Billy Martin is another one who probably deserves at least an honorable mention. He had a 1,253-1,013 managerial record with a .553 winning percentage. He also took four different teams (the Twins, Tigers, Yankees, and A's) to the playoffs, won two pennants (1976-77), the World Series in 1977, and immediately turned the Rangers around and led them to 84 wins and a second place finish in 1974. Keep in mind that this was after the Rangers finished the prior two seasons with 100 losses.
Billy Martin.......His only problem......Booze! And.....he had a problem dealing with certain players. But he was a great teacher, He taught Rod Carew so much and Carew went on to become one of the greatest 2b ever. Martin taught him the art of stealing home and bunting for hits. But because of the first two things I talked about he was fired by the Twins after winning a division title.
Billy Martin was, by far, the BEST manager of all time. I don't know how he did it, but he could take over any team and somehow force it to win. It's a shame he couldn't stop drinking.
Earl Weaver deserves to be on the list despite only winning one world series. He won the pennet 4 times and had the best winning percentage over 15 years. Just missed being on the '66 and '83 world series winning teams too
@@Joy-ul5flEspecially Weaver's rant with umpire Bill Haller in 1980 against the Detroit Tigers, resulting in him being ejected from the game by Haller. No matter how many times I've watched the video, I still laugh.
Dick Williams deserves an honorable mention. Took 3 teams to the World Series, including the 1967 Boston Red Sox Impossible Dream season. It was baseball's greatest season ever. 4 pennants and 2 chips.
@@thirdeyespy5503 I remember after the 1974 World Series win over LA, his players were begging him not to go to manage the Angels. He had already committed himself to that job and to get the hell away from Charlie Finley.
@@scottodonnell7121 Everyone except MC Hammer hated Charlie. Dick Williams was a man of principle. They got one more ring with Alvin Dark. If Williams and the core of that team had stayed together, they could have won 2-3 more titles. And the ridiculous thing was all the talent they had in the farm system. They had George Hendrick, Claudell Washington, Manny Trillo, Phil Garner and Mike Norris. They were loaded.
Cito Gaston is another manager that I don't know or think gets enough credit. He has a .516 winning percentage, took the Blue Jays to the postseason four times (1989, 1991, 1992-93), and of course, led them to two consecutive World Series titles in 1992-93. And don't forget that in his first season as manager of the Blue Jays, he took a team that at the time, was performing sub .500 with a 12-24 record and led them to a 77-49 record the rest of the way to win the American League East title.
TMC1982Part2: Yes Gaston never gets enough credit. Other than Stengal, Torre, and a few others who don't come to mind he's one of the few that have won back to back WS as a manager.
Earl Weaver definitely should have been top 15, and Whitey Herzog should, at the very least, been an honorable mention, but otherwise a very solid list. Recommended reading: "Evaluating Baseball's Managers" by Chris Jaffe. The author took a sabermetric approach to evaluating managers based on how his players performed compared to how you would have expected. Interesting thing is he wrote the book in 2008, and even before Bruce Bochy had won the World Series, he was ranked at #30. He also had Joe McCarthy at #1, which a lot of people undervalue McCarthy for the perception that his rosters were so stacked that anyone could have won with them.
Spahn was paranoid about everything Yankee. After the 1957 World Series, he claimed that the Yankees would be lucky to finish fifth in the National League .Really Warren ?
Spahn was referring to the Stengel who called him a coward for not throwing at people before WWII. When Lt. (battlefield commission, Bronze Star, Purple Heart) Spahn came back in '46, Stengel made a heartfelt apology. The 5th place remark was probably being facetious - Spahn was one of the most intelligent pitchers ever.
Late in their careers Yogi Berra caught for Spahn a couple of times with the Mets. When informed they were not quite the oldest battery in MLB history Yogi said "Well, at least we're the ugliest."
i'm disappointed that danny murtaugh didn't get at least an honorable mention on this list his team won the nl east a number of times and he won two world series titles against 2 hall of fame managers 1960 and 1971 casey stengel and earl weaver. i think he should also be in the hof.
Great video, but I would’ve included Whitey Herzog as an honorable mention. 3 WS appearances in 6 years with the Cardinals in the 80s and had success in KC before that.
Baker has no business being on this list. He blew out the arms of Pryor and Wood. Had many Giant teams that under achieved due to his mismanagement. The Astros in 2022 won despite Baker. This genius also wanted Bill Cosby to give his Astros a pep talk before the 2022 World Series.
I actually agree with you. I made a comment on another channel about it was the Astros player that won and not Baker. I've always felt that Creg and Bochy were both superior to Baker. And Baker was responsible for the game 6 loss in the world series that led to the game 7 win for the Angels. He wouldn't just stop the bleeding by putting in a couple of pitchers for a couple of innings each that the Angel couldn't touch
It was probably a real Catch-22, but I do wonder how often Dusty Baker has been second guessed for going with Salomon Torres in 1993, against the Dodgers on the last day of the season. Had the Giants won that game, then they would've at the very least, guaranteed for themselves, a one game playoff against the Braves. Torres promptly got shelled and the Giants wound up losing the division by one game (this was the last year that there were two divisions for each league, so no wild card to fall back on) against the Braves.
Having Dusty Baker on this list is out of sympathy for how long he managed until he finally won a championship. To me he was in the right place at the right time. If he was great as this tried to claim he was he would have been to the post season more often. Overrated
Dusty Baker is an all-time great manager, period ! In 26 seasons, he finished over .500 in 18 of those years, with 11 seasons of 90 wins or more. 3x... Yes, 3x times he won the Manager of the Year award, and of course, he finally got that ring. Some of those earlier Giants teams and Reds teams he won with had subpar talent that he brought the best out of.. And it's complete, utter BS he "ruined" the careers of Mark Prior and Kerry Wood. What ended Mark Prior career was his terrible mechanics. There is at least five videos here on RUclips breaking down the issues with his mechanics. And while the mechanical issues with Kerry Wood weren't as pronounced, he also had a tendency to throw across his body which was one of the reasons he also had arm troubles.. Most of the top of the rotation starters routinely threw 240 to 300 innings up until the mid 90s. Wood and Prior never even threw over 215 innings in a full season.
Erik, I really enjoyed this video…I could watch it multiple times. Loved all the great old baseball footage and photos! Maybe you could make a series of individual videos, one for each manager, and perhaps even add some extras from some of the comments. You could go into more detail of each manager that way. I would enjoy those, I think. Thanks for an really enjoyable baseball video! 😊
As I was watching and you got to number 5 I was figuring out how to defend my local manager Sparky Anderson. I was thinking how could he not even get an honorable mention. He was the first manager to win world series in both leagues (a fact you omitted once you listed him) and even with his roster in the early 90s he still was a well respected manager. The Bill Gullikson (early 90s Tiger) quote describes him perfectly. His passion ranks up there and even with the weaker teams, he never gave up the fight. Then. Number 4 came. That honor does suit him. To put him higher than Connie Mack and other great names I definitely agree with. I was surprised though because many lists like that would lower him because of his 1989-1995 record, but you did a great job in factoring record as a part, but not the majority, of your ranking. Also loved to learn how Tommy Lasorda spent 70 years with 1 organization from player to manager to front office. And if this ranking was based upon entertainment value, he'd be number 1 or 2.
How about a countdown of teams that immediately improved their performances following a managerial change? I got this idea from the TPS channel's video entitled "10 Teams That Found Success After Firing Their Coach Mid Season". In their list, they mentioned Bob Lemon replacing Billy Martin as manager of the New York Yankees in 1978 and Jack McKeon replacing Jeff Torborg as manager of the Florida Marlins in 2003. Other examples that immediately come to mind are the Milwaukee Brewers replacing Buck Rodgers with Harvey Kuenn in 1982, the Boston Red Sox replacing John McNamara with Joe Morgan in 1988, the Toronto Blue Jays replacing Jimy Williams with Cito Gaston in 1989, and the Philadelphia Phillies replacing Joe Girardi with Rob Thomson in 2022.
Fun fact: If Connie Mack had retired at age 70, his W-L record would have been 2745-2409, over 300 games above .500. Instead he managed to age 87 and finished over 200 games below.
Earl Weaver is definitely top 10 and Billy Martin is a top 5 manager. Billy won everywhere he went with or without talent - Twins, Tigers A's, Yankees, Rangers. Bobby Cox is a top 3 manager-what he accomplished Atlanta in the modern era is amazing.
@@yell0wberry that's true - playoffs are a crapshoot, but Atlanta should have done better. Looks like they were built for the regular season not playoffs.
Even though I don't agree with every choice, clearly this is a very thoughtful and well-thought-out and researched piece. I especially appreciate that you include Managers from all here is because too often people talk about the greatest of all time but only refer to those who we're active during their lifetime. I presume your honorable mentions would be 16 through 20 but I would love to see a follow-up with the next 15 managers. I'd also like your thoughts about who would be the managerial equivalent of the top MVPs of managing, meaning no matter what their record was, that they made the biggest difference did the teams that they managed. Just curious also where you would put Whitey Herzog. Great video!
Davey Johnson deserves at least an honorable mention. He was a two time Manager of the Year (in 1997 with the Orioles and in 2012 with the Nationals), took four different teams (the Mets, Reds, Orioles, and Nationals) to the playoffs, won the World Series in 1986 with the Mets, and has a .562 winning percentage (going 1,372-1,071 overall) as a manager.
When he won the NL East with the Mets, it was by 20 games. When it was close, the Mets folded to Whitey Herzog's Cardinals. He always inherited good teams, which is why his W/L percentage is as high as it is. If Bill Buckner makes a play, he has the same number of WS rings as me. Most overrated manager ever.
Love your content! Been looking for a channel like this. Do gotta say I think earl should be in there, but hey that’s great about baseball is the debates!
And now Bochy has won his fourth World Championship. He's the third manager to win the World Series in two different leagues (following Sparky Anderson and Tony LaRussa) and I believe, the sixth to win at least four World Championships.
I'd like to say a few things regarding this, but firstly I will say great video, this stuff is always very hard to rate and very subjective. That being said, I think Earl Weaver should be Top 15 in place of probably Dusty Baker, Dusty has a lot more infamous "choke" moments and Earl was a very ahead of his time Manager. Dusty would still be an honorable mention mind you, but I digress. Speaking of honorable mentions, I'd like to expand upon them and give a few more. 1. Dick Williams-While he may have lived up to his name, he was a damn good manager, leading the A's to the first 2 of their 3 straight WS Titles in 1972 and 1973, leading the Expos in some of their best years, leading the Padres to their first ever Pennant, and of course leading the Red Sox into their modern era in the "Impossible Dream" year of 1967". 2. Al Lopez-While he only won 2 pennants and no WS, he constantly finished 2nd to the mighty Yankees and was often their only real competition most years. His Indians and White Sox, regardless of which he managed at the time, produced some great teams for sure, including the 1954 Indians which won a then AL-record 111 games before falling to Willie Mays and the Giants in the Series. 3. Davey Johnson-As others have said, Davey Johnson deserves an Honorable mention for winning the series with the Mets in 86, along with being the guy to turn around so many franchises even if they ended up not finishing the job in the series (Reds, Orioles, Nationals). A great manager for a long time. 4. Billy Southworth-Going off the board with this one, but Billy Southworth is a REALLY underrated manager. Back in the 40s he won 3 straight pennants and 2 WS with the Cardinals in 3 years, easily winning over 100 games each year, and only getting upset in the series by the mighty Yankees in 43. Then, after moving on to the Boston Braves in 1946, he led them to a late renaissance in Boston culminating in a WS appearance in 1948. He only retired young due to health issues in 1951, but in his time he was maybe the greatest manager of his era. 5. Frank Selee-While he wasn't the first great manager (Cap Anson was, and is who I would mention but was largely responsible for the color barrier), he led the ancient Boston Beaneaters of the 1890s to 5 Pennants and they were, along with the Orioles, the dominant team of the era. These are just a few more of the great managers throughout history. I tried to throw in a few that no one has said yet.
I'm not so sure about Baker. I still blame him for that game 6 loss in the world series. To me he was too cautious about who to put in to pitch and kept around the ones that kept getting hit. So Baker didn't stop the bleed and we had two pitchers who proved that the Angels couldn't hit them but he wouldn't put them in for a couple of innings each. The winners want the ball. As mad Bum would prove
Imo, if Baker didn't win the WS last year, I wouldn't have put him ahead of Lasorda. (Some Dodger bias on my end as well) But since he won and you mentioned that he took EVERY team he managed to the postseason, that is special. Of course Bruce Bochy had to be on the list. The 3 WS titles in 5 years was extremely impressive (despite my bitterness) but more importantly, his managerial time in San Diego was impressive with how the Padres were constructed back then. The record doesn't tell the whole story. I was blown away with what you showed with Connie Mack's record. 1890 to 1950s? That is extremely sustainable. The amount of losses is too high but that's expected. Tony La Russa being higher than Torre and Cox caught me off guard for a bit but considering he took both the A's and Cardinals to the World Series, I'll agree with this. *I just wish he didn't return with the White Sox because it was obvious his style wasn't going to work in today's game* Joe McCarthy, I mean, what else can you say about him.
I'm a Giants fan and I definitely think Lasorda should have been higher than Dusty. Dusty's 2022 is the epitome of 'even the blind squirrel finds the nut' as he squandered opportunities with so many talented teams over thirty years. I personally feel Bochy should have been higher but I understand the W/L argument.
I don't know how you have Bobby Cox over Miller Huggins. To me, Bobby Cox is the anti-Miller Huggins. He had a team full of stars throughout the 90's and made the playoffs throughout the decade and only came out of it with only one single championship. Huggins on the other hand was dealt the same hand by having a team full of stars and he came out with 7.
One other honorable mention--perhaps the greatest manger who never actually won anything: Gene Mauch. He is (in)famously best known for being the manager for the 1964 Phillies team that blew the pennant. He managed about 25,26 years though, Philly, Montreal, Minnesota, Angels.
And managed the 1986 Angels to the ALCS, they had a 4 run lead going into the 9th in game 5 vs the Red Sox. 3 outs to the world Series and they blew it.
Buck Showalter is arguably the modern day Gene Mauch in that he's at least statistics wise, the greatest manager to never be able to take his teams to the World Series.
Over rated. Overall, He had losing records in Oakland and Texas. He took over pennant winning teams in Detroit and Minnesota. New York was the only place that would tolerate his selfish behavior.
@@alwillk You obviously have no idea what you are talking about. The only team that had a winning record before he took over was New York. He took Minnesota from 79 to 97 wins, Detroit from 79 to 91 wins, Texas from 57 to 84 wins, Yankees from 83 to 97 wins and Oakland from 54 to 83 wins. Was he a drunk power hungry a-hole, you bet he was. That is why he got fired everywhere he went. Doesn't mean he wasn't great in the dugout getting everything he could out of his players. Hopefully you left a comment to the creator saying Connie Mack was overrated cuz he had a losing record.
I truly enjoyed this episode. Honorable Mention: Casey's kid: Billy Martin Sparky Anderson said he was the greatest manager he ever saw or opposed. Heard it on Film. Not too bad a reference. I remember Billy Martin saying he may not have been the greatest ever to wear Yankee pinstripes but nobody wore them prouder. Billy Martin was the World Series MVP 1952. Yes, as they say... "You can look it up". + Durasaxon + ✝️
Dusty Baker ??? You have to be kidding. He was sacked by every team he ever coached, and is currently costing the Astros 12 wins this season. There is a reason that he never won a WS until last year, and that one was down to a great team with no injuries in the postseason. Most Astros fans can't wait to see the back of him.
Not this Astro fan. I’m pretty happy about where our team is. You can’t win em all. It’s a hell of a lot better than 2010-2013 Astros, or as an 2023 As fan 😂 The ones that want to see his back on his way out, mostly have never played a single inning of organized baseball.
And add the fact that the Astros could have easily become the bottom of the barrel after the “cheating” scandal. Dusty Baker gets at least a nod for what he’s done with the team.
Hello, Señor Humm Baby Baseball ! Very entertaining video and I learned a lot with your great information and statistics; really loved the criteria you followed by putting Joe Mc Carthy as #1 manager of all time with those superb numbers (even tho I hate those Yankees lol). Keep em coming and cheers :)
Three other little-discussed managers come to mind, in addition to everyone else mentioned in this video and in the comments here: Gene Mauch, Harry Wright, and Frank Selee. Mauch may have been a perennial choker when it came to winning that elusive pennant, but he DID win over 1,900 games, was successful with almost every team he managed in terms of winning seasons and/or playoff berths, and had an excellent eye for hitting talent. Selee and Wright were similarly elite in forming some of the earliest MLB dynasties in the 1870s and 1890s Boston Beaneaters/Braves, respectively. I would also keep an eye out for Buck Showalter, Bob Melvin, and Dave Roberts making future editions of this list--or a Part 2, as the case may be. Still, excellent list overall, and suggestions from others as well! :)
Francona is my favorite simply because he doesn't give up. Not a single person in the world believed the Red Sox could come back by the 8th inning of game 4 of the 2004 ALCS other than him. He manages like he can still win no matter what the score or inning is. Though I will admit Francona doesn't really go all out and show anger for bad calls like a few other managers you listed. Imo if a manager doesn't express serious anger and get ejected over a bad call, players can feel like they aren't being supported. Some people will call it unprofessional, a bad role model, or pointless, but there certainly is a reason to go out of the dugout and curse out the umpire and get ejected. It's to build trust and a sense of support.
Right especially after what happen the previous year when pedro thrown down Don zimmer,I'm sorry but that ish is still hilarious🤣,but pedro has said that he regretted doing that even tho don didn't get hurt
@@javonsumpter9678 There really was no winning in that scenario for Pedro. An old man is charging you. Either you run away and look weak, stand there and get pummeled and look weak, or push him down and look like a bully. I don't blame him the slighest for Don Zimmer's stupidity of charging someone a third of his age. It's crazy how the media spun that and made Pedro look out of control when he just stood there and pushed him down when he was charged.
@@SconnerStudios ,I gotcha an your right everyone has the right too defend themselves, I love Joe buck as an commentor,but he was way off commenting on pedro slamming down a 70 year old
I don't think Francona gets a fair Shake on this list as much just because how many managers have taken two different teams to the World Series? Two different teams with vastly different expectations, amount of money and curses. The fact that he was able to get Boston to a World Series and win one not to mention the Indians almost get one with Corey kluber 3 Elite Bullpen arms and nothing else. I blame Trevor Bauer for losing to the Cubs. If he doesn't stupidly cut his finger on a drone the Cubs might still be desperate for their first World Series
@@TheJohnharple I think Theo Epstein is why the Cubs won 2016 more than anything else, I don't blame the Indians for anything, even Bauer's weirdo antics. Like Jackie Robinson once said to Bobby Thompson, "We didn't lose, you guys won". Theo is probably the smartest sports executive of all time, and he's always willing to do whatever it takes, including personally flying out to Arizona and having dinner with Curt Schilling to convince him to join the Sox and having the long-term insight of valuing mentors/players with experience with young talent to maximize their value quickly (David Ross, Jon Lester, and even hiring Manny to basically coach Javier Baez). If I were any of the 30 MLB owners, I'd give a kidney for him to be my GM. Hell, I'd give 2 kidneys for a long-term contract. There's a couple teams who need a world series win more than they need their kidneys.
It's sad to me that Tony LaRussa is considered in this list. He openly lied about the steroid use of his players and we all know, if they weren't juicing, they wouldn't have accomplished anything close to what they did. Mac tried and probably still to this day denies his usage!!
I am glad you mentioned Roger Craig at the end. I remember him as Sparky's right hand man as the pitching Coach for the Tiger in the 80's. Billy Martin, Dick Williams, Whitey Herzog were worth mentioning somewhere. Earl not in the top 15 is surprising. As a non-Oriole fan in the early 70's, I hated him. His Orioles were always competitive and seemed to have a magic potion over my Tigers. Of course, Earl had a potion over lots of other teams, and other teams had a potion over Tigers at times too. Memories of our youth aren't always accurate, but they are very clear. (right or wrong, what we remember is very vivid) LOL!!⚾🧢🕶
I probably wasn’t going to watch this entire video, but most of the narrator’s honorable mentions, probably should be on the top of the list. I understand wins and losses, but the other important aspect is also someone who is a great leader amongst men, somebody who can inspire players who aren’t very good to be better Than those who they play against, the sign of a great manager, is also a guy who’s players will run through a brick wall for, will walk through fire for, will do everything totally outside of themselves to win a game for. People who inspire thoughts are Tommy Lasorda, Earl, Weaver, Billy Martin, and Sparky Anderson. I will probably not even mention most of the managers before the 1960s purely because most of us trolls on here probably weren’t even born to see any of those men in live action or even on TV. I’m pretty sure though, that Casey Stengel is a great manager, who comes to mind before most people. I wouldn’t know Connie Mack from a hole in the ground, but I’m told that he was one of the greatest there was. As far as anyone pass the 60s all the way till now, obviously someone like Lou Piniella, Cito Gaston come to mind . I always thought of Tony La Russa as an asshole savant but could get his guys to win. People like Jim Leyland, and Terry Collins were pretty much the last of the old breed. I found someone like Bruce Bochy and Phil Gardner, to be kind of similar in their ways. Davey Johnson was to the Mets what Mike Keenan was to the New York. Rangers Mike Hargrove was an underachiever and to a certain degree, so was Bobby Cox. Joe Torre was a tremendous fail as a manager before he got it right, but not much of an Ex’s & Oh’s guy. I wished Johnny Oakes would have still been alive to show how great a manager he could be. In spite of everyone’s opinion about him, I still think Ozzy Guillen could have been a great manager, if he wasn’t so controversial, and bluntly honest. I hope one day Wally Backman finally gets a chance to show how great a manager he is. Donnie baseball is still a great manager to me, as well as buck Showalter, even though buck so water can’t seem to get over the top. Terry Francona helped one of the most popular teams in all of baseball, finally end a so-called curse. As well as Joe Maddon. If he gets one more, World Series win, I definitely think Dusty Baker should go into the Hall of Fame as a manager. Frank Robinson is also very underrated.
Bill McKechnie? What he did with Pittsburgh, Cardinals, Reds, and his influence with Cleveland, was notable. Never had fantastic teams, but went to the World Series four times.
I read somewhere that Bobby Cox lost more one-run games than any other manager. Can you imagine what the Braves would have done in the 90s if they had one or two more good hitters?
I think you miss one in your special mention. I understand why. He coach a small market and everyone have forget today. Felipe Alou with Montreal Expos. Probably a WS ring if lockout did happen.
Interestingly, the teams Casey Stengel managed not called the New York Yankees never finished better than fifth place. And the fifth place finish was one time. Mostly seventh in an eight team league. And of course the Mets, four straight last place finishes, which was not necessarily the Ol' Perfessers fault.
I'm surprised Mike Scioscia didn't make this list another really great manager, especially in 2002 where he led an Angels team with no Superstars and no Hall of famers to World Series championship 1650 wins and 1428 losses
Sparky Anderson would probably be in the running for best ever if his 72 and 73 Reds teams hadn't been upset in the playoffs. The 72 Reds should have beat the A's and the 73 Reds shoukd have beat the Mets in the NLCS.
Earl Weaver and Lou Pinella were great to watch argue. They always put on a great show. If they are in the honorable mentions, I can only imagine who the top 15 will be. Tito isn't in the top 15 either, huh?
This is why your channel is respected, the research you put in is commendable, however, even tho he was a jerk at times...Billy Martin should have been included
I know you said Bochy’s Giants were an underdog in “every single playoff series”, and I would almost completely agree, except for that 2010 divisional series against my Braves. That Braves team was a shell of what they had been by that point in the season with an injured Derek Lee at first, no Chipper, no Prado, Billy Wagner going down in the series, and inserting Brooks Conrad in the lineup. Otherwise I’m in agreement with your list and opinions.
Danny Murtaugh belongs on this list, always improved his teams, had a 540 winning pct and 2 World Championships. Against the Mighty Yanks in 1960 and the powerful Orioles in 1971.
Ok, another great episode & knowledge comments from the viewers! The way I look at it, this video is a controversy without end. I always thought Kid Gleason of the Black Sox was a great manager. His team won 3 games in a WS where 8 of his players were trying to through it!
McCarthy is no doubt number 1...and as a Reds fan I loved Sparky...Sparky was an innovator and was the master of strategizing to maximize his strengths. People forget that 1970 "Big Red Machine" won by sheer power. Pete Rose and Bobby Tolan would get on base and then you had a gauntlet of HR hitters like Bench, Perez, May and Carbo. Then when the Reds ROBBED the Astro's in the Joe Morgan trade...most everyone in the lineup could run. Morgan, Griffey, Concepcion, Geronimo, Foster hell even Bench would steal a base on you...I think over a 2 year span he was 13 for 13 stealing bases. He also was one of the first managers to REALLY utilize his bullpen. He had no problem yanking a starter early, but then again in a lot of those years he had at least 5 guys in his bullpens that could have been closers anywhere else. Carroll, Borbon, Eastwick, MacEnany etc. LaRussa was innovative too. If I remember correctly Larussa was the first manager to put his best hitter in the 3 spot as opposed to "Clean - Up" in order to get him more AB's. Great List ! Although I would have Weaver over Lasorda, I always thought Tommy was overrated.
Correction, Tony LaRussa's A's were swept by the Reds in 1990 only. In 1988, the A's only managed to eek out a single victory against the Dodgers in the World Series thanks to Mark McGwire's walk off home run against Jay Howell in Game 3.
1. John McGraw 2. Joe McCarthy 3. Tony La Russa 4. Bobby Cox 5. Joe Torre 6. Connie Mack 7. Sparky Anderson 8. Walter Alston 9. Dusty Baker 10. Leo Durocher 11. Terry Francona 12. Fred Clarke 13. Earl Weaver 14. Al Lopez 15. Frank Selee 16. Bill McKechnie 17. Bruce Bochy 18. Mike Scioscia 19. Cap Anson 20. Davey Johnson 21. Lou Piniella 22. Miller Huggins 23. Casey Stengal 24. Harry Wright 25. Tommy Lasorda
Let me know if you find the mind you've lost by not including Billy Martin, who managed no fewer than five teams that were winners. In 19 seasons with those five clubs, Billy Martin had six first-place finishes, winning two pennants and one World Series: - Minnesota Twins in 1968 : 79 wins and 83 losses. Martin took over in 1969 and they finished first in their division, winning 97 and losing 65. - Detroit Tigers in 1970: 79 wins, 83 losses. Martin took over in '71 and they finished second in their division, and in '72 finished first. - Texas Rangers in 1972: 54 wins, 100 losses. Martin's first full season, 1974, they finished second in their division, 84 wins and 76 losses. - Oakland A's in 1979: 54 wins, 108 losses. Martin took over in 1980 and they finished second in their division and in '81 finished first in the first half of the season, second in the second half. - New York Yankees, which won the pennant in 1976 and '77 and the World Series in '77 under Martin. Billy Martin turned lousy teams such as Minnesota, Detroit, Texas, and Oakland into contenders instantly. Show me how many other managers did that.
I wonder if the fact that Tom Kelly finished his managerial career with a sub .500 record (a .478 winning percentage and going 1140-1244 overall) kind of hurts his legacy. He did lead the Twins to two World Series titles (in 1987 and 1991) but from 1993-2000, the Twins finished the season with losing records and didn't finish higher than fourth place. In fairness, in his final year as the manager, 2001, he won 85 wins, so it wasn't entirely all a waste.
Def weren’t under dogs vs the royals. Both teams were very close to even money. Royals might have been -110 but I know I had the giants even money to win the series.
Dude - Dick Williams might be the greatest manager of all-time. And Billy Martin made winners out of losers everywhere he went. And Al Lopez had 15 straight winning seasons with the Indians and White Sox.
Nope, you left Earl Weaver off the list: As an Orioles fan with my own frustration with Earl's teams inability to win when needed in an the post-season, but it is about MORE than just titles... Earl was the father of analytics, he kept flash cards in a box, with stats of EVERY AL player the team faded, including some advanced metrics. That alone should have placed Earl in the top ten, and as much as I loved Tommy Lasorda, he managed a cash-rich, large market team. Weaver made due with "The Oriole Way," a philosophical theorum based upon solid fundamentals, and starting pitching that began with "The Kiddy Corp," partially formulated by Lee McPhail, and included some young guy (then) named Jim Palmer. Again, Tommy was legendary but when you have the BEST team in baseball from 1965- 1985, one [until 1985] that was predicated upon player development and NOT free agency, that alone speaks to the talent Weaver possessed at getting the best from all 25 (as it once was). If you doubt this, see games 3 & 4 in Pittsnurgh, 1979 WS. Nobody could do what Earl did, period, despite the frustration of 1969, 1971, 1979, and 1982. They were ALWAYS competitive, near the top, and winning. One last thing:Putting Torre in the top? Those Yankee teams were good, stacked, but while I agree top 25, I cannot see him out of the top 20. It takes talent to manage personalities, yes, but come on, I could have got 95 wins a year with those high-salaried ringers.
Billy Martin is another one who probably deserves at least an honorable mention. He had a 1,253-1,013 managerial record with a .553 winning percentage. He also took four different teams (the Twins, Tigers, Yankees, and A's) to the playoffs, won two pennants (1976-77), the World Series in 1977, and immediately turned the Rangers around and led them to 84 wins and a second place finish in 1974. Keep in mind that this was after the Rangers finished the prior two seasons with 100 losses.
Yah he was fun to watch.
Billy Martin and Rickey Henderson were a lethal combo
Billy Martin.......His only problem......Booze! And.....he had a problem dealing with certain players. But he was a great teacher, He taught Rod Carew so much and Carew went on to become one of the greatest 2b ever. Martin taught him the art of stealing home and bunting for hits. But because of the first two things I talked about he was fired by the Twins after winning a division title.
Billy Martin was, by far, the BEST manager of all time. I don't know how he did it, but he could take over any team and somehow force it to win. It's a shame he couldn't stop drinking.
The twins and tigers teams were both pennant winners a few years prior. Martin was only good in New York. He had a losing record in Texas and Oakland.
Earl Weaver deserves to be on the list despite only winning one world series. He won the pennet 4 times and had the best winning percentage over 15 years. Just missed being on the '66 and '83 world series winning teams too
for entertainment value, earl is number one and fat tommy is number two
I saw Earl as a kid! He was the best at letting the umpires have a piece of his mind.OG. Earl! Lol 🤣
@@Joy-ul5flEspecially Weaver's rant with umpire Bill Haller in 1980 against the Detroit Tigers, resulting in him being ejected from the game by Haller. No matter how many times I've watched the video, I still laugh.
At least have a few
Honourable Mentions.
Earl Weaver was an amazing
Manager and
quite successful.
I actually thought he made
the list?
Earl Weaver should have had more than one ring for the amount of talent many of those O's teams had
Dick Williams deserves an honorable mention. Took 3 teams to the World Series, including the 1967 Boston Red Sox Impossible Dream season. It was baseball's greatest season ever. 4 pennants and 2 chips.
I came by here to drop Williams' name. He was a terrific manager and needed at least an honorable mention.
@@thirdeyespy5503 I remember after the 1974 World Series win over LA, his players were begging him not to go to manage the Angels. He had already committed himself to that job and to get the hell away from Charlie Finley.
@@scottodonnell7121 Everyone except MC Hammer hated Charlie. Dick Williams was a man of principle. They got one more ring with Alvin Dark. If Williams and the core of that team had stayed together, they could have won 2-3 more titles. And the ridiculous thing was all the talent they had in the farm system. They had George Hendrick, Claudell Washington, Manny Trillo, Phil Garner and Mike Norris. They were loaded.
@@TheeRobertPhoenixAnd Charlie got rid of them all
Smh
Cito Gaston is another manager that I don't know or think gets enough credit. He has a .516 winning percentage, took the Blue Jays to the postseason four times (1989, 1991, 1992-93), and of course, led them to two consecutive World Series titles in 1992-93. And don't forget that in his first season as manager of the Blue Jays, he took a team that at the time, was performing sub .500 with a 12-24 record and led them to a 77-49 record the rest of the way to win the American League East title.
TMC1982Part2: Yes Gaston never gets enough credit. Other than Stengal, Torre, and a few others who don't come to mind he's one of the few that have won back to back WS as a manager.
Was dreaming about seeing Tom Kelly on here
Earl Weaver definitely should have been top 15, and Whitey Herzog should, at the very least, been an honorable mention, but otherwise a very solid list.
Recommended reading: "Evaluating Baseball's Managers" by Chris Jaffe. The author took a sabermetric approach to evaluating managers based on how his players performed compared to how you would have expected. Interesting thing is he wrote the book in 2008, and even before Bruce Bochy had won the World Series, he was ranked at #30. He also had Joe McCarthy at #1, which a lot of people undervalue McCarthy for the perception that his rosters were so stacked that anyone could have won with them.
Kind of like the Phil Jackson of MLB
I agree about Weaver. How many managers had a .583 winning % during in a 14 year+ tenure? Not too many.
My guy Jim! Loved Leyland in Detroit
Legend!
He a bumb
Leyland blew 3 pennate on.the pirates he a suck
Whitey Herzog's managerial skills were probably the best of his era. Good to see Jim Leyland make this list ...
I was bummed out I didn’t see Dallas green
Leyland blow m pittsbutg
The white rat doesn't get a honorable mention? Say it ain't so!
Take care everyone.
_I'm probably the only guy who worked for Casey Stengel before and after he was a genius._
-Warren Spahn
Spahn was paranoid about everything Yankee. After the 1957 World Series, he claimed that the Yankees would be lucky to finish fifth in the National League .Really Warren ?
Spahn was referring to the Stengel who called him a coward for not throwing at people before WWII. When Lt. (battlefield commission, Bronze Star, Purple Heart) Spahn came back in '46, Stengel made a heartfelt apology. The 5th place remark was probably being facetious - Spahn was one of the most intelligent pitchers ever.
Late in their careers Yogi Berra caught for Spahn a couple of times with the Mets. When informed they were not quite the oldest battery in MLB history Yogi said "Well, at least we're the ugliest."
@@dizbang3073 haha. That’s hilarious. Classic Yogi!
@@dizbang3073 Two of my favorite people as well as players- and two of the smartest. Btw, the list is a joke without Tito and Weaver.
Great video but Dick Williams and Whitey Herzog should have at least gotten honorable mentions.
i'm disappointed that danny murtaugh didn't get at least an honorable mention on this list his team won the nl east a number of times and he won two world series titles against 2 hall of fame managers 1960 and 1971 casey stengel and earl weaver. i think he should also be in the hof.
Great video, but I would’ve included Whitey Herzog as an honorable mention. 3 WS appearances in 6 years with the Cardinals in the 80s and had success in KC before that.
Padres fan here, Bochy belongs in the hall.
No if ands or buts
#7 on this list Joe Torre (4 WS titles) won both h to h matchups with #5 bobby cox (1 ws title) in World Series winning the last 8 games.
.615 career winning percentage is INSANE for an MLB manager.
Thank you, man. I've been studying a little bit about baseball history for some time, and your videos are very informative. Great content. 👏
Baker has no business being on this list. He blew out the arms of Pryor and Wood. Had many Giant teams that under achieved due to his mismanagement. The Astros in 2022 won despite Baker. This genius also wanted Bill Cosby to give his Astros a pep talk before the 2022 World Series.
I actually agree with you. I made a comment on another channel about it was the Astros player that won and not Baker. I've always felt that Creg and Bochy were both superior to Baker. And Baker was responsible for the game 6 loss in the world series that led to the game 7 win for the Angels. He wouldn't just stop the bleeding by putting in a couple of pitchers for a couple of innings each that the Angel couldn't touch
It was probably a real Catch-22, but I do wonder how often Dusty Baker has been second guessed for going with Salomon Torres in 1993, against the Dodgers on the last day of the season. Had the Giants won that game, then they would've at the very least, guaranteed for themselves, a one game playoff against the Braves. Torres promptly got shelled and the Giants wound up losing the division by one game (this was the last year that there were two divisions for each league, so no wild card to fall back on) against the Braves.
Having Dusty Baker on this list is out of sympathy for how long he managed until he finally won a championship. To me he was in the right place at the right time. If he was great as this tried to claim he was he would have been to the post season more often. Overrated
@@TMC1982Part2 i remember that game....that was an insane season
Dusty Baker is an all-time great manager, period !
In 26 seasons, he finished over .500 in 18 of those years, with 11 seasons of 90 wins or more.
3x... Yes, 3x times he won the Manager of the Year award, and of course, he finally got that ring.
Some of those earlier Giants teams and Reds teams he won with had subpar talent that he brought the best out of..
And it's complete, utter BS he "ruined" the careers of Mark Prior and Kerry Wood.
What ended Mark Prior career was his terrible mechanics.
There is at least five videos here on RUclips breaking down the issues with his mechanics.
And while the mechanical issues with Kerry Wood weren't as pronounced, he also had a tendency to throw across his body which was one of the reasons he also had arm troubles..
Most of the top of the rotation starters routinely threw 240 to 300 innings up until the mid 90s.
Wood and Prior never even threw over 215 innings in a full season.
Erik, I really enjoyed this video…I could watch it multiple times. Loved all the great old baseball footage and photos! Maybe you could make a series of individual videos, one for each manager, and perhaps even add some extras from some of the comments. You could go into more detail of each manager that way. I would enjoy those, I think. Thanks for an really enjoyable baseball video! 😊
As I was watching and you got to number 5 I was figuring out how to defend my local manager Sparky Anderson. I was thinking how could he not even get an honorable mention. He was the first manager to win world series in both leagues (a fact you omitted once you listed him) and even with his roster in the early 90s he still was a well respected manager. The Bill Gullikson (early 90s Tiger) quote describes him perfectly. His passion ranks up there and even with the weaker teams, he never gave up the fight. Then. Number 4 came. That honor does suit him. To put him higher than Connie Mack and other great names I definitely agree with. I was surprised though because many lists like that would lower him because of his 1989-1995 record, but you did a great job in factoring record as a part, but not the majority, of your ranking.
Also loved to learn how Tommy Lasorda spent 70 years with 1 organization from player to manager to front office. And if this ranking was based upon entertainment value, he'd be number 1 or 2.
How about a countdown of teams that immediately improved their performances following a managerial change? I got this idea from the TPS channel's video entitled "10 Teams That Found Success After Firing Their Coach Mid Season". In their list, they mentioned Bob Lemon replacing Billy Martin as manager of the New York Yankees in 1978 and Jack McKeon replacing Jeff Torborg as manager of the Florida Marlins in 2003.
Other examples that immediately come to mind are the Milwaukee Brewers replacing Buck Rodgers with Harvey Kuenn in 1982, the Boston Red Sox replacing John McNamara with Joe Morgan in 1988, the Toronto Blue Jays replacing Jimy Williams with Cito Gaston in 1989, and the Philadelphia Phillies replacing Joe Girardi with Rob Thomson in 2022.
The fact that Mack owned the team no doubt contributed to his longevity as a manager.
Fun fact: If Connie Mack had retired at age 70, his W-L record would have been 2745-2409, over 300 games above .500. Instead he managed to age 87 and finished over 200 games below.
Earl Weaver is definitely top 10 and Billy Martin is a top 5 manager. Billy won everywhere he went with or without talent - Twins, Tigers A's, Yankees, Rangers. Bobby Cox is a top 3 manager-what he accomplished Atlanta in the modern era is amazing.
Mike Hargrove won just as many divisions as Bobby Cox did, but Cox only won one more ring than he did
@@yell0wberry not even close - Cox won 15 division titles to Hargrove's 5.
@@jrodkid9731 even more fun for the argument, Cox did all of that, and got one World Series ring
Martin had a losing record in Texas and Oakland. He took over pennant winning teams in Detroit and Minnesota. He was only good in New York.
@@yell0wberry that's true - playoffs are a crapshoot, but Atlanta should have done better. Looks like they were built for the regular season not playoffs.
Even though I don't agree with every choice, clearly this is a very thoughtful and well-thought-out and researched piece. I especially appreciate that you include Managers from all here is because too often people talk about the greatest of all time but only refer to those who we're active during their lifetime. I presume your honorable mentions would be 16 through 20 but I would love to see a follow-up with the next 15 managers. I'd also like your thoughts about who would be the managerial equivalent of the top MVPs of managing, meaning no matter what their record was, that they made the biggest difference did the teams that they managed. Just curious also where you would put Whitey Herzog. Great video!
Sparky Anderson is the greatest in my eyes.
Crazy how Boch really just came in and won another WS, that man is unreal. I’m a Giants fan so I’m biased but still
Disappointed to not see Whitey Herzog or Billy Martin. Otherwise, great list. Figured McGraw would be #1.
Davey Johnson deserves at least an honorable mention. He was a two time Manager of the Year (in 1997 with the Orioles and in 2012 with the Nationals), took four different teams (the Mets, Reds, Orioles, and Nationals) to the playoffs, won the World Series in 1986 with the Mets, and has a .562 winning percentage (going 1,372-1,071 overall) as a manager.
When he won the NL East with the Mets, it was by 20 games. When it was close, the Mets folded to Whitey Herzog's Cardinals. He always inherited good teams, which is why his W/L percentage is as high as it is. If Bill Buckner makes a play, he has the same number of WS rings as me. Most overrated manager ever.
Love your content! Been looking for a channel like this. Do gotta say I think earl should be in there, but hey that’s great about baseball is the debates!
I’m so glad bochy is in this list!
And now Bochy has won his fourth World Championship. He's the third manager to win the World Series in two different leagues (following Sparky Anderson and Tony LaRussa) and I believe, the sixth to win at least four World Championships.
I'd like to say a few things regarding this, but firstly I will say great video, this stuff is always very hard to rate and very subjective. That being said, I think Earl Weaver should be Top 15 in place of probably Dusty Baker, Dusty has a lot more infamous "choke" moments and Earl was a very ahead of his time Manager. Dusty would still be an honorable mention mind you, but I digress. Speaking of honorable mentions, I'd like to expand upon them and give a few more.
1. Dick Williams-While he may have lived up to his name, he was a damn good manager, leading the A's to the first 2 of their 3 straight WS Titles in 1972 and 1973, leading the Expos in some of their best years, leading the Padres to their first ever Pennant, and of course leading the Red Sox into their modern era in the "Impossible Dream" year of 1967".
2. Al Lopez-While he only won 2 pennants and no WS, he constantly finished 2nd to the mighty Yankees and was often their only real competition most years. His Indians and White Sox, regardless of which he managed at the time, produced some great teams for sure, including the 1954 Indians which won a then AL-record 111 games before falling to Willie Mays and the Giants in the Series.
3. Davey Johnson-As others have said, Davey Johnson deserves an Honorable mention for winning the series with the Mets in 86, along with being the guy to turn around so many franchises even if they ended up not finishing the job in the series (Reds, Orioles, Nationals). A great manager for a long time.
4. Billy Southworth-Going off the board with this one, but Billy Southworth is a REALLY underrated manager. Back in the 40s he won 3 straight pennants and 2 WS with the Cardinals in 3 years, easily winning over 100 games each year, and only getting upset in the series by the mighty Yankees in 43. Then, after moving on to the Boston Braves in 1946, he led them to a late renaissance in Boston culminating in a WS appearance in 1948. He only retired young due to health issues in 1951, but in his time he was maybe the greatest manager of his era.
5. Frank Selee-While he wasn't the first great manager (Cap Anson was, and is who I would mention but was largely responsible for the color barrier), he led the ancient Boston Beaneaters of the 1890s to 5 Pennants and they were, along with the Orioles, the dominant team of the era.
These are just a few more of the great managers throughout history. I tried to throw in a few that no one has said yet.
Tito Francona is Hall of Fame Bound with a 1928 wins and 1645 loses and not even mentioned.
I'm not so sure about Baker. I still blame him for that game 6 loss in the world series. To me he was too cautious about who to put in to pitch and kept around the ones that kept getting hit. So Baker didn't stop the bleed and we had two pitchers who proved that the Angels couldn't hit them but he wouldn't put them in for a couple of innings each. The winners want the ball. As mad Bum would prove
Dusty Baker is one of the worst post-season managers of all time. Nice guy, got screwed by the Giants.
dusty is hands down the best player's manager
@@thewkovacs316 But there's no crying in baseball. 😂
Imo, if Baker didn't win the WS last year, I wouldn't have put him ahead of Lasorda. (Some Dodger bias on my end as well) But since he won and you mentioned that he took EVERY team he managed to the postseason, that is special.
Of course Bruce Bochy had to be on the list. The 3 WS titles in 5 years was extremely impressive (despite my bitterness) but more importantly, his managerial time in San Diego was impressive with how the Padres were constructed back then. The record doesn't tell the whole story.
I was blown away with what you showed with Connie Mack's record. 1890 to 1950s? That is extremely sustainable. The amount of losses is too high but that's expected.
Tony La Russa being higher than Torre and Cox caught me off guard for a bit but considering he took both the A's and Cardinals to the World Series, I'll agree with this. *I just wish he didn't return with the White Sox because it was obvious his style wasn't going to work in today's game*
Joe McCarthy, I mean, what else can you say about him.
I'm a Giants fan and I definitely think Lasorda should have been higher than Dusty. Dusty's 2022 is the epitome of 'even the blind squirrel finds the nut' as he squandered opportunities with so many talented teams over thirty years. I personally feel Bochy should have been higher but I understand the W/L argument.
Bochy has to be the greatest manager in history because he won 3 WS with a bunch of scrubs🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
How can Bochy miss this list. He won 4 world series championships.
I don't know how you have Bobby Cox over Miller Huggins. To me, Bobby Cox is the anti-Miller Huggins. He had a team full of stars throughout the 90's and made the playoffs throughout the decade and only came out of it with only one single championship. Huggins on the other hand was dealt the same hand by having a team full of stars and he came out with 7.
Cox also seemed to make some boneheaded decisions in the 1996 World Series.
Yeah, really. Those Braves teams should have won three or four world series'.
Earl Weaver needs to be in top 15 at least..id have him over Dusty
One other honorable mention--perhaps the greatest manger who never actually won anything: Gene Mauch. He is (in)famously best known for being the manager for the 1964 Phillies team that blew the pennant. He managed about 25,26 years though, Philly, Montreal, Minnesota, Angels.
I almost added him!
And managed the 1986 Angels to the ALCS, they had a 4 run lead going into the 9th in game 5 vs the Red Sox. 3 outs to the world Series and they blew it.
Buck Showalter is arguably the modern day Gene Mauch in that he's at least statistics wise, the greatest manager to never be able to take his teams to the World Series.
Absolute heartbreaker. @@scottodonnell7121
Excellent presentation, although we could debate the rankings all day long.
Brilliant work young man!!! Thanks for posting this!
How good could these managers be if, without a stacked Yankees team, they didn't win jack?
Mike Scoscia - 1 WS, 3 ALCS, 2 Manager of the Year and 1650 wins.
Seriously, no Billy Martin? His exclusion hurts your credibility
Over rated. Overall, He had losing records in Oakland and Texas. He took over pennant winning teams in Detroit and Minnesota. New York was the only place that would tolerate his selfish behavior.
@@alwillk You obviously have no idea what you are talking about. The only team that had a winning record before he took over was New York. He took Minnesota from 79 to 97 wins, Detroit from 79 to 91 wins, Texas from 57 to 84 wins, Yankees from 83 to 97 wins and Oakland from 54 to 83 wins. Was he a drunk power hungry a-hole, you bet he was. That is why he got fired everywhere he went. Doesn't mean he wasn't great in the dugout getting everything he could out of his players. Hopefully you left a comment to the creator saying Connie Mack was overrated cuz he had a losing record.
I dont always agree with your rankings, but I love your videos and your research/analysis. thank you
I truly enjoyed this episode.
Honorable Mention:
Casey's kid:
Billy Martin
Sparky Anderson said
he was the greatest manager
he ever saw or opposed.
Heard it on Film.
Not too bad a reference.
I remember Billy Martin saying
he may not have been the greatest
ever to wear Yankee pinstripes
but nobody wore them prouder.
Billy Martin was the
World Series MVP 1952.
Yes, as they say...
"You can look it up".
+ Durasaxon + ✝️
Dusty Baker ??? You have to be kidding. He was sacked by every team he ever coached, and is currently costing the Astros 12 wins this season. There is a reason that he never won a WS until last year, and that one was down to a great team with no injuries in the postseason. Most Astros fans can't wait to see the back of him.
He needed to have one on the list
Not this Astro fan. I’m pretty happy about where our team is. You can’t win em all. It’s a hell of a lot better than 2010-2013 Astros, or as an 2023 As fan 😂
The ones that want to see his back on his way out, mostly have never played a single inning of organized baseball.
And add the fact that the Astros could have easily become the bottom of the barrel after the “cheating” scandal.
Dusty Baker gets at least a nod for what he’s done with the team.
@@terrybangley5416don’t be a racist. This game is for everyone, and the stats show that ANYONE can play.
@@terrybangley5416 What do you mean by this comment?
Hello, Señor Humm Baby Baseball !
Very entertaining video and I learned a lot with your great information and statistics; really loved the criteria you followed by putting Joe Mc Carthy as #1 manager of all time with those superb numbers (even tho I hate those Yankees lol).
Keep em coming and cheers :)
What a great video! Bravo!
How about Whitey Herzog with 1281 wins and.532 winning percentage
Three other little-discussed managers come to mind, in addition to everyone else mentioned in this video and in the comments here: Gene Mauch, Harry Wright, and Frank Selee. Mauch may have been a perennial choker when it came to winning that elusive pennant, but he DID win over 1,900 games, was successful with almost every team he managed in terms of winning seasons and/or playoff berths, and had an excellent eye for hitting talent. Selee and Wright were similarly elite in forming some of the earliest MLB dynasties in the 1870s and 1890s Boston Beaneaters/Braves, respectively. I would also keep an eye out for Buck Showalter, Bob Melvin, and Dave Roberts making future editions of this list--or a Part 2, as the case may be. Still, excellent list overall, and suggestions from others as well! :)
Research Billy Martin. He was a winning manager everywhere he went. He knew talent.
How about Don Zimmer?
He had a losing record in Texas and Oakland. He took over pennant winning teams in Minnesota and Detroit. He was only good in New York.
He was an out of control drunk who was fired 10 times. No way should he be on top.
Francona is my favorite simply because he doesn't give up. Not a single person in the world believed the Red Sox could come back by the 8th inning of game 4 of the 2004 ALCS other than him. He manages like he can still win no matter what the score or inning is.
Though I will admit Francona doesn't really go all out and show anger for bad calls like a few other managers you listed. Imo if a manager doesn't express serious anger and get ejected over a bad call, players can feel like they aren't being supported. Some people will call it unprofessional, a bad role model, or pointless, but there certainly is a reason to go out of the dugout and curse out the umpire and get ejected. It's to build trust and a sense of support.
Right especially after what happen the previous year when pedro thrown down Don zimmer,I'm sorry but that ish is still hilarious🤣,but pedro has said that he regretted doing that even tho don didn't get hurt
@@javonsumpter9678 There really was no winning in that scenario for Pedro. An old man is charging you. Either you run away and look weak, stand there and get pummeled and look weak, or push him down and look like a bully. I don't blame him the slighest for Don Zimmer's stupidity of charging someone a third of his age. It's crazy how the media spun that and made Pedro look out of control when he just stood there and pushed him down when he was charged.
@@SconnerStudios ,I gotcha an your right everyone has the right too defend themselves, I love Joe buck as an commentor,but he was way off commenting on pedro slamming down a 70 year old
I don't think Francona gets a fair Shake on this list as much just because how many managers have taken two different teams to the World Series? Two different teams with vastly different expectations, amount of money and curses. The fact that he was able to get Boston to a World Series and win one not to mention the Indians almost get one with Corey kluber 3 Elite Bullpen arms and nothing else. I blame Trevor Bauer for losing to the Cubs. If he doesn't stupidly cut his finger on a drone the Cubs might still be desperate for their first World Series
@@TheJohnharple I think Theo Epstein is why the Cubs won 2016 more than anything else, I don't blame the Indians for anything, even Bauer's weirdo antics. Like Jackie Robinson once said to Bobby Thompson, "We didn't lose, you guys won". Theo is probably the smartest sports executive of all time, and he's always willing to do whatever it takes, including personally flying out to Arizona and having dinner with Curt Schilling to convince him to join the Sox and having the long-term insight of valuing mentors/players with experience with young talent to maximize their value quickly (David Ross, Jon Lester, and even hiring Manny to basically coach Javier Baez).
If I were any of the 30 MLB owners, I'd give a kidney for him to be my GM. Hell, I'd give 2 kidneys for a long-term contract. There's a couple teams who need a world series win more than they need their kidneys.
fantastic list. i agree with number 1 no doubt
It's sad to me that Tony LaRussa is considered in this list. He openly lied about the steroid use of his players and we all know, if they weren't juicing, they wouldn't have accomplished anything close to what they did. Mac tried and probably still to this day denies his usage!!
I am glad you mentioned Roger Craig at the end. I remember him as Sparky's right hand man as the pitching Coach for the Tiger in the 80's. Billy Martin, Dick Williams, Whitey Herzog were worth mentioning somewhere. Earl not in the top 15 is surprising. As a non-Oriole fan in the early 70's, I hated him. His Orioles were always competitive and seemed to have a magic potion over my Tigers. Of course, Earl had a potion over lots of other teams, and other teams had a potion over Tigers at times too. Memories of our youth aren't always accurate, but they are very clear. (right or wrong, what we remember is very vivid) LOL!!⚾🧢🕶
Ah yes. Do you remember when he said were going into Chicago and drink there beer eat there food and screw there women. Classic.
@@paulbegley1464 No I don't, but I'm game! Thanks for the info!
@@markreetz1001 It was right before they went to Chicago in the 89 play off's.
I probably wasn’t going to watch this entire video, but most of the narrator’s honorable mentions, probably should be on the top of the list. I understand wins and losses, but the other important aspect is also someone who is a great leader amongst men, somebody who can inspire players who aren’t very good to be better Than those who they play against, the sign of a great manager, is also a guy who’s players will run through a brick wall for, will walk through fire for, will do everything totally outside of themselves to win a game for. People who inspire thoughts are Tommy Lasorda, Earl, Weaver, Billy Martin, and Sparky Anderson. I will probably not even mention most of the managers before the 1960s purely because most of us trolls on here probably weren’t even born to see any of those men in live action or even on TV. I’m pretty sure though, that Casey Stengel is a great manager, who comes to mind before most people. I wouldn’t know Connie Mack from a hole in the ground, but I’m told that he was one of the greatest there was. As far as anyone pass the 60s all the way till now, obviously someone like Lou Piniella, Cito Gaston come to mind . I always thought of Tony La Russa as an asshole savant but could get his guys to win. People like Jim Leyland, and Terry Collins were pretty much the last of the old breed. I found someone like Bruce Bochy and Phil Gardner, to be kind of similar in their ways. Davey Johnson was to the Mets what Mike Keenan was to the New York. Rangers Mike Hargrove was an underachiever and to a certain degree, so was Bobby Cox. Joe Torre was a tremendous fail as a manager before he got it right, but not much of an Ex’s & Oh’s guy. I wished Johnny Oakes would have still been alive to show how great a manager he could be. In spite of everyone’s opinion about him, I still think Ozzy Guillen could have been a great manager, if he wasn’t so controversial, and bluntly honest. I hope one day Wally Backman finally gets a chance to show how great a manager he is. Donnie baseball is still a great manager to me, as well as buck Showalter, even though buck so water can’t seem to get over the top. Terry Francona helped one of the most popular teams in all of baseball, finally end a so-called curse. As well as Joe Maddon. If he gets one more, World Series win, I definitely think Dusty Baker should go into the Hall of Fame as a manager. Frank Robinson is also very underrated.
Bill McKechnie? What he did with Pittsburgh, Cardinals, Reds, and his influence with Cleveland, was notable. Never had fantastic teams, but went to the World Series four times.
I loved how you showed Brandon Belt shaking hands with Bruce Bochy!!
🤮
I read somewhere that Bobby Cox lost more one-run games than any other manager. Can you imagine what the Braves would have done in the 90s if they had one or two more good hitters?
Absolutely not true..I hope..but yeah..they needed the current batting order back then ..
The Braves wouldn’t even have gotten as far as they did if Greg Maddux decided to sign with the Yankees instead of the Braves
Jim Leylanfd led the Tigers in the World Series in 2006
Wow! T. LaRussa never changes. Lol at Joe Torre in a Mets uniform-he looks like Pete Rose’s long-lost brother
Billy Martin should be in the top ten at least.
Was fired around 10 times and was a drunk.
WHAT?!?!
No Ted Williams??
Lol....killer vid, as always bro!!
I think you miss one in your special mention. I understand why. He coach a small market and everyone have forget today. Felipe Alou with Montreal Expos. Probably a WS ring if lockout did happen.
Interestingly, the teams Casey Stengel managed not called the New York Yankees never finished better than fifth place. And the fifth place finish was one time. Mostly seventh in an eight team league. And of course the Mets, four straight last place finishes, which was not necessarily the Ol' Perfessers fault.
I'm surprised Mike Scioscia didn't make this list another really great manager, especially in 2002 where he led an Angels team with no Superstars and no Hall of famers to World Series championship 1650 wins and 1428 losses
Billy Martin should be on this listing!!! Sweet Lou Piniella said he learned a lot from Billy.
Also, Billy Martin never finished a full, 162 season with a losing record with the exception of 1982 with the A's, when they went 68-94.
Sparky Anderson would probably be in the running for best ever if his 72 and 73 Reds teams hadn't been upset in the playoffs. The 72 Reds should have beat the A's and the 73 Reds shoukd have beat the Mets in the NLCS.
Earl Weaver and Lou Pinella were great to watch argue. They always put on a great show. If they are in the honorable mentions, I can only imagine who the top 15 will be. Tito isn't in the top 15 either, huh?
This is why your channel is respected, the research you put in is commendable, however, even tho he was a jerk at times...Billy Martin should have been included
great video!
I know you said Bochy’s Giants were an underdog in “every single playoff series”, and I would almost completely agree, except for that 2010 divisional series against my Braves. That Braves team was a shell of what they had been by that point in the season with an injured Derek Lee at first, no Chipper, no Prado, Billy Wagner going down in the series, and inserting Brooks Conrad in the lineup. Otherwise I’m in agreement with your list and opinions.
I don’t recall them being underdogs in any of the three World Series, 2010-12-14, especially not against the Royals.🤷🏼♂️
Bochy has to be the greatest manager in history for the simple fact he won 3 WS with a bunch of scrubs🤣🤣🤣🤣
They were not underdogs vs the royals. Both teams were even money.
Danny Murtaugh belongs on this list, always improved his teams, had a 540 winning pct and 2 World Championships. Against the Mighty Yanks in 1960 and the powerful Orioles in 1971.
I am a little disappointed you did not put Whitey anywhere on your list! Fantastic manager 24:15
Ok, another great episode & knowledge comments from the viewers! The way I look at it, this video is a controversy without end. I always thought Kid Gleason of the Black Sox was a great manager. His team won 3 games in a WS where 8 of his players were trying to through it!
I could go for an hour of rants at umpires. That was great.
McCarthy is no doubt number 1...and as a Reds fan I loved Sparky...Sparky was an innovator and was the master of strategizing to maximize his strengths. People forget that 1970 "Big Red Machine" won by sheer power. Pete Rose and Bobby Tolan would get on base and then you had a gauntlet of HR hitters like Bench, Perez, May and Carbo. Then when the Reds ROBBED the Astro's in the Joe Morgan trade...most everyone in the lineup could run. Morgan, Griffey, Concepcion, Geronimo, Foster hell even Bench would steal a base on you...I think over a 2 year span he was 13 for 13 stealing bases. He also was one of the first managers to REALLY utilize his bullpen. He had no problem yanking a starter early, but then again in a lot of those years he had at least 5 guys in his bullpens that could have been closers anywhere else. Carroll, Borbon, Eastwick, MacEnany etc.
LaRussa was innovative too. If I remember correctly Larussa was the first manager to put his best hitter in the 3 spot as opposed to "Clean - Up" in order to get him more AB's. Great List ! Although I would have Weaver over Lasorda, I always thought Tommy was overrated.
My favorite manager Whitey Herzog should be at least honorable mention.
Same with LaRussa. He had stacked White Sox and A's teams and won only one WS title. He was swept by the Dodgers and Reds.
Correction, Tony LaRussa's A's were swept by the Reds in 1990 only. In 1988, the A's only managed to eek out a single victory against the Dodgers in the World Series thanks to Mark McGwire's walk off home run against Jay Howell in Game 3.
You missed Maury Wills. He didn't care about things like regulation-size batter's boxes or winning games. Solid manager.
How about Al Lopez, who had success against the Yankees, with two teams the White Sox & Indians. Joe Cronin, always struck me as a good Manager.
Dave Roberts has a very high winning percentage (630) but it is hard to squeeze a third Dodger manager on the list.
how about buttermaker?
The Cardinals haven't faired nearly as well since LaRussa left. I think a lot of that recent failure falls on the ownership/GM though. JMT
What do you think about Sparky Anderson's "sin?" Do you he think the argument over replacement players in '94 got him blackballed?
He also didn’t want to rebuild. The tigers failure to develop young players in the late 80s early 90s was because sparky wanted veteran players.
1. John McGraw
2. Joe McCarthy
3. Tony La Russa
4. Bobby Cox
5. Joe Torre
6. Connie Mack
7. Sparky Anderson
8. Walter Alston
9. Dusty Baker
10. Leo Durocher
11. Terry Francona
12. Fred Clarke
13. Earl Weaver
14. Al Lopez
15. Frank Selee
16. Bill McKechnie
17. Bruce Bochy
18. Mike Scioscia
19. Cap Anson
20. Davey Johnson
21. Lou Piniella
22. Miller Huggins
23. Casey Stengal
24. Harry Wright
25. Tommy Lasorda
Great list!
Danny Murtaugh for honorable mention. Over 1,000 wins, 54% winning average and two World Championships.
Where is the Tom Kelly love??? Doesn’t have the numbers, but was a superb manager
Well the A's did have a little help from the needle in the 89 series. They all had big arms.
The A’s destroyed the VaGiants fair & square🤷🏽♂️Still bitter?
Let me know if you find the mind you've lost by not including Billy Martin, who managed no fewer than five teams that were winners. In 19 seasons with those five clubs, Billy Martin had six first-place finishes, winning two pennants and one World Series:
- Minnesota Twins in 1968 : 79 wins and 83 losses. Martin took over in 1969 and they finished first in their division, winning 97 and losing 65.
- Detroit Tigers in 1970: 79 wins, 83 losses. Martin took over in '71 and they finished second in their division, and in '72 finished first.
- Texas Rangers in 1972: 54 wins, 100 losses. Martin's first full season, 1974, they finished second in their division, 84 wins and 76 losses.
- Oakland A's in 1979: 54 wins, 108 losses. Martin took over in 1980 and they finished second in their division and in '81 finished first in the first half of the season, second in the second half.
- New York Yankees, which won the pennant in 1976 and '77 and the World Series in '77 under Martin.
Billy Martin turned lousy teams such as Minnesota, Detroit, Texas, and Oakland into contenders instantly. Show me how many other managers did that.
Danny Murtaugh in place of Bucky Harris .
Murtaugh managed 2 Pirates World Series championdhip teams in 1960 and in 1971 .
Whitey Herzog should been at least an honorable mention.
Not even an honorable mention for Dick Williams? Or Tom Kelly?
I wonder if the fact that Tom Kelly finished his managerial career with a sub .500 record (a .478 winning percentage and going 1140-1244 overall) kind of hurts his legacy. He did lead the Twins to two World Series titles (in 1987 and 1991) but from 1993-2000, the Twins finished the season with losing records and didn't finish higher than fourth place. In fairness, in his final year as the manager, 2001, he won 85 wins, so it wasn't entirely all a waste.
Larussa over Sparky Anderson?
Come on man!!!!!!
So many Cardinals managers! WOW! (Yes, I am a Cardinals fan. 😁)
But no Herzog. Go figure.
I don’t recall the Giants being underdogs against the Rangers, the Tigers, or the Royals, but maybe I’m misremembering?🤷🏼♂️
They probably were considering they had a bunch of scrubs.
Def weren’t under dogs vs the royals. Both teams were very close to even money. Royals might have been -110 but I know I had the giants even money to win the series.
Thought going in they were gonna beat the Rangers and Royals. Gotta admit, I thought they were gonna lose to the Tigers.
Dude - Dick Williams might be the greatest manager of all-time. And Billy Martin made winners out of losers everywhere he went. And Al Lopez had 15 straight winning seasons with the Indians and White Sox.
Weaver had a better winning % than everyone except your #1. Makes no sense he's an honorable mention.
Great list.
Nope, you left Earl Weaver off the list:
As an Orioles fan with my own frustration with Earl's teams inability to win when needed in an the post-season, but it is about MORE than just titles...
Earl was the father of analytics, he kept flash cards in a box, with stats of EVERY AL player the team faded, including some advanced metrics. That alone should have placed Earl in the top ten, and as much as I loved Tommy Lasorda, he managed a cash-rich, large market team. Weaver made due with "The Oriole Way," a philosophical theorum based upon solid fundamentals, and starting pitching that began with "The Kiddy Corp," partially formulated by Lee McPhail, and included some young guy (then) named Jim Palmer.
Again, Tommy was legendary but when you have the BEST team in baseball from 1965- 1985, one [until 1985] that was predicated upon player development and NOT free agency, that alone speaks to the talent Weaver possessed at getting the best from all 25 (as it once was). If you doubt this, see games 3 & 4 in Pittsnurgh, 1979 WS.
Nobody could do what Earl did, period, despite the frustration of 1969, 1971, 1979, and 1982. They were ALWAYS competitive, near the top, and winning.
One last thing:Putting Torre in the top? Those Yankee teams were good, stacked, but while I agree top 25, I cannot see him out of the top 20. It takes talent to manage personalities, yes, but come on, I could have got 95 wins a year with those high-salaried ringers.