RIP Gene Mauch

[Fenway]

A great manager but will be forever linked to THREE signature collapes

64 Phillies
82 Angels
86 Angels
http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-penner9aug09,0,7471034.story?coll=la-home-sports

http://www.latimes.com/media/thumbnails/photo/2005-08/18874122.jpghttp://www.philly.com/images/philly/philly/12340/152277524040.jpg (http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/sports/baseball/12337260.htm)

With just two quality starting pitchers (Jim Bunning and Chris Short), two outstanding regulars (Richie Allen and Johnny Callison), and a roster filled with role players, those fundamentally adept '64 Phillies built a 61/2-game lead with 12 games to play.

But with World Series tickets being printed and sold, and the victory-starved city in the throes of a baseball frenzy, Mr. Mauch's team collapsed with a mind-boggling 10-game losing streak. It began when Chico Ruiz stole home in a 1-0 Cincinnati Reds victory on a sultry September night at Connie Mack Stadium.

Incredibly, two other teams managed by Mr. Mauch, the 1982 and 1986 California Angels, suffered similarly stunning disappointments on the doorsteps of what would have been their manager's first World Series appearance.

The 1982 Angels led the best-of-five American League Championship Series, two games to none, before losing three straight to the Milwaukee Brewers.

Then, just a pitch away from a pennant, the '86 Angels were beaten after Boston's Dave Henderson tied Game 5 of the best-of-seven ALCS with a two-out homer in the ninth off Donnie Moore. The Red Sox won that game, the next two, and the pennant.

http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/sports/baseball/12337260.htm

[PaulDrake]

He never cried or made excuses, but he had to be one of the unluckiest guys in the history of American professional sports. I remember the 64 WS that never was. White Sox vs Phillies.

[Railsplitter]

Also skipper of of awful 1962 Philly team (47-107). Once asked by a reporter what her thought of his team's execution. Answer: :I think it would be a good idea."

[Steakpita]

Was shocked to see that he never managed the Cubs.

[Brian26]

I remember the '82 and '86 ALCS like they were yesterday. Both were outstanding series. That '82 Brewers team was loaded, so I think it's only fitting that they went on to play the Cards. In '86, I thought the Angels were much better than the Carmines.

[Muopsies]

Also skipper of of awful 1962 Philly team (47-107). Once asked by a reporter what her thought of his team's execution. Answer: :I think it would be a good idea."

I've always heard Jim McKay, coach of Southern Cal and later, the Tampa Bay Bucs credited with that quote, after one of the 26 straight losses the Bucs had in their first 2 seasons.

[veeter]

What's Mauch supposed to do, throw the ball for Donnie Moore? For him to take any blame for the '86 thing is wrong. I agree that he just had some bad luck. RIP Gene Mauch.

[ode to veeck]

Too bad the '69 Cubs had to wipe out that memory of the '64 Phillies collapse

[Chips]

I was just watching a program about on ESPN Classic about a week or so before he died. Seemed like a smart baseball guy and a decent manager but always came up short. At least he didn't blame it on a goat or a cat or a fan etc.

[slavko]

I'm not saying he invented it, but I remember him as popularizing the use of the double switch.

[TornLabrum]

I'm not saying he invented it, but I remember him as popularizing the use of the double switch.

Um...no.

[Fenway]

Bob Ryan writes

http://www.boston.com/sports/baseball/articles/2005/08/10/this_skipper_immersed_himself_in_the_game?mode=PF
He was Captain Ahab, and he never did catch up with that damnable Great White Whale.

Major league games managed: 3,942. World championships: none. Pennants: none.

No one ever managed as many games without winning one pennant. No one deserved that fate less. Gene Mauch cared about baseball. Oh, how he cared about baseball. He lived it, breathed it, thought about it in a way the great preponderance of his contemporaries found impossible to comprehend. Most of all, he felt it.

''If you win 100 games in a year," he once told me, ''that's a pretty good year, right? You might win a championship. But if you win 100 games, that means you die 62 times."

He wasn't kidding.