Player and manager Chuck Tanner was born in New Castle, Pennsylvania on this date in 1928.
Chuck played in the majors for 8 seasons. He probably had his best season as a Cub in 1957, hitting .286 with 7 HR and 42 RBIs. He'd become more well known as a manager.
Chuck won the Sporting News Manager of the Year Award after managing the Sox to an 87-67 record in 1972.
Over 19 seasons Chuck managed four teams to a composite record of 1352-1381.
Tanner's highlight as a manger came in 1979 as manager of the "We Are Family" Pittsburgh Pirates. The team won the Eastern division by two games with a 98-64 record then swept the Reds in a three games playoff to win the NL pennant. After falling behind the Baltimore Orioles three games to one in the World Series the Bucs won the last three (7-1, 4-0, 4-1) to take the Series.
Tanner ended his managerial career with with a not too successful 2+ years wit the Braves.
Chuck Tanner's hometown is where I live right now, and he has a pretty successful restaurant not too far from where I live. Those Pirates teams of the late 70's/early 80's were very popular in Pittsburgh, as is the current team right now.
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