Sunday, January 1, 2012

Danny Murtaugh (#532)

Danny Murtaugh returns to the Topps card set for the first time since 1964.

Murtaugh was a 4-time manager, all with the Pirates. He managed Pittsburgh for 7 1/2 years, from midway through the 1957 season through the end of 1964, including skippering the 1960 World Champs.

Danny returned to finish out the 1967 season, when Harry Walker was fired after 83 games. After a 2-year experiment with Larry Shepard, Murtaugh was back at the start of the 1970 season, and piloted the team to first-place finishes in 1970 and 1971, and won the 1971 World Series.



He retired following the Series, and the Pirates hired their former center fielder Bill Virdon to manage the team in 1972, but Murtaugh was back at the helm in September 1973, and for 3 additional seasons beyond that. In Danny's last 3 full seasons, the Pirates won their division twice (losing the NLCS both times), and in 2nd place once. He retired for good after the 1976 season.

Prior to managing, Murtaugh was an infielder for the Phillies and Pirates from 1941 to 1951, except for his military service in 1944-45.

No comments: