Royal Managers as Players

Trey Hillman always took a lot of heat for not ever being in a major league dugout as a player or a manager until he managed his first game as a Royal. I have decided to go back and look at how the full time (sorry Bob Schaefer – twice and John Mizerock) Royal managers did as players. Here is an overview of the managers over the years:

 

Years a Royals Manager	Name	Wins	Losses	Win %	Player Years	Player WAR	Pa/Games	HR/Wins	OPS+/ERA+
1969	Joe Gordon	69	93	0.426	1938-1950	54.9	6536	253	120
1970	Charlie Metro	19	33	0.365	1943-1945	-2.2	400	3	50
1970 to 1972	Bob Lemon	207	218	0.487	1946-1958	42.4	2850	207	119
1973 to 1975	Jack McKeon	215	205	0.512	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
1975 to 1979	Whitey Herzog	410	304	0.574	1956-1963	2.7	1885	25	97
1980 to 1981	Jim Frey	127	105	0.547	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
1981 to 1986	Dick Howser	404	365	0.525	1961-1968	9.7	2937	16	87
1986	Mike Ferraro	36	38	0.486	1966-1972	-1	406	2	86
1987	Billy Gardner	62	64	0.492	1954-1963	-0.1	3889	41	70
1987 to 1991	John Wathan	287	270	0.515	1976-1985	3.1	2764	21	83
1991 to 1994	Hal McRae	286	277	0.508	1968-1987	26.1	8058	191	122
1995 to 1997	Bob Boone	181	206	0.468	1972-1990	26	8148	105	82
1997 to 2002	Tony Muser	317	431	0.424	1969-1978	-2.6	1389	7	81
2002 to 2005	Tony Pena	198	285	0.410	1980-1997	18.8	7073	107	84
2005 to 2007	Buddy Bell	174	262	0.399	1972-1989	60.7	10009	201	109
2008 – 2010	Trey Hillman	153	207	0.425	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
2010 to N/A	Ned Yost	-	-		1980-1985	-4.1	640	16	57

 

 

 

I put each of the managers in the following categories. I was hoping to do more writing on each one, but am not finding the time.

 

The Hall of Famers

Joe Gordon

Bob Lemon

 

The Darn Good

Buddy Bell

 

The Good

Hal McRae

Bob Boone

Tony Pena

 

Respectable

Dick Howser

 

Replacement Level

John Wathan

Whitey Herzog

 

Bad

Billy Gardner

Mike Ferraro

Charlie Metro

Tony Muser

Ned Yost

 

Wanted to be in the Major Leagues

Jack McKeon

Jim Frey

Trey Hillman