Who were some of the best, most baseball savvy black managers we missed out on post-J

[DTF955]

There was a 28 year gap between the first black player and first black manager in the majors. For a few decades, they trickled into the coaching and managerial ranks about like players did the first few years of integration.

To generate some discussion with Jackie Robinson Day having been celebrated a couple days ago, I thought I'd start a thread about who some of the best managers would have been that we missed out on. Or, some of the most colorful, too.

While the discussion need not be limited tot he 1947-early 1980s era, i will note that in my "If baseball Integrated Early" book, with the game integrated from the start, I mention a few as coaches and such in the '20s and '30s, but don't mention other alternates except for Jackie Robinson and the Dodgers. (Given his determination I can see him doing very well; the man followed Bobby Thomson around to make sure he touched allt he based, after all, from what I've read.). So, if I do a NaNoWriMo book focusing on a few seasons, I'm probably going to mention 2-3 in the era I cover, the late '60s and '70s.

[EdTarbusz]

I think that Jackie Robinson would have been a bad fit as a Dodgers manager for a couple of reasons: I don't think he would have worked well with Walter O'Malley and Buzzie Bavasi. It seems to me that he despised them and they held the same feelings about Robinson. I also doubt that Robinson would have been willing to go back to LA to live and work in because of his experiences in Pasadena.

[Dude Paskert]

I'd bet that Campy could have been a good manager if not for the accident, and Larry Doby also seemed like a level-headed guy with a lot of baseball smarts.

[EdTarbusz]

I'd bet that Campy could have been a good manager if not for the accident, and Larry Doby also seemed like a level-headed guy with a lot of baseball smarts.

Larry Doby was an MLB manager.

[Los Bravos]

One would think Buck O'Neil was a prime candidate.

With your from the start scenario, I would imagine Rube Foster would've been a guy who could have commanded respect and been successful.

[Dude Paskert]

Larry Doby was an MLB manager.

The really sad part is I was living near Chicago when he managed the White Sox, though still a kid.
Thanks for correcting me!
I was also surprised to see that Don Kessinger followed Doby in that job, had no memory of him having anything to do with the ChiSox.

[chinese home run]

I think Willie Mays would have made a hell of a manager. I get the feeling, though, that he might have wound up like Rogers Hornsby and Frank Robinson when they couldn't understand why their players didn't play with the same intensity and enthusiasm that they did.

I also think he knew more about the game by accident than many men managing at that time- including one or two that he played for.

[bluesky5]

I think Willie Mays would have made a hell of a manager. I get the feeling, though, that he might have wound up like Rogers Hornsby and Frank Robinson when they couldn't understand why their players didn't play with the same intensity and enthusiasm that they did.

I also think he knew more about the game by accident than many men managing at that time- including one or two that he played for.

"By accident" you mean by playing experience or inherent, ethereal knowledge?

[DTF955]

I think that Jackie Robinson would have been a bad fit as a Dodgers manager for a couple of reasons: I don't think he would have worked well with Walter O'Malley and Buzzie Bavasi. It seems to me that he despised them and they held the same feelings about Robinson. I also doubt that Robinson would have been willing to go back to LA to live and work in because of his experiences in Pasadena.

This article http://news.google.com/newspapers?id...,3811383&hl=en states that he was at least considered for the Montreal job after his playing career, so O'Malley must have had some trust in him. And that's OTL. Not sure about Bavasi, but in the IBIE TL the Jackie Robinson Story would never need to be made as a movie, so there's no O'Malley calling hima prima donna or dislikign Rickey and associating him with Robinson.

However, the comment about Mays could also apply to Jackie Robinson, too, that he might not understand the players who lacked the intensity he did. Perhaps Campanella would be better?

I forgot about O'Neil being possible into the '70s, maybe even '80s the way he aged so gracefully.

[Jackaroo Dave]

Sadly, we'll never know. That's the problem with history. Once it happens, it's for keeps.

[Nimrod]

The really sad part is I was living near Chicago when he managed the White Sox, though still a kid.
Thanks for correcting me!
I was also surprised to see that Don Kessinger followed Doby in that job, had no memory of him having anything to do with the ChiSox.

I might be wrong,but I think Kessinger was the last player/manager in the AL while with the ChiSox.

[Captain Cold Nose]

Junior Gilliam was a coach for a long time. He probably deserved a shot somewhere, but likely did not want to leave the Dodgers.

[chinese home run]

"By accident" you mean by playing experience or inherent, ethereal knowledge?

Both. The two examples I meant were Tom Sheehan and Clyde King.