Quote:
Originally Posted by Merkle923
In the dugout, in the shades, in his only season as Padres manager, the late great Jerry Coleman.
How I miss that man.
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I don't know how good a broadcaster Jerry was, but he covered the Pads for many years. He was a good, not a great, ballplayer, one of Casey Stengel's favorite multi-position infielders. He had no managerial experience when he became manager of the Pads in 1980, and it sure showed. The team played badly under him, but that wasn't all Jerry's fault. He was saddled with a crowd of plus-30 veterans who were past their best, some of whom (Dave Cash, Willie Montanez) had big egos and inflated opinions of themselves. Jack McKeon was shocked at the clubhouse atmosphere when he took over as GM that year; he said he practically had to use a firehose to get the bums off the roster.