Former MLB Players as Managers: What The Past Tells Us
So, after seeing how these former MLB players performed during their more spry, athletic years, how have they faired after transitioning to the dugout steps?
Using the same sample, I looked at the average games managed and the win-loss percentage of each group. Former position players have managed more, logging around 954 games as managers compared to only 762 games for former pitchers.
That being said, the pitching group has been slightly more successful, with an average win-loss percentage of .486. Alternatively, the position players group has only performed slightly worse, winning 47.9% of their games.
It’s important to note how many more position players have held managerial spots. The hitters’ sample contained 159 players, whereas the pitchers’ sample had only 23. That being said, neither group suffered from a lack of high performance in either category. Position players considered here included the likes of Frank Robinson and Joe Torre, with the pitching group consisting of Walter Johnson and Tommy Lasorda, among others.
With this knowledge, we can now turn our attention to a more interesting question: do any of these on-field statistics relate to managerial performance in a meaningful way?