–68), Montreal Expos (1969–75, as their inaugural manager), Minnesota Twins (1976–80), and California Angels (1981–82, 1985–87). His 1,902 career victories ranked 8th in major league history when he retired, and his 3,942 total games ranked 4th. He gained a reputation for playing a distinctive "small ball" style, which emphasized defense, speed and base-to-base tactics on offense rather than power hitting.
Born in Salina, Kansas, and raised there and in Los Angeles, Mauch played in all or parts of nine MLB seasons between 1944 and 1957 with the Brooklyn Dodgers, Pittsburgh Pirates, Chicago Cubs, Boston Braves, St. Louis Cardinals and Boston Red Sox. In 304 games and 737 at-bats, Mauch hit .239, with 176 hits, five home runs and 62 RBIs, striking out 82 times. He missed part of 1944 and all of the 1945 season while serving in the United States Army Air Forces during World War II.