Sunday, February 13, 2011
Chuck Tanner, 82, a longtime major league manager who led the "We Are Family" Pittsburgh Pirates in 1979 to an inspiring comeback victory over the Baltimore Orioles in the 1979 World Series, died Feb. 11 at his home in New Castle, Pa. The cause of death was not disclosed.
Renowned for his never-wavering confidence and a belief that no deficit was too large to overcome, Mr. Tanner managed the Pirates, Chicago White Sox, Oakland Athletics and Atlanta Braves from 1970 to 1988. In addition to taking the 1979 World Series title, the last baseball championship for Pittsburgh, his teams were division runners-up five times. His career record was 1,352-1,381.
Mr. Tanner's irrepressible faith was tested in the '79 series when Pittsburgh fell behind favored Baltimore three games to one. The morning of Game 5, with his team facing elimination, Mr. Tanner learn that his mother had died in a nursing home.
Saying she would have wanted him to do his job, Mr. Tanner stayed with his team and took a huge gamble by starting left-hander Jim Rooker, who had won four games all season, rather than future Hall of Famer Bert Blyleven. Rooker held the Orioles to one run over five innings, and the Pirates, led by aging slugger Willie Stargell, went on to sweep the final three games.
The 1979 Pirates, wearing black-and-gold uniforms with old-style flat-topped caps, were an easygoing team and were often serenaded on the field by fans singing "We Are Family," a 1979 dance hit by Sister Sledge.
After retiring from managing, Mr. Tanner remained involved with the Pirates, most recently serving as a senior adviser to the general manager, Neal Huntington.
Earlier in his career, while managing the White Sox from 1972 to 1975, Mr. Tanner turned Wilbur Wood, a modestly successful, knuckleball-throwing reliever, into a top starting pitcher and made Rich "Goose" Gossage into the premier closer of his era. He was one of the first managers to use relievers in situational roles, as all teams do today.
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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/co ... 03644.html
while he is best known for that 1979 Pirates "We Are Family" Championship team, I remember him as the manager of a ragtag bunch of players in Chicago, and almost leading the White Sox to an AL West title back in the early 70's with a team many had projected to be less than .500