Jerry Manuel

Template:Infobox MLB retired Jerry Manuel (born December 23, 1953 in Hahira, Georgia) is the manager of the New York Mets in Major League Baseball. He has been manager since taking over in the middle of the 2008 season. He previously managed the Chicago White Sox from 1998 to 2003 and played in the majors for parts of five seasons in the 1970s and early 1980s.

Playing career

Manuel played sparingly in the major leagues from 1975 to 1982, mostly as a second baseman. He accumulated only 127 at bats and a .150 batting average with three home runs and 13 RBIs in 96 games. Although his playing career was brief, Manuel was the starting second baseman for the Montréal Expos in their only postseason series victory in 1981. He was 1-for-14 (.071) in the series and was replaced by Rodney Scott in the NLCS.

Other than Montréal, Manuel played for the Detroit Tigers and the San Diego Padres before he ultimately retired in 1984.

In 1972, Manuel and Mike Ondina became the first pair of high school teammates to be drafted in the first round of a Major League draft. Both attended Cordova High School in Rancho Cordova, California. While Manuel played less than 100 games, Ondina fared even worse, never reaching the majors.

Coaching and managerial career

Manuel held a variety of coaching positions over the next six years. He was originally hired by the Chicago White Sox in 1985 to scout Northern California. He left the White Sox the following year to join the Montréal Expos organization, a team with which he would remain associated for the next 11 years. In 1986, Manuel joined the Expos' Triple-A affiliate, the Indianapolis Indians of the American Association, as a player/coach. Manuel spent the next three years as the Expos' roving infield instructor (1987) and their minor league field coordinator (1988–1989). In 1990, Manuel became a manager for the first time as he was named the manager of the Southern League's Jacksonville Expos, the Expos' Double-A affiliate. He led the team to an 84–60 record and was named the league's manager of the year.

1991–2003

Following a successful season at Double-A, Manuel was elevated to Triple-A to manage the Indianapolis Indians for the 1991 season. Midway through the campaign, he was brought up to Montréal to serve as the third base coach for the Expos, ending a minor league managing career in which Manuel compiled a 112–82 record. He remained the Expos' third base coach through the 1996 season. In 1997, he moved on to the Florida Marlins, where he became a bench coach under Jim Leyland. The team went on to win the 1997 World Series. Just over one month later, in December, Manuel signed a multi-year deal to manage the Chicago White Sox. Over the next six seasons, he amassed 500 wins and led the Sox to 95 in 2000 alone. In that season, Manuel guided the White Sox to a first-place finish in the American League's Central Division and was named Major League Baseball's Manager of the Year. Following the 2003 season, Manuel was replaced as White Sox manager by Ozzie Guillén.

His 2003 Topps baseball card reads:

"Jerry has a philosophical air about him that makes him a sage influence and respected leader on his teams. After six seasons directing the White Soxs fortunes, he's risen to fourth on the franchise's managerial wins list. Formerly, he was a pro player for 15 years and 12-year coach/Minor League manager. Manuel and Ken Williams form the first African-American GM/manager tandem in MLB history."

New York Mets (2005–present)

First base coach

After being released by the White Sox, Manuel joined the New York Mets in 2005 as the first base and outfield coach under new manager Willie Randolph. Manuel became Randolph's bench coach in 2006, a position he remained in until 2008.

Since he was fired by the White Sox, Manuel wanted to manage again. But in February 2007 he announced a contingency plan—he was introduced as the man who would lead the formation of a baseball program at William Jessup University, an NAIA school in Rocklin, California. He said he would coach the team when it started in 2009 if he did not get another managing job.

Manager

On June 17, 2008, Willie Randolph, pitching coach Rick Peterson, and first base coach Tom Nieto were fired by the Mets. Manuel was announced as the interim manager while Ken Oberkfell, Dan Warthen, and Luis Aguayo were brought up from the New Orleans Zephyrs (the Mets' Triple-A affiliate) to fill the remaining coaching vacancies. After Randolph, Manuel is the second African-American manager in New York baseball history.

In his first day on the job as manager of the Mets, shortstop José Reyes argued with Manuel on the field while he tried to remove Reyes from the game due to a concern that Reyes had injured himself on the bases. Reyes finally stormed off of the field and into the clubhouse; Manuel followed. Reyes appeared in the dugout later in the game after apologizing to Manuel and his teammates for his behavior.

Under Manuel's leadership, the Mets rose to the top of the National League East Division standings and held a 3½ game lead on the Philadelphia Phillies with 17 games to go in the season. As in 2007, however, the team was unable to hold the lead and the Phillies ultimately clinched the division on September 27. The Mets were then eliminated from the NL Wild Card berth the following day as the team lost to the Florida Marlins 4–2 in the final game at Shea Stadium while the Milwaukee Brewers defeated the Chicago Cubs 3–1 at Miller Park to advance to the playoffs.

On October 3, 2008, Manuel agreed to a two-year deal to remain the Mets manager. The deal included a club option for a third year.

Managerial record

(updated through September 29, 2008)

Team	Year	Regular Season					Post Season
		Games	Won	Lost	Win %	Finish	Won	Lost	Win %	Result
Chicago White Sox	1998	162	80	82	.494	2nd in AL Central	-	-	-	-
Chicago White Sox	1999	161	75	86	.466	2nd in AL Central	-	-	-	-
Chicago White Sox	2000	162	95	67	.586	1st in AL Central	0	3	.000	Lost ALDS
Chicago White Sox	2001	162	83	79	.512	3rd in AL Central	-	-	-	-
Chicago White Sox	2002	162	81	81	.500	2nd in AL Central	-	-	-	-
Chicago White Sox	2003	162	86	76	.531	2nd in AL Central	-	-	-	-
CWS Total		971	500	471	.515		0	3	.000	-
New York Mets	2008	93	55	38	.591	2nd in NL East	-	-	-	-
NYM Total		93	55	38	.591		-	-	-	-
Total		1045	546	499	.522		0	3	.000	-

Personal life

Manuel draws leadership inspiration from the writings of Martin Luther King, Jr., Mahatma Gandhi and Leo Tolstoy.

External links

• Baseball-Reference.com - managing record and playing statistics