The Managers of the Colorado Rockies - MLB Feature
Walt Weiss has just been named as the manager of the Colorado Rockies. He will be replacing Jim Tracy who resigned in October after a below par season in 2012. Rockies, who were founded in 1991 and took playing field in 1993, will be welcoming their sixth
manager in the franchise’s history.
We will have a brief look at the managers who have been associated from the Rockies from 1993 to up until now.
Don Baylor was the first manager for the Rockies. Born in Austin, Texas, Baylor started his Major League career Baltimore Orioles in 1970 who drafted him as an amateur in 1967. He played in the big leagues for 19 seasons, with seven different
teams. The Oakland Athletics were his last team before he retired in 1988.
He had stints as a hitting coach with Milwaukee Brewers and the St. Louis Cardinals before taking up the manager’s job in Colorado. He continued between 1993 and 1998. He was released by the club after a below par 1998 season. Baylor had a 363-384 record
in the first five years was a best by an expansion team. Later on he also managed the Chicago Cubs. Baylor has since served as a hitting coach with several franchises including the Colorado Rockies.
Jim Leyland had a brief stint as the Manager of the Rockies, as he only kept the post for one year. Born in Perrysburg, Ohio in 1944, Jim did not make it to the big leagues as a player but he has managed four franchises and has won a World
Series as a manager with the Florida Marlins.
He is currently the manager of Detroit Tigers. His first managerial assignment in the Major League was with the Pittsburgh Pirates which lasted from 1986 to 1996. He has a career 1676-1659 winning record as a manager.
Buddy Bell was the next manager for the Rockies, who performed his duties from 2000 to 2002. Born in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania in 1951, Buddy played in the Major League for 18 successful seasons. In his career which started in 1972, he represented
five different ball clubs until his retirement in 1988.
His first team as a manager in MLB was with Detroit Tigers. He was fired by the club in 1998 after three years of service. The Rockies fired him early in 2002 after he had only managed 22 games in that season. His last stint as a manager was with the Kansas
City Royals which was also not very successful.
Clint Hurdle remained the manager from 2002 to 2009. Born in 1955 in Big Rapids, Michigan, Hurdle was unable to realise his true potential in the Major League. His eleven year long career ended in 1987. Clint managed several Minor League
teams from 1998 to 1993. He joined the Rockies in 1994, was named the hitting coach in 1997 and became the manager in 2002.
Under Hurdle, the team reached its first World Series in 2007 where they eventually lost to the Boston Red Sox. He is currently the Manager of the Pittsburgh Pirates, a position he took in 2011.
Born in Hamilton, Ohio, Jim Tracy has a brief Major League career with Chicago Cubs. He also played Japanese League for a couple of years. Tracy had several stints with Minor League teams as a manager. He then coached for a number of Major
League teams including Montreal Expos and Los Angeles Dodgers.
He had a successful run as the Los Angeles Dodgers’ manager with four winning season between 2001 and 2005. He left the organisation due to “philosophical differences”. He joined the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2005 and after disappointing results was fired in
2007.
After Hurdle was fired, Tracy took the job, taking the team into post-season in 2009. The team failed to qualify for the post-season in 2010 after having good chances. The 2011 poor show led to changes in the team though Tracy and his staff remained. After
another poor show in 2012, Jim resigned in October.
Walt Weiss will now be the sixth Rockies manager. He has much to do for a team that has now been struggling for a couple of seasons. Let’s hope he can bring some positives for the team and transform it into a consistently successful unit.
The views expressed in this article are the writer's own and in no way represent Bettor.com's official editorial policy.
Tags: