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List of Major League Baseball player-managers

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Summary

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[[Pete Rose]] is the most recent player-manager in Major League Baseball, having last done so from 1984 to 1986

Major League Baseball (MLB) is the highest level of play in North American professional baseball. Founded in 1869, it is composed of 30 teams. Each team in the league has a manager, who is responsible for team strategy and leadership on and off the field. Assisted by various coaches, the manager sets the line-up and starting pitcher before each game, and makes substitutions throughout the game. In early baseball history, it was not uncommon for players to serve as player-managers; that is, they managed the team while still being signed to play for the club. In the history of MLB, there have been 221 player-managers, 59 of whom are in the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

The dual role of player-manager was formerly a common practice, dating back to John Clapp, who performed the task for the Middletown Mansfields in 1872. One reason for this is that by hiring a player as a manager, the team could save money by paying only one salary. Also, popular players were named player-managers in an effort to boost game attendance. Babe Ruth left the New York Yankees when they refused to allow him to become player-manager. Five of the eight National League (NL) managers in 1934 were also players. Connie Mack, John McGraw, and Joe Torre, among the all-time leaders in managerial wins, made their managerial debuts as player-managers. At least one man served as a player-manager in every major league season from Clapp's debut through 1955.

Today, player-managers have become rare in baseball. Pete Rose is the most recent player-manager, serving from 1984 through 1986 with the Cincinnati Reds. Whereas some player-managers, such as Lou Boudreau, were full-time players as player-managers, by the time Rose became player-manager, he was a part-time player. Rose was trying to prolong his career to break the all-time hit record set by Ty Cobb, and Reds owner Marge Schott used this as a marketing ploy. Rose removed himself from the 40-man roster after the 1986 season to make room for Pat Pacillo, unofficially retiring as a player, but remained as the Reds manager until he was banned from baseball following the release of the Dowd Report in 1989.

One criticism of the practice holds that the manager has enough to be preoccupied with during a game without playing. With specialized bullpens, extensive scouting reports, and increased media scrutiny, the job of a manager has become more complex. A player-manager needs to decide how much playing time to give himself. Don Kessinger, player-manager of the Chicago White Sox in 1979, believes he did not play himself enough.

However, teams continue to consider hiring player-managers. The Toronto Blue Jays considered hiring Paul Molitor as a player-manager in 1997. When approached with the idea in 2000, Barry Larkin reported that he found it "interesting", though general manager (GM) Jim Bowden rejected the idea. In the 2011–12 offseason, the White Sox considered hiring incumbent first baseman Paul Konerko to serve as manager. White Sox GM Kenny Williams said that he believes MLB will again have a player-manager.

List

Portrait of a man in a jacket with a dark collar wearing a white shirt and tie. — [[Cap Anson]] was a player-manager for 23 seasons.

A man in a grey baseball uniform and blue hat leans out of a dugout. — date=April 2012}}</ref>

A man with dark hair in a dark baseball cap and a white baseball jersey with "CLEVELAND" on the chest. — access-date=April 20, 2012}}</ref>

A black and white head shot of a man in a baseball cap. — [[Fred Lake]] retired as a player in 1898, but inserted himself into three games in 1910.

A dark-haired man wearing a black sweater and crownless baseball cap looks into the camera. His hair hangs down over his right side of his forehead, and he has a slight smirk on his face. — [[Christy Mathewson]] played one season with the [[Cincinnati Reds]] as a player-manager, then remained as their manager.

A gray haired man in a dark three-piece suit. — New York Giants]] until 1932.

A head shot of an African-American man with a white baseball cap with a red "C" in the center. — access-date=March 9, 2012}}</ref>

A baseball player in a grey uniform and a red hat. — [[Pete Rose]] became the all-time MLB hit leader while serving as the [[Cincinnati Reds]]' player-manager.<ref name=stein5/>

A black and white photograph of a man swinging a baseball bat. — date=April 2012}}</ref>

A baseball card of a man holding a baseball bat. The name "Tappe" is listed in the bottom left corner. — access-date=April 20, 2012}}</ref>

A man in a white and blue button-down shirt smiles. — [[Joe Torre]] began his managing career as a player-manager for the [[New York Mets]].

A baseball card showing a man in a white baseball uniform throwing a ball. — All-Star]] while a player-manager in 1934.

A man in a dark baseball cap and white shirt with a dark collar holds a baseball bat in both hands. — [[Honus Wagner]] served as player-manager of the [[Pittsburgh Pirates]] in his final season as a player.

A baseball card showing a man holding a baseball bat over his left shoulder. — perfect game]] on June 12, 1880, then became a player-manager for the last 32 games of the 1880 season.<ref>Stein, p. 35</ref>

Year(s)	Position
Season(s) as a player-manager
Primary position while a player-manager

Player-manager	Team(s)	Year(s)
Philadelphia White Stockings
Cincinnati Reds	1875
1877	Outfielder
Philadelphia Phillies
Cincinnati Reds	1890
1900	Shortstop
Philadelphia Athletics
Chicago Cubs	1875
1876–1897	First baseman
St. Louis Browns	1913, 1918, 1923	Third baseman
Boston Braves	1924–1927	Shortstop
Kansas City Cowboys	1888	Second baseman
Baltimore Orioles	1883, 1886	Catcher
Boston Red Sox	1917	Second baseman
Chicago Browns/Pittsburgh Stogies
Pittsburgh Alleghenies	1883–1884
1884	Third baseman
Kansas City Athletics	1961	Outfielder
Cleveland Naps	1912–1914	Outfielder
Chicago White Sox	1929	Pitcher
Buffalo Blues	1915	Catcher
Worcester Ruby Legs	1882	Outfielder
St. Louis Browns	1937	First baseman
Cleveland Indians
Boston Red Sox	1942–1950
1952	Shortstop
Boston Doves	1909	Catcher
Cleveland Naps
Brooklyn Tip-Tops	1905
1914	Third baseman
St. Louis Cardinals
Chicago Cubs	1909–1912
1915	Catcher
St. Louis Terriers	1914	Pitcher
Washington Senators	1897–1898	Outfielder
Philadelphia Athletics	1890	Pitcher
Boston Beaneaters	1883	Second baseman
St. Louis Cardinals	1905	Third baseman
Pittsburgh Pirates	1892	Third baseman
Washington Senators	1923	Shortstop
Chicago White Sox	1903–1904, 1912–1913	Pitcher
St. Louis Browns	1890	Outfielder
Boston Red Sox	1913–1916	Catcher
St. Louis Browns	1892	Outfielder
Chicago Cubs	1951–1953	First baseman
Chicago Cubs
New York Yankees	1905–1912
1913–1914	First baseman
Philadelphia Phillies	1945–1946	Outfielder
Louisville Grays	1876	Outfielder
New York Highlanders	1910–1911	First baseman
Middletown Mansfields
Indianapolis Blues
Buffalo Bisons
Cincinnati Reds
Cleveland Blues
New York Gothams	1872
1878
1879
1880
1881
1883	Catcher
Louisville Colonels
Pittsburgh Pirates	1897–1899
1900–1911, 1913–1915	Outfielder
Philadelphia Phillies	1890	Catcher
Detroit Tigers	1921–1926	Outfielder
Detroit Tigers	1934–1937	Catcher
Chicago White Sox	1924–1926	Second baseman
Boston Americans	1901–1906	Third baseman
St. Louis Browns
Chicago Pirates
Cincinnati Reds	1883–1889, 1891
1890
1892–1894	First baseman
St. Louis Browns	1896	First baseman
Buffalo Bisons
Cincinnati Outlaw Reds	1880
1884	Second baseman
Philadelphia Phillies	1919–1920	Outfielder
Pittsburgh Alleghenys	1884	Second baseman
Washington Senators
Boston Red Sox	1933–1934
1935–1947	Shortstop
St. Louis Browns	1892	Second baseman
Cleveland Spiders	1899	Third baseman
St. Louis Browns	1882	Outfielder
Brooklyn Superbas	1910–1911	Shortstop
New York Giants	1895, 1900–1901	Shortstop
Cleveland Naps	1912	First baseman
New York Yankees	1946	Catcher
New York Yankees	1915–1916	Pitcher
Pittsburgh Pirates
St. Louis Cardinals
Washington Senators
Brooklyn Superbas	1897, 1899
1901–1903
1904
1906–1907	Outfielder
Philadelphia Phillies	1910–1914	Catcher
Syracuse Stars
Providence Grays
Worcester Ruby Legs	1879
1880
1881	Outfielder
St. Louis Browns	1896–1897	Outfielder
New York Giants
Washington Senators	1895
1898	First baseman
Milwaukee Brewers
Philadelphia Phillies	1901
1904–1906	Outfielder
Cleveland Blues
St. Louis Maroons
Pittsburgh Alleghenys	1882
1884–1885
1889	Second baseman
Brooklyn Dodgers	1939–1941, 1943, 1945	Shortstop
Chicago White Sox	1934–1939	Third baseman
New York Highlanders	1908	Shortstop
Chicago Browns/Pittsburgh Stogies	1884	Shortstop
Louisville Colonels	1889	Third baseman
Chicago Cubs	1913	Second baseman
New York Giants
Cincinnati Reds	1890
1895–1897	Catcher
Providence Grays	1881	Second baseman
Hartford Dark Blues
Chicago White Stockings
Troy Trojans
Philadelphia Quakers
Pittsburgh Alleghenys
New York Metropolitans	1876–1877
1878
1879–1882
1883
1884
1886–1887	Second baseman
Chicago White Stockings	1879	Catcher
Philadelphia Athletics	1890	Outfielder
Chicago White Sox	1932–1933	First baseman
Brooklyn Grooms	1893–1896	Outfielder
St. Louis Cardinals	1933–1937	Second baseman
Pittsburgh Alleghenys	1885	Pitcher
Cincinnati Reds	1908	First baseman
Louisville Eclipse
St. Louis Browns	1883
1890	Second baseman
Indianapolis Hoosiers
St. Louis Browns	1889
1892	Shortstop
St. Louis Cardinals	1892	Outfielder
Cincinnati Reds	1876	First baseman
Brooklyn Bridegrooms	1898	Outfielder
Washington Statesmen	1891	Outfielder
Chicago White Stockings
New York Highlanders
Cincinnati Reds
Washington Senators	1901–1902
1903–1907
1909
1912–1914	Pitcher
Chicago Cubs	1932–1936	First baseman
Cincinnati Reds	1918	Third baseman
St. Louis Browns	1897	Second baseman
Pittsburgh Alleghenys
Pittsburgh Burghers
Pittsburgh Pirates
Baltimore Orioles	1889
1890
1891
1892	Outfielder
Washington Senators
Detroit Tigers	1924–1928
1929, 1931	Second baseman
Chicago Cubs	1938–1940	Catcher
Pittsburgh Alleghenys	1890	First baseman
St. Louis Cardinals	1959	Second baseman
Pittsburgh Pirates	1947	Second baseman
Cincinnati Reds	1914–1916	Shortstop
Syracuse Stars	1879	Catcher
Boston Braves	1951	Outfielder
St. Louis Cardinals
New York Giants
Boston Braves
Chicago Cubs
St. Louis Browns	1925–1926
1927
1928
1930–1932
1933–1937	Second baseman
St. Louis Cardinals	1913–1916	Second baseman
Detroit Tigers	1952–1953	Pitcher
Washington Nationals
Boston Reds
Philadelphia Phillies	1889
1891
1894	Shortstop
Detroit Tigers	1907, 1909, 1912, 1918	First baseman
Chicago White Sox
St. Louis Terriers	1904–1908
1914–1915	Outfielder
Philadelphia Athletics	1954	Shortstop
New York Giants	1896–1898	Third baseman
Cincinnati Reds
Boston Doves	1902–1905
1908	Outfielder
Boston Beaneaters
Boston Reds
Cincinnati Kelly's Killers	1887
1890
1891	Outfielder
Louisville Colonels
St. Louis Browns	1888
1890	First baseman
Chicago White Sox	1979	Shortstop
Chicago Cubs	1921	Catcher
Washington Senators	1904	Catcher
Boston Braves	1912	Catcher
Baltimore Terrapins	1914–1915	Second baseman
Philadelphia Athletics	1883–1884	Outfielder
Cleveland Naps	1905–1909	Second baseman
Boston Doves	1910	Catcher
Cleveland Infants	1890	First baseman
St. Louis Browns	1896	Third baseman
New Haven Elm Citys
Philadelphia Athletics	1875
1882	First baseman
Buffalo Blues	1915	Third baseman
Detroit Tigers	1904	Second baseman
Brooklyn Superbas	1909	Outfielder
Chicago White Sox	1946	Pitcher
Pittsburgh Pirates	1894–1896	Catcher
Louisville Eclipse	1882	Shortstop
Syracuse Stars	1879	Shortstop
Brooklyn Tip-Tops	1915	Second Baseman
Philadelphia White Stockings
Chicago White Stockings
Philadelphia Keystones	1873
1874
1884	Outfielder
Cincinnati Reds	1877	Shortstop
Chicago Cubs	1925	Shortstop
St. Louis Browns	1952–1953	Shortstop
Cincinnati Reds	1916	Pitcher
Cleveland Blues
St. Louis Browns	1901
1901–1902	Outfielder
St. Louis Browns	1890	Outfielder
Cleveland Blues	1879–1880, 1882	Pitcher
Philadelphia White Stockings
Providence Grays
Cleveland Blues	1875
1880
1881	Second baseman
Baltimore Orioles (NL)
Baltimore Orioles (AL)
New York Giants	1899
1901–1902
1902–1906	Third baseman
Washington Senators
Boston Americans/Red Sox
Cleveland Naps	1898
1907–1908
1910	Catcher
Philadelphia Phillies	1927	First baseman
Newark Peppers	1915	Third baseman
St. Louis Maroons	1885	First baseman
Boston Red Sox	1932–1933	Third baseman
Cincinnati Reds	1878–1879	Third baseman
Washington Senators	1922	Outfielder
Boston Red Caps/Beaneaters
Washington Nationals	1882, 1883–1886, 1887–1888
1889	First baseman
Toledo Blue Stockings
Detroit Wolverines	1884
1885	Outfielder
Boston Reds	1884	First baseman
Baltimore Orioles	1882	Shortstop
Philadelphia Phillies	1896	Third baseman
St. Louis Cardinals	1904–1905	Pitcher
St. Louis Cardinals
Cincinnati Reds	1927
1934	Catcher
Cincinnati Outlaw Reds	1884	Outfielder
Buffalo Bisons
Washington Senators	1881–1884
1893	Outfielder
Pittsburgh Rebels	1914–1915	Outfielder
New York Metropolitans	1887	First baseman
New York Giants	1942–1947	Outfielder
New York Yankees	1914	Shortstop
Louisville Colonels	1892	Second baseman
Hartford Dark Blues
Cincinnati Reds	1874
1877	Outfielder
Kansas City Cowboys	1884	Outfielder
Philadelphia Quakers	1883	Outfielder
Cleveland Spiders
St. Louis Browns	1895
1899	Second baseman
Washington Senators	1892	Shortstop
St. Louis Browns	1914	Catcher
Cleveland Indians	1975–1976	Outfielder
Baltimore Orioles	1902	Catcher
Louisville Colonels	1897	First baseman
Cincinnati Reds	1984–1986	First baseman
St. Louis Browns	1890	Outfielder
Kansas City Cowboys (NL)
Kansas City Cowboys (AA)	1885
1888	Outfielder
Buffalo Bisons	1890	Shortstop
Chicago White Sox	1927–1928	Catcher
Buffalo Buffeds	1914	Second baseman
St. Louis Browns	1942	Catcher
Louisville Colonels
Washington Statesmen	1889
1891	Second baseman
St. Louis Browns	1924–1926	First baseman
Boston Doves	1909	Catcher
New York Giants	1902	Second baseman
Cincinnati Reds
Washington Statesmen	1882–1884
1891	Catcher
St. Louis Cardinals	1929	Outfielder
Chicago White Stockings	1876–1877	Pitcher
Cleveland Indians	1919–1926	Outfielder
Boston Americans	1906	Outfielder
Washington Senators
Boston Red Sox	1905–1906
1912–1913	First baseman
Philadelphia Phillies	1897–1898	Catcher
St. Louis Cardinals	1952–1953	Second baseman
Cleveland Naps
St. Louis Browns
Kansas City Packers	1911
1912–1913
1914–1915	First baseman
Worcester Ruby Legs
Philadelphia Athletics	1881
1885	Outfielder
St. Louis Cardinals	1931	Catcher
St. Louis Browns	1892	Second baseman
Chicago White Sox	1909	Catcher
Kansas City Cowboys	1884	Outfielder
Chicago Cubs	1962	Catcher
Cleveland Infants
Cleveland Spiders
St. Louis Perfectos/Cardinals	1890
1891–1898
1900	First baseman
Boston Doves/Rustlers
Boston Rustlers	1905–1907
1911	First baseman
New York Giants	1932–1936	First baseman
Chicago Cubs
Cincinnati Reds	1913
1916	Shortstop
New York Mets	1977	First baseman
Pittsburgh Pirates	1934–1937	Third baseman
Boston Red Sox	1907	First baseman
Baltimore Orioles	1892	Pitcher
Pittsburgh Pirates	1917	Shortstop
St. Louis Cardinals	1955	Outfielder
St. Louis Browns	1911–1912	Shortstop
Cincinnati Reds	1948	Pitcher
Providence Grays
New York Gothams/Giants
Brooklyn Ward's Wonders
Brooklyn Grooms	1880
1884, 1893–1894
1890
1891–1892	Pitcher
Indianapolis Hoosiers	1884	Third baseman
Kansas City Cowboys	1884	Outfielder
Cincinnati Reds	1879	Catcher
Cincinnati Red Stockings	1884	Pitcher
Philadelphia Phillies	1921	Pitcher
Philadelphia Phillies	1934–1938	Catcher
Cincinnati Reds	1916	Catcher
Louisville Colonels	1889	Outfielder
New York Highlanders	1912	Third baseman
Philadelphia Athletics	1891	Outfielder
Providence Grays	1879	Shortstop
Boston Red Stockings / Red Caps	1876–1877	Outfielder
Providence Grays	1878
1881	Outfielder
Boston Red Sox	1907	Pitcher
Philadelphia Phillies	1903	Catcher

References

;Bibliography

;In-line citations

References

"Complete Baseball Team and Baseball Team Encyclopedias". Baseball-Reference.com.
(2006). "Manager: Definition ". The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language.
Stein, p. 4
(November 25, 1933). "Bush May Take Bancroft's Post as Pilot". [[The Evening Independent]].
Stein, pp. 4–5
Powers, Jimmy. (October 9, 1934). "Ruth to Quit Unless Given Manager Job". [[Pittsburgh Post-Gazette]].
Stein, p. 10
(August 16, 1984). "Rose to be Reds' Player–Manager". [[The Milwaukee Sentinel]].
Stein, p. 5
(October 2, 1974). "Robinson will be Player–Manager with Tribe". [[Sarasota Herald-Tribune]].
Gonzalez, Alden. (November 10, 2011). "Will there ever be another player-manager? In era of specialization, once-popular dual role would be tall task". [[Major League Baseball Advanced Media]].
(August 3, 1979). "Kessinger Resigns as Player–Manager of White Sox". [[The Palm Beach Post]].
Additionally, [[Bill Terry]] felt he became isolated from his team when he became a player-manager.Stein, p. 6
(October 30, 1997). "Jays might get Molitor as player and manager". [[The Kansas City Star]].
Furman, Andy. (September 1, 2000). "Larkin Intrigued by Player–Manager Idea". [[The Cincinnati Post]].
Gonzales, Mark. (October 11, 2011). "Williams briefly considered Konerko as player-manager". [[Chicago Tribune]].
(August 11, 2001). "Lou Boudreau (1917-2001) 'Remarkable life' ends at 84 MVP season in '48 helped Indians to title". [[Chicago Sun-Times]].
"Nap Lajoie". [[Society for American Baseball Research]].
Acocella, Nick. "ESPN Classic – Robinson set records and broke barriers". Espn.go.com.
(October 20, 1995). "When Wahoo First Roared: 1920 Trip to World Series Left Many Lasting Memories". [[Akron Beacon Journal]].
"El Tappe Managerial Career". [[Baseball-Reference.com]].
Stein, p. 35

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