Pat Corrales

Patrick Corrales (born March 20, 1941) is an American former professional baseball catcher, manager, and coach, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB), from 1964 to 1973, primarily for the Cincinnati Reds as well as the Philadelphia Phillies, St. Louis Cardinals, and San Diego Padres. He is the first major league manager of Mexican American descent.[1]

Pat Corrales
Corrales with the Nationals in 2008
Catcher / Manager
Born: (1941-03-20) March 20, 1941
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Batted: Right
Threw: Right
MLB debut
August 2, 1964, for the Philadelphia Phillies
Last MLB appearance
September 21, 1973, for the San Diego Padres
MLB statistics
Batting average.216
Home runs4
Runs batted in54
Teams
As player
As manager
As coach
Career highlights and awards

Early life and playing career

Corrales was a baseball and football star at Fresno High School in Fresno, California and a teammate of future major-league pitchers Jim Maloney and Dick Ellsworth. An offensive guard and linebacker, he was named lineman of the year by the Fresno Bee. After high school, he signed as an amateur free agent with the Phillies in 1959.[2]

He made his major league playing debut at age 23 on August 2, 1964, with the Phillies. He pinch-hit for pitcher John Boozer in the fifth inning, grounding out against the Los Angeles Dodgers' Larry Miller in a 6-1 Phillies loss at Connie Mack Stadium.[3] His first career hit came the next year on June 15, 1965, in a 12-7 Phillies loss to the Milwaukee Braves at County Stadium when he singled in the eighth inning off Tony Cloninger and later scored.[4] He had one of his best career games the next day when, in a 6-2 Phillies win over the Braves, he started at catcher and went 3–4 with his first major league home run (a two-run shot in the third inning against Denny Lemaster).[5]

In a nine-year playing career as a backup catcher (including to Baseball Hall of Famer Johnny Bench), Corrales played in 300 games with 166 hits, four home runs, 54 runs batted in and a .216 batting average. He appeared in one game of the 1970 World Series for the Reds and batted once, grounding out for the final out of the series as the Reds fell in five games to the Baltimore Orioles.[2]

Manager and coach

Managerial and coaching career

Corrales spent nine years as a major league manager and finished with an overall record of 572–634[6] with the Texas Rangers, Phillies and Cleveland Indians. Corrales managed in both the National League and American League, and became only the fourth manager to manage in both leagues in the same season.

He is the only MLB manager ever to be fired by a first-place ballclub when general manager Paul Owens replaced him on July 18, 1983, despite the Phillies having a 43–42 record and tied for first place with the St. Louis Cardinals in the National League East.[7][8]

After being fired in 1987 as manager of the Indians[9] he has had a long career as a bench coach. He was in that role for nine years with the Atlanta Braves, and was with Washington Nationals for the 2007 and 2008 seasons before being fired at the end of 2008 along with the majority of the Nationals' coaching staff. Shortly after being fired, he accepted a job as a special consultant to the Nationals. He resumed as bench coach in July 2009 after Jim Riggleman was appointed acting manager after Manny Acta was fired. Corrales was once again appointed Nats bench coach in June, 2011 by new manager Davey Johnson. Corrales replaced John McLaren, who had been reassigned to scouting duty.[10]

On November 5, 2012, Corrales was hired by the Los Angeles Dodgers as a special assistant to the General Manager.

Managerial record
Team From To Regular season record Post–season record
W L Win % W L Win %
Texas Rangers 1978 1980 160164.494 —
Philadelphia Phillies 1982 1983 132115.534
Cleveland Indians 1983 1987 280355.441
Total 572634.474 —
Reference:[6]

Personal life

Pat Corrales married Sharon Ann Grimes on September 24, 1960. and had four children. Sharon died from a blood clot soon after giving birth to the couple's fourth child in July 1969.[11] He married Heidyt Enedina Davis, May 28, 1970, in Jellico, Campbell County Tennessee. [12]

He was inducted as a member of the Fresno County Athletic Hall of Fame in 1980.[13][14]

References
  1. Riess, Steven A. (2006). Encyclopedia of Major League Baseball Clubs. ISBN 9780313083068.
  2. "Pat Corrales Stats". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved 25 November 2021.
  3. "Los Angeles Dodgers at Philadelphia Phillies Box Score, August 2, 1964". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved 25 November 2021.
  4. "Philadelphia Phillies at Milwaukee Braves Box Score, June 15, 1965". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved 25 November 2021.
  5. "Philadelphia Phillies at Milwaukee Braves Box Score, June 16, 1965". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved 25 November 2021.
  6. "Pat Corrales". Baseball Reference. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved December 18, 2014.
  7. "Corrales Is Dismissed by Phils," The Associated Press (AP), Tuesday, July 19, 1983. Retrieved March 27, 2022.
  8. Puskar, Gene J. "Brewers cut ties with skipper Yost," The Associated Press (AP), Tuesday, September 16, 2008. Retrieved March 27, 2022.
  9. "Archives". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 25 November 2021.
  10. "Pat Corrales will become the Nationals bench coach - Nationals Journal - The Washington Post". The Washington Post. 12 November 2012. Archived from the original on 2012-11-12. Retrieved 25 November 2021.
  11. "The Dispatch - Google News Archive Search". News.google.com. Retrieved 25 November 2021.
  12. "Join Ancestry". Ancestry.com.
  13. "Fresno Athletic Hall of Fame". Archived from the original on 2013-09-07. Retrieved 2013-08-19.
  14. "Fresno County Athletic Hall of Fame | Home". Fresno County Athletic Hall of Fame | Home. Archived from the original on 2017-07-31. Retrieved 2017-02-02.
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