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We’re Contacted By Son of Legendary Pirates’ Manager, Danny Murtaugh!

“Managing a ball club is like getting malaria. Once you’re bitten by the bug, it’s difficult to get it out of your bloodstream!”(1) –Danny Murtaugh

As I’ve mentioned many times, we always love it when we’re contacted by a relative of a former major leaguer. Star or sub, it makes no difference—anyone who makes it to the Big Show is special in our eyes.

I was recently contacted by Tim Murtaugh, oldest son of legendary Pirate manager, Danny Murtaugh. In reading Tim’s information about his dad and in doing some research myself about Danny, I discovered that he was a lot more than just a fine ball player and an outstanding manager: He was a man of strong character and integrity, and a true American patriot.

Although son Tim Murtaugh never made it to the major leagues, he had a fine career in professional baseball himself, all within the Pirates’ minor league system. He was drafted in 1965 as a catcher, and played for nine years, reaching as high as Triple-A. He later served seven years as a manager in the Pirates’ system with stops in various minor league outposts such as Salem (A), Sherbrooke (AA), Shreveport (AA), Charleston (AAA), and Columbus (AAA).

Danny Murtaugh’s Major League Career

The 5’9”, 165-pound Chester, Pennsylvania native, played parts of nine seasons in the majors (1941-1951), for the Phillies, Braves, and Pirates, with two years lost to military service. Known primarily as a scrappy, slick fielding second baseman, he hit a respectable .254 with eight homers, 219 RBIs, and a .331 on-base percentage. He led the National League in steals in 1941; and also led National League second basemen in putouts, assists, and double plays in 1948.

His first season with the Pirates, 1948, was probably his best. He hit .290 with 71 RBIs and ten stolen bases. Injuries limited him to a dismal .203 average in 1949. His nice comeback year in 1950 (.294) was cut short when he was beaned by a Sal “The Barber” Maglie fastball in August, resulting in a skull fracture and ten days in the hospital (2). After hitting .199 in 1951, Danny’s playing days were over.

The Legendary Pirate Manager

Of course, it’s as a highly successful manager that we remember Danny Murtaugh. Over his four stints at the Pirates’ helm (between 1957-1976), Danny led the Pirates to two World Series championships (1960, 1971) and four divisional titles, compiling a career record of 1115-950. The 1960 World Series is considered a classic, as Danny’s Pirates defeated the heavily-favored Yankees on Bill Mazeroski’s historic walk-off homer at Forbes Field.

Baseball fans will get a chuckle out of this little Danny Murtaugh gem: His wife Kate told Danny that she had never seen him so happy after winning the 1960 World Series. Speaking like a true baseball lifer, Danny replied:

“If you had been standing on one side of me and Bill Mazeroski on the other side, and somebody said I had to kiss one or the other, it wouldn’t have been you! (3)

Danny’s 1115 career wins rank second behind only Fred Clarke in Pirate history and 56th all-time. His career .540 winning percentage ranks 53rd all-time, ahead of such notable managers as Tony La Russa, Tommy Lasorda, Joe Torre, Casey Stengel, Dusty Baker, Joe Maddon, and Whitey Herzog. In twelve full seasons as manager, he led the Pirates to a winning record nine times. He’s one of only 65 managers to win 1,000 or more games; and he’s one of only twelve to win 1,000 games while losing less than 1,000.

Tim Murtaugh Responds to my Facebook Post

My first contact with Tim Murtaugh was a couple weeks ago. Tim left what I thought was a really funny comment on my essay about the Pirates’ great pinch-hitter, Smoky Burgess. As a member of the Pirates’ organization, Tim had first-hand interactions with Smoky Burgess along with many other Pirates. Tim recalled these exchanges he had with Smoky and another fine Pirates’ pinch-hitter, Jerry Lynch:

Smoky once said to me: “If you ever pinch hit, be ready to hit the first pitch as it might be the best one you’ll see.” The next day Jerry Lynch said to me: “If you ever pinch it, always take the first pitch, as It will probably be his best pitch and you will probably see it again.”

Tim shared a little background about the Murtaugh family:

We stayed in Chester, Pennsylvania near Philly while my father managed the Pirates. We moved to Munhall or Homestead when school was out. My younger brother, Danny, Jr. is deceased, and my younger sister Kathy lives the Villages in Florida where we have a summer house.

Tim also recalled a truly historic event from his dad’s career:

In a memorable game played on September 1, 1970, a 10-7 Pirates victory over the Phillies, my father made history by fielding baseball’s first all-minority team. There were no white players in the lineup.

Here’s the historic lineup Danny submitted: Rennie Stennett, Gene Clines, Roberto Clemente, Willie Stargell, Manny Sanguillen, Dave Cash, Al Oliver, Jackie Hernández, and Dock Ellis (4). 

Sportswriters at the time were asking Danny if he was “colorblind” for writing out a lineup with all minority players. They also asked if he could appreciate the significance of what he had done. Danny would have none of it. With his typical humility, Danny simply replied, “All I knew is that we fielded nine Pirates.” Yes, I think we can say Danny was “colorblind.”

Ironically, earlier in his life, when he was drafted into the Army in 1943, it was determined that Danny was indeed “colorblind” in the literal sense; and for this reason, he was not allowed to join the Army Air Corps, which he had requested. As Tim Murtaugh relates:

In World War II when he was drafted into the army, he volunteered and was selected for the Army Air corps.  At some point in the training, it was determined that he was in fact colorblind and was not allowed to fly! Rather than go into Special Forces and play on the army baseball team, he instead volunteered for the infantry and went to Europe. We never talked about it. I don’t know where he served or which battles he may have been in.

Danny typifies the modesty exhibited by many of the “Greatest Generation.” In doing a little research of my own, I discovered Danny declined the opportunity to simply play baseball in the United States during the war, as many other major leaguers did. Instead, as Tim said, he volunteered for the infantry, serving in combat with the 97^th Infantry, 1^st Army, in Germany. After being declared ineligible for the Army Air Corps, he returned to the infantry and spent 1944 and ’45  in Europe again with the 97th Infantry, a unit that saw significant battle action and earned three battle stars (5).

I think it’s time to acknowledge Danny Murtaugh as a true American patriot and hero.

Another interesting story I uncovered about Danny also involved his son, Tim. Between academic and athletic scholarships, Tim was offered a full ride to attend Holy Cross College. Here’s how Danny reacted to the news:

Danny, who years earlier had been unable to attend Villanova because of the financial hardships it would bring to his parents, wrote to the school’s president asking that his son’s scholarships be awarded to another student, as he was fortunate enough to be able to pay for his son’s education (6).

Again, that’s quite a testament to Danny’s character.

Danny compiled 29 years in the Pirates’ organization as a player, manager, coach, and front office executive. His number 40 was retired by the Pirates on April 7, 1977. He was a two-time winner of the Sporting News Manager of the Year Award and was selected Man of the Year by Sport magazine in 1960.

A beloved husband, father, grandfather, and baseball lifer, Danny Murtaugh passed away in his hometown of Chester, Pennsylvania on December 2, 1976, at age 59. I hope you’ll agree with me now that there was a lot more to Danny Murtaugh than most of us ever realized. He was a great manager, for sure, but was an even better man; and so we’re happy to shine our baseball spotlight on him today. Many thanks to son Tim Murtaugh for sharing this information with us about his dad.

Gary Livacari

Information: Footnotes, quotes, and background information from SABR biography of Danny Murtaugh, by Andy Sturgill. Also information from email exchange with Tim Murtaugh, and from the Danny Murtaugh Wikipedia page; statistics from Baseball-Reference.com

Photo Credits: All from Google search

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