As manager
Francis Michael Skaff (September 30,1910 –April 12,1988) was an American Major League Baseball (MLB) infielder,coach,manager and scout. He played for the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1935 and for the Philadelphia Athletics in 1943,and served as acting manager of the Detroit Tigers for the latter half of the 1966 season after his two immediate predecessors in the post were stricken with terminal illnesses.
Born in La Crosse,Wisconsin,Skaff's family moved to Lowell,Massachusetts in 1920,where Frank attended Lowell High School. He was captain of the school's football,basketball,and baseball teams,and graduated in 1929. [1] He went on to attend Villanova University on a football scholarship,but an injury prevented his football-playing,and put him on a baseball scholarship instead. [1] Skaff played third base for the Villanova nine,and graduated in 1935 with a degree in economics. While at Villanova in 1933,Skaff played summer baseball for Harwich of the Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL),helping to lead the team to its first league title. A CCBL all-league selection as an outfielder,it was reported that Skaff "covers acres of territory,catches everything in sight," and was "the dread of all opposing pitchers". [2] [3] [4]
Upon graduation,Skaff was signed by the Brooklyn Dodgers,and spent most of 1935 with the minor league Peoria Tractors. He was called up by Brooklyn late in the 1935 season,and appeared in six games for the Dodgers that year. Skaff's major league debut came on September 11 in the Dodgers' 7–4 loss to the Cincinnati Reds at Crosley Field,when he entered the game in the ninth inning to pinch-hit against Paul Derringer,and grounded out. [5] Skaff went 2-for-3 with an RBI three days later as the Dodgers' third baseman in an 18–14 loss to the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field. [6] In his six games with the Dodgers,Skaff was an impressive 6-for-11 at the plate with three RBI,and made one error in seven chances at third base.
Skaff spent the 1936–1941 seasons in the minors,and retired after the 1941 season. Working in the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard and playing semi-pro baseball,he was signed in 1943 by the Philadelphia Athletics. [1] Skaff appeared in 32 games for the Athletics during their 1943 season,batting .281 in 71 plate appearances. His lone major league home run came on September 27 in the second game of a doubleheader against the St. Louis Browns,a grand slam off Al Hollingsworth that reportedly hit the roof at Shibe Park.
Skaff played for the Baltimore Orioles of the International League from 1944 to 1946,and was player-manager for the Montgomery Rebels through 1948,but never made another big-league appearance. Over his two major league seasons,Skaff hit .320 in 82 plate appearances.
Skaff managed in the Athletics' farm system through 1953,and was a coach for the 1954 Orioles during their first American League season as the reborn St. Louis Browns,before joining the Tiger organization as a minor league skipper and scout. In 1965,he was named to the Tigers' MLB coaching staff.
Skaff's turn as acting manager of the 1966 Tigers came as a result of the serious,ultimately fatal,illnesses of his two 1966 predecessors. On May 16,after 26 games,veteran manager Chuck Dressen suffered his second heart attack in as many seasons. As in 1965,third base coach Bob Swift took over the Tigers on an interim basis as Dressen recovered. After 57 games as the Tigers' manager,Swift was hospitalized during the July 11–13 All-Star break for what appeared to be a stomach ailment;however,his malady proved to be lung cancer and he was forced to immediately give up the reins.
Skaff,who had begun 1966 as Detroit's bench coach,then moved to third base under Swift,became the team's second acting manager of the season on July 14 and finished the campaign. The Tigers won only 40 of the 79 games Skaff managed,and finished third in the American League,nine games in arrears of the eventual world champion Orioles. Both Dressen and Swift would die during the year. Dressen,71,appeared to be making a recovery in early August when he was stricken by a kidney infection;he died August 10. Swift,51,succumbed to cancer on October 17,1966.
On October 3,the Tigers hired Mayo Smith as manager for 1967,and Skaff moved into a scouting role. [7] He never managed again in the majors (his 40–39 career record produced a winning percentage of .506),but returned to Detroit as a coach under Billy Martin in 1971. [8]
Skaff was inducted into the Villanova University Varsity Club Hall of Fame in 1976,and the Lowell High School Athletic Hall of Fame in 1987. He retired from full-time scouting in 1983,but continued part-time until his death in 1988,which came while on a scouting trip for the Tigers in Towson,Maryland at age 77. [9]
Paul Rapier Richards was an American professional baseball player,manager,scout and executive in Major League Baseball. During his playing career,he was a catcher and right-handed batter with the Brooklyn Dodgers (1932),New York Giants (1933–1935),Philadelphia Athletics (1935) and Detroit Tigers (1943–1946). After retiring,he became the manager of the Chicago White Sox and Baltimore Orioles (1955–1961). He also served as the general manager for the Orioles,the Houston Colt .45s / Astros and the Atlanta Braves.
Robert Daniel Kennedy was an American professional baseball right fielder/third baseman,manager and executive in Major League Baseball.
Robert Walden Schaefer is an American baseball executive. He is currently the special assistant to the general manager with the Washington Nationals of Major League Baseball (MLB),and is a former interim manager,bench coach and farm system official.
Charles Walter Dressen was an American third baseman,manager and coach in professional baseball during a career lasting almost fifty years. He is best known as the manager of the Brooklyn Dodgers from 1951 to 1953,where he won two National League pennants. Indeed,Dressen's "schooling" of a young baseball writer is one of the most colorful themes in Roger Kahn's classic 1972 memoir,The Boys of Summer. He threw and batted right-handed and was listed at 5 feet 5 inches (1.65 m) tall and 145 pounds (66 kg) during his days as an active player.
Burton Edwin Shotton was an American player,manager,coach and scout in Major League Baseball. As manager of the Brooklyn Dodgers,he won two National League pennants and served as Jackie Robinson's first permanent Major League manager.
The following are the baseball events of the year 1988 throughout the world.
John Michael "Red" Corriden was an American player,coach,manager,and scout in Major League Baseball. A shortstop and third baseman in his playing days,Corriden appeared in 223 big league games with the St. Louis Browns (1910),Detroit Tigers (1912) and Chicago Cubs (1913–15),batting .205 with 131 hits. He was born in Logansport,Indiana.
Carroll Walter"Whitey"Lockman was an American left-handed hitting first baseman and outfielder,coach,manager and front office executive in Major League Baseball.
Harry Arthur "Cookie" Lavagetto was an American professional baseball player,coach,and manager. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a third baseman from 1934 to 1947.
William Clyde Hitchcock was an American professional baseball infielder,coach,manager and scout. In Major League Baseball (MLB),he was primarily a third baseman,second baseman and shortstop who appeared in 703 games over nine years with five American League teams. After 18 years as a coach,manager,and scout he became an executive in Minor League Baseball,serving as president of the Double-A Southern League from 1971 to 1980. His older brother,Jimmy Hitchcock,played briefly for the 1938 Boston Bees.
The following are the baseball events of the year 1966 throughout the world.
The following are the baseball events of the year 1965 throughout the world.
The following are the baseball events of the year 1963 throughout the world.
The following are the baseball events of the year 1961 throughout the world.
Raymond Hall Hayworth was an American professional baseball player,manager and scout. He played as a catcher in Major League Baseball between 1926 and 1945,most notably as a member of the Detroit Tigers team that won two consecutive American League pennants in 1934 and 1935 and won the 1935 World Series. He was employed in professional baseball for nearly 50 years from 1926 to 1973.
Robert Virgil Swift was an American professional baseball player,coach,manager and scout. He played in Major League Baseball as a catcher,standing 5 feet 11 inches (1.80 m) tall and weighing 180 pounds (82 kg). He threw and batted right-handed.
Charlie Metro was an American professional baseball player,manager,coach and scout. Notably,he was an outfielder for the Detroit Tigers and Philadelphia Athletics as well as the manager of the Chicago Cubs and Kansas City Royals of Major League Baseball.
Peter Gerard Richert is an American former professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as a left-handed pitcher with the Los Angeles Dodgers,Washington Senators (1965–67),Baltimore Orioles (1967–71),St. Louis Cardinals (1974) and Philadelphia Phillies (1974).
The Harwich Mariners are a collegiate summer baseball team based in Harwich,Massachusetts. The team is a member of the Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL) and plays in the league's East Division. The Mariners play their home games at Whitehouse Field in the historic village of Harwich Center.
The 1966 Detroit Tigers season was the 66th consecutive season for the Detroit franchise in the American League. The Tigers,who had finished fourth in the ten-team AL in 1965 with an 89–73 record,won one less game in 1966,going 88–74,but moved up to third in the league,ten full games behind the eventual world champion Baltimore Orioles. The team attracted 1,124,293 fans to Tiger Stadium,fifth in the ten-team circuit.