"What Makes them The Best?"
Over the years, there has been a number of guys who managed a baseball team. There's a story behind most everyone of them. However, without any specific criteria to use in determining the best managers of all time, the task becomes purely subjective.
With that said, I'd like to suggest two men I feel are solid candidates for consideration under any one's scrutiny. These two men have a somewhat similar managerial style, and both were associated with the same team but at different times. In fact, one is still an active Manager today. Let's take a look at a couple of true success stories!
It has been said that "those who can, do...those who can't teach!" This was apparently a contributing factor in the case of many very successful baseball Managers. Our first subject seemed no exception to this old proverb.
Nicknamed "Smokey" somewhere along the way, Walter Emmons Alston was born in Venice, Ohio on December 1, 1911. While he eventually distinguished himself as a highly regarded Manager, the same could not be said for his short MLB playing career. In 1936, while a member of the Cardinals, he appeared in only one game at first base, committing an error and striking out in his only at bat.
Shortly thereafter, He returned to the minor leagues for several years as a player and then a Manager before getting the job as Skipper of the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1954. In one short year, Alston took the Dodgers to the 1955 pennant and a World Series victory. They repeated as NL champs in 1956.
Moving with the team from Brooklyn to Los Angeles, the quiet but obviously gifted leader of the Dodgers piloted his team to pennants in 1959, 1963, 1965, 1966, and 1974. He punctuated the seasons in 1959, 1963, and 1965 with World Series victories. In fact, Walter Alston was the first Dodger Manager to win a World Series! He was named NL Manager of the Year six times in his career.
His great success, however, didn't seem to feed his ego. Almost avoiding celebrity, a reporter once asked him about his playing career. With as few words as possible, he responded "Well, I came up to bat for the Cards back in 1936 and Lon Warneke struck me out. That's it." In 23 years as the Dodger Manager, he never signed a contract for more than one year at a time.
In all, Walter Alston won 2063 games, Managed the NL All-Stars to seven victories during his remarkable career, (a MLB record), and was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1983. He passed away on October 1, 1984 in his home state of Ohio at age 72.
In the style of Walter Alston, our next candidate, has a similar, steady approach to running his team. However, unlike Alston, he was an exceptionally gifted player in his day. Cut from Dodger stock as well, he was a highly recruited catcher for Tommy Lasorda who ironically was handed the Manager's duties from the outgoing Alston.
Picked in the first round of the 1976 amateur draft, Mike Scioscia first appeared for the Dodgers in 1980, replacing Steve Yeager. He would remain Lasorda's regular catcher for most of the next 12 years. He still holds the current record for games caught with 1395, although he missed most of the 1983 season with a rotator cuff injury. While he certainly had his days with the bat, particularly noted for making consistent contact, the 6'2" 235 pound "backstop" made even greater contributions with his defensive prowess.
After leaving the Dodgers in 1992, he signed with the Padres and then the Rangers, but never appeared in a regular season game with either team. Scioscia left his playing days behind following the 1994 season. By the year 2000, he was offered the job as Manager of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim and was an quick success. By 2002, his Angels finished 2ND in the AL West, won 11 of 16 playoff games, and beat the San Francisco Giants to win the World Series.
Under his tutelage, Los Angeles won their division in 2004, 2005, and 2007. At the writing of this article, the LAA Angeles have the best record in baseball at 74-43, good enough for a 14 game lead over the Texas Rangers in the AL West.
Even sitting at 31 games over .500 and having acquired extra offensive help in a trade for the talented 1st baseman Mark Teixeira, Manager Mike Scioscia prefers to focus on just one game, or one series at a time. This prudent approach to running his team most likely lingers from his playing days, and obviously works quite well! Continuing on as a Manager, he has a very good chance of becoming one of the top ten most victorious Skippers of all time!