On September 21, 1963, Pittsburgh Pirates coach Gene Baker became the first black manager in major league baseball history. Otherwise, it was an ordinary night game between the Pirates and the Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodger Stadium. The eventual World Series champion Dodgers entered that day in first place, five games ahead of the second-place St. Louis Cardinals in the National League. With eight games left in the season, the Dodgers’ eventual clinching of the pennant was inevitable.
Pirates Coach Gene Baker Was the First Black Manager in an MLB Game
Baker, an infielder, played for the Kansas City Monarchs of the Negro Leagues before joining the Chicago Cubs in 1953. Ernie Banks broke the Cubs’ color barrier when he made his major league debut on September 17, 1953. Baker debuted three days later, playing second base alongside shortstop Banks. He remained with the Cubs until a midseason 1957 trade sent him to Pittsburgh. A knee injury early in the 1958 season caused him to miss the rest of that season and 1959. Never a regular after that, Baker was a member of the 1960 World Series champion Pirates. He retired after nine games in 1961. For his major league career, Baker hit .263/.320/.388, 42 HR, and 255 RBI while playing every infield position except first base.
The Pirates hired Baker to manage their Columbus farm team in 1961, making him the first black man to manage an affiliated baseball team. When he rejoined the Pirates as a coach in 1963, he became the second black coach in MLB.
“Skip, Are You Sure?”
On that Saturday night in Los Angeles, the Pirates entered the top of the eighth inning tied with the Dodgers, 2-2, with Sandy Koufax on the mound. After two outs and consecutive singles by Roberto Clemente, Donn Clendenon, and Ted Savage, the Pirates led, 3-2. Koufax intentionally walked Bill Mazeroski to load the bases before giving way to reliever Ron Perranoski. Against Perranoski, Bill Virdon was called out on a close play at first base to end the inning. Manager Danny Murtaugh and first base coach Frank Oceak argued the call. Both were ejected by first base umpire Doug Harvey.
Oceak was Murtaugh’s long-time right-hand man and would take over the club whenever Murtaugh was ejected. With Oceak also on his way to the showers, however, Murtaugh handed the lineup card to Baker. In 2016, Pirates pitcher Vern Law recalled to Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reporter Elizabeth Bloom that Baker asked Murtaugh, “Skip, are you sure?”
Baker Assumes Command of the Pirates
Baker’s feat wasn’t mentioned in any of the Pittsburgh newspapers at the time. In fact, there was barely any newspaper coverage of the game. The Post-Gazette didn’t publish a Sunday edition at the time. The Pittsburgh Press reported on just the first three innings of the late-night West Coast game, which hadn’t been completed at press time. On Monday, the Post-Gazette merely reported in a notes section that Murtaugh was “thumbed out” of Saturday’s game.
There was no mention of Baker’s feat in his Associated Press obituary, either, when he passed away in 1999. However, it was noted in The Independent Press-Telegram when it happened. “Coach Gene Baker assumed command [after Murtaugh’s ejection] and became the first Negro to manage in the major leagues,” reported the Long Beach newspaper. That newspaper account was uncovered by curators at the Western Pennsylvania Sports Museum in 2016. So here we are.
The Backdrop
Furthermore, by then the Pirates were ceding much of the sports section to the Pittsburgh Steelers. Before the 1972 Steelers broke a 40-year postseason draught, the 1963 Steelers represented fans’ best hope but fell short. Coach Buddy Parker’s rag-tag collection of tough, unwanted veterans finished the season at 7-4-3 in the old NFL East Division, thanks largely to the play of 35-year-old quarterback Ed Brown. (Legend has it that Brown was a heavy drinker and played with severe hangovers. Needing to win the final game of the season against the New York Giants in Yankee Stadium to make the playoffs, Brown decided to stay sober. He completed just 13 of 33 pass attempts for two touchdowns and three interceptions, and the Giants won easily, 33-17.)
In 1962, Buck O’Neil became the first black coach in MLB when he joined the staff of the Chicago Cubs. The year before, Cubs owner Phil Wrigley instituted his infamous “College of Coaches.” This involved coaches taking turns serving as manager, under the theory that the job was too stressful for one man to carry on for a full season. In his book, I Was Right On Time, O’Neil wrote, “It was a ridiculous idea, although I was quoted in [an] Ebony article as saying it was a ‘wonderful innovation’ that ‘would be adopted by most teams.’ What was I supposed to say?”
What O’Neil would discover, however, was that although he was a coach, he would never take a turn managing the Cubs. Moreover, there was an order from the front office that O’Neil was never to appear on the coaching lines. On one occasion, when mass ejections left the Cubs without a third base coach in one game, the more qualified O’Neil was bypassed in favor of a pitching coach.
On this date (Sept 21) in 1963, Pirates Coach Gene Baker becomes the first African American to manage a Major League Baseball game after manager Danny Murtaugh and coach Frank Oceak were ejected from the game at Dodger Stadium. Baker managed the final two innings of the contest. pic.twitter.com/3JLNve7KYq
— Jimmy T (@JimmyTrdinich) September 21, 2022
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The Game
In this context, Murtaugh handing over the reins to Gene Baker to run the Pirates was indeed a bold move. So, how did Baker do? Although he was the Pirates manager for just an inning and a half, Baker was matching wits against future Hall of Famer Walter Alston in a game of managerial chess.
With the Dodgers’ right-handed slugger Frank Howard due up in the bottom of the eighth, Baker replaced left-handed reliever Harvey Haddix with right-hander Al McBean, one of the top relievers on the Pirates. When the Dodgers got two men on with two out and left-handed batter Wally Moon due up, Baker went to the bullpen for left-hander Joe Gibbon. Alston countered with right-handed pinch-hitter Lee Walls. Gibbon never had to face Walls, as Maury Wills was thrown out attempting to steal home to end the inning.
In the top of the ninth, Alston turned to right-handed pitcher Bob Miller to keep Los Angeles within a run. Baker countered with pinch-hitter Smoky Burgess, who was hit by a pitch. Baker then sent speedy Manny Mota to pinch run for Burgess and Johnny Logan to pinch hit for Gibbon. With Logan at bat, Mota was caught stealing. The half-inning ended without incident and the Pirates went into the bottom of the ninth clinging to the 3-2 lead.
To protect the lead, Baker sent right-hander Tommie Sisk to the mound for the Pirates. Baker’s reasoning behind his choice of Sisk over Roy Face, one of the game’s greatest relievers, is lost to history. Unfortunately, Sisk was able to retire only the leadoff batter. He lost the game, 5-3, thanks to a three-run home run by Willie Davis.
The Last Word
Bob Friend, the Pirates starting pitcher on that night, told Bloom, “[Baker] was a good, solid baseball man. He knew what he was doing. . . You don’t have a guy stick around in an organization – unless he is liked and he is producing – as long as Gene Baker spent with the Pirates.”
Photo Credit: © Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images
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