Former Big League managers find homes

by Bob Wirz
Published on August 7, 2003 under Frontier League (FL)

Where do major league managers go when they no longer have one of those 30 high-profile positions?

It may come as a surprise to know that five are now managing Independent League teams. The quintet totaled 13 years of the higher-than-one-can-imagine pressure positions.

Tommy Lasorda, Jim Frey and Whitey Herzog were the choices of the Baseball Writers Association of America as National League Manager of the Year in 1983-85, respectively. In 1986 the honor went to Hal Lanier, who led Houston to a 96-66 record and first place in the Western Division.

Lanier, who also managed the Astros the next two seasons, has been the skipper of the Northern League's Winnipeg Goldeyes since 1996, leading them to the playoffs in every one of his first seven seasons. The Goldeyes haven't qualified yet in '03, but it appears they are well on their way with a 16-5 second half record and a four-game lead in the Eastern Division.

The former major league managers now leading Independent teams and their major league records:

Hats Off to Kansas City, Playing to 104 Per Cent of Capacity

Winnipeg (7,008) and Long Island (6,069) are pulling the largest average crowds on the Independent Baseball landscape, but the biggest attendance story of 2003 may well be in Kansas City. No, not those gritty Kansas City Royals.

We mean the ones playing west of the river, the Kansas City T-Bones, who are housed in Kansas City, KS. The newest entry in the Northern League is playing to more than 104 per cent of seating capacity in the newly-opened CommunityAmerica Ballpark. Capacity is listed at 4,548—berm seating permits up to 7,100--and Manager Dirty Al Gallagher's nine is averaging 4,752.

The last time we reported, 14 Independent clubs were averaging at least 3,000 fans. That number is up to 18 with two others less than 100 fans per game below the mark. The 11-year-old Northern League has seven of the 18, with Gary, IN (2,938 average) trying to move in. The Atlantic League has five teams topping 3,000, the Frontier League three, Northeast League two and the Central League one although Edinburg, TX is only 16 fans per game away.

The per-game attendance leader in each league:

"It Is the Best Place to Feel Like a Kid Again"

For the second year in a row, Evansville (IN) Living magazine has honored the hometown Otters of the Frontier League in its Best of Evansville contest. Everyone in Independent Baseball—make that everyone in professional baseball--should strive to achieve what the magazine said in an earlier issue about a visit to venerable Bosse Field: "It is the best place to feel like a kid again."

(This excerpt is from the weekly column on Independent Baseball by Bob Wirz, who has 16 years of major league baseball public relations experience and runs his owns sports PR/marketing company, Wirz & Associates, in Orange, CT. The column is not for reproduction without authorization. Details are available at www.WirzandAssociates.com under Projects or at 203 877-5800.)

Frontier League Stories from August 7, 2003

• Former Big League managers find homes - OSC Original by Bob Wirz
• Rockford Wins One - Rockford RiverHawks
• Wild Things beat Rascals 5-3 - Washington Wild Things
• Rain Puts Game on Hold - Kalamazoo Kings

The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer(s), and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.