Danny Murtaugh was my inspiration and my motivation. In fact, he saved my baseball career.
My first season playing professional baseball in America was 1965. I was 21 and had moved from Panama to join the Pirates’ minor league team in Batavia, New York. I spoke no English, so I needed a translator. I had some trouble with the manager in Batavia, and I decided to quit. I told him I was leaving first thing in the morning.
The next morning, a man showed up at my hotel room at 6 a.m. He said, “Manny, I’m Danny Murtaugh. We want to protect you in the 40-man roster.” At the time, Danny wasn’t managing due to health problems — he was serving as a special assistant for the general manager. Right away, I could tell Danny was different. I trusted him. So, I stayed and finished the season.
That was a long time ago, and Murtaugh is now on the Golden Days era ballot for the Baseball Hall of Fame. He was a great man and a great manager, and I hope the committee elects him.
Danny and I had many great years together, but 1971 was the best.
I’ll never forget Sept. 1, 1971, when Danny fielded the first all-minority starting lineup in Major League Baseball history. We scored five runs in the first inning. It was unbelievable. We loved it. We were making fun of everybody and saying, “We have it now.” Not surprisingly, the biggest mouth was Dock Ellis, who was never afraid of anything. He was screaming to the Phillies, our opponents, “You guys don’t have a chance.” And he was right — we won 10-7.
People started to wonder if Danny made that historic lineup on purpose, but he just wanted to win the game. He said, “Listen, I don’t care who plays. As long as you want to win the game, I’ll put you in the lineup. I prepare you guys to play every day.”
Of course, winning the 1971 World Series was the greatest thing. We had a terrific team, but the Orioles were heavily favored. They killed us the first two games in Baltimore. When we got back to Pittsburgh, Danny told me to come early to the ballpark. We met in his office, and he asked me what I thought about the scouting report that told us how to play against the Orioles. I said, “I don’t like it.” He said, “You what, Manny? I don’t either. We’re going to have a meeting and tell everybody, ‘Forget the scouting report. Play like Pittsburgh Pirates.’”
Before game three, he called a meeting in the clubhouse, and he held up the scouting report. He said, “This stuff is no good. We don’t need it. Let’s go play like the Pittsburgh Pirates.” He ripped up the scouting report and threw it in the garbage. Everyone started to cheer. And that’s when the games changed. We started playing like the regular season. We played with no pressure.
His approach won ball games. A lot of them. His teams won over 90 games five times, finished first five times, and gave him 1,115 career victories, which is a 0.540 winning percentage. That’s better than 11 managers already in the Hall of Fame: Joe Torre (0.538), Tony La Russa (0.537), Whitey Herzog (0.532), Ned Hanlon (0.530), Tommy Lasorda (0.526), Bill McKechnie (0.524), Dick Williams (0.520), Casey Stengel (0.508), Wilbert Robinson (0.500), Bucky Harris (0.493), and Connie Mack (0.486). He is tied with Leo Durocher.
Danny won the World Series twice — in 1971 and 1960. Those two rings are better than nine current Hall of Fame managers and the same as five others.
I’m so happy to see Danny on the Hall of Fame ballot. Cooperstown, New York, is meant to honor people who made outstanding contributions to the game, and Danny certainly did that.
If he had not retired four times because of health problems, and passed away prematurely at age 59, his record would be even better — because every time the team needed him, he came back to lead us. And with this being the 50th anniversary of our all-minority starting lineup, it’s a great chance to honor that milestone. When the Golden Days era voters meet on Sunday, I hope they send Danny to the Hall.
Danny Murtaugh was the man who made me a big-league player, and I loved and respected him. People like Danny don’t come around every day.
Manny Sanguillen was a catcher for 13 years in the major leagues (all but one of them for the Pittsburgh Pirates), played in three All-Star games, and compiled a career batting average of 0.296. He was a member of the 1971 World Series champions.
