BOB LEMON (Manager)
1979 AMERICAN LEAGUE ALL-STAR (Manager)
"Lemon took over for Billy Martin on July 25 and guided the Yankees to the World Championship. He was the first manager ever to be fired by one club and lead another to the pennant and a World Series triumph that same season. Bob was fired by the White Sox because he lacked flair but brought peace and tranquility to a previously troubled Yankee clubhouse.
Born in San Bernadino, California, Lemon is a low-keyed, easy-going guy.
'I never take a game home with me. I leave it in the bar.' Bob was Manager of the Year with the White Sox in '77, and a Hall of Fame pitcher with the Cleveland Indians, although he didn't begin pitching regularly until he was 27. He's supposed to move into the front office next season when Martin returns as manager."
-Phil Pepe and Jim Hawkins, The Complete Handbook of Baseball, 1979 Edition
"Bob Lemon didn't come to New York to save the city or rebuild the South Bronx. He came to the Big Apple with hopes of reorganizing baseball's finest team and putting it back into the pennant race. No easy feat with a team 10 1/2 games behind the division leading Red Sox.
As manager of the Yankees, Bob just 'let them play ball' ... and play ball they did! Victories began to pile up as the Bombers went on a tear, winning 48 of 68 games under Lem including the dramatic one-game playoff victory against the tireless Bosox up in Fenway.
After piloting the greatest comeback in baseball history, Bob then led the Yanks past the Royals and the Dodgers for their 22nd World Championship. The Associated Press recognized this accomplishment and rewarded Bob with its Manager of the Year award.
It's a tough act to follow as the Yankees strive for their 23rd World Championship. But throughout a Hall of Fame pitching career in which he won 207 games and had seven 20-win seasons, Bob Lemon exemplified two key things: hard work and heads-up baseball, and he knows that's what it will take for his team to repeat in 1979."
-The New York Yankees Official 1979 Yearbook
"Bob Lemon became the Yankee manager on July 25 last year and led the Yankees to their 32nd American League pennant and their 22nd World Championship. He piloted one of the greatest comebacks in baseball history, as the Yanks came from 14 games back to win. He was named the Associated Press Manager of the Year for his efforts.
Following the 1977 season, Lemon was named UPI Manager of the Year for leading the White Sox to a third place finish with 90 victories. Bob succeeded Paul Richards as the White Sox manager following the 1976 season. Taking over a last place club, Bob had the Sox in first place in July and August of 1977. He took over a team that had finished 33 games under .500 in '76 and took them to 18 over .500 in just one year.
Bob was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1976. He won 20 or more games seven times for Cleveland, compiling a 207-128 record in his 13 years with the Indians. He began his career as a third baseman-outfielder and made his big league debut at third base. Bob then spent three years in the Navy and then opened the 1946 season as the Indians' center fielder. By that season's end, though, Bob had become a full-time pitcher. Two years later he pitched a no-hitter against Detroit (June 30, 1948) and led the league in shutouts with 10 and in complete games with 20. In 1952 Bob hurled 28 complete games to lead the league.
The Sporting News voted Lemon the outstanding pitcher in the American League in 1948, '50 and '54, and also named him on its All-Star teams in those years. He appeared in seven consecutive All-Star Games starting in 1948, and it two World Series. He won two games in the 1948 Series when the Indians beat the Boston Braves for the World Championship.
After his playing career concluded at San Diego in 1958, Lemon served as a Cleveland scout in 1959 and coached for the Indians in 1960 and for the Phils in 1961. He was an Angel scout in 1962-63, then managed Hawaii and Seattle in 1964-66. Bob coached at California in 1967-68, then managed in the Coast League in 1969, winning the playoffs. He managed the K.C. Royals for three years (1970-72) and scouted for them in 1973. Bob scouted for Atlanta in 1975, and was the Yankees' pitching coach in 1976 before being named the White Sox manager."
-New York Yankees 1979 Media Guide
BILLY MARTIN (Manager)
"After coming back to Yankee Stadium for Old Timers' Day in July of '78, many wondered what would happen to Billy Martin. Would Billy really come back to manage the Yankees in '80? Would Billy ever work as Yankee manager again? Would Yankee fans ever be treated to that famous number one, fighting for his players and getting every ounce out of their baseball potential? Well, guess what! Billy came back ... and a half year early to boot!
Yes, Billy Martin is back in Yankee pinstripes and followers of the World Champions can't get enough of his tough, scrappy motif. That's the way Billy played under his mentor, the Ol' Perfessor, Casey Stengel, and that's the way the '79 Yankees will play under their current leader.
Welcome back, Skipper!"
-The New York Yankees Official 1979 Yearbook
YOGI BERRA (Coach)
"He's probably the single most recognizable face in America ... and he doesn't sell cars, sing, dance or entertain. He wears the Yankee pinstripes and provides Bob Lemon with valuable information.
As a player he participated in 14 World Series and 15 All-Star Games. As a coach, he has been in four World Series and he has managed in two. Good fortune obviously follows this man around and his return to the Bronx in 1976 coincided with the Yanks' return to prominence.
Yogi Berra, a Hall of Famer in the true sense of the word."
-The New York Yankees Official 1979 Yearbook
"One of America's most beloved and recognized celebrities, his return to the Yankees after 12 years coincided with a Yankee pennant in 1976, and they followed that with back-to-back World Championships in 1977 and '78- not surprising to those who know that good fortune follows this Hall of Famer around. He's now been in 20 World Series, a record 14 as a player, four as a Yankee coach, one as a Met coach, one as Yankee manager and one as Met manager.
Yogi holds Series records for games, at-bats, hits, singles and consecutive errorless games (30); he also hit a grand slam homer (1956). Three times the Most Valuable Player (1951, 1954, 1955), Yogi was 15 times an All-Star. His 313 homers are the most ever hit by a catcher, and his 30 homers in one season (twice) is a record for catchers. Yogi also handled 950 chances without an error (1957-59).
The Yankees retired his (and Bill Dickey's) uniform number 8 in 1972 but brought it back for his return in 1976.
His son Dale is an infielder with the Pirates. Sons Larry Jr. and Tim played pro baseball and pro football respectively. Yogi and his sons run a racquet ball club in New Jersey."
-New York Yankees 1979 Media Guide
MIKE FERRARO (Coach)
"Mike Ferraro replaces Dick Howser as the Yankees' third base coach this year. Mike has managed in the Yankee farm system for the last five years, and his leadership provided three league championships, including a co-championship last year as the skipper of the Yanks' AAA affiliate in the Pacific Coast League.
His 331-221 minor league managerial record speaks for itself. With that .600 winning percentage, Mike Ferraro is a proven winner with a winning attitude, an important asset to have on any team."
-The New York Yankees Official 1979 Yearbook
"Mike Ferraro becomes the Yankees' third base coach this year, taking over for Dick Howser, who served 10 years at third. Mike had managed in the Yankee farm system since 1974. Last year he was at Tacoma, and he took the Yanks' AAA affiliate to the Pacific Coast League championship. He started at Oneonta in 1974 and 1975, finishing first in 1974. He then managed at Fort Lauderdale in 1976, and then took the Yanks' West Haven (AA) club to the Eastern League championship in 1977. Mike compiled a 331-221 minor league managing record, a .600 winning percentage.
Mike spent four years in the major leagues. He was with the Yankees in 1966 and 1968, was a member of the expansion Seattle Pilots in 1969 and finished his career with the Milwaukee Brewers in 1972, his best year in the big leagues. He hit .255 with the Brewers, appearing in 124 games.
Mike played baseball, basketball and football at Kingston High School. His hometown folks honored him with a day at Yankee Stadium in 1972 when he came in with the Brewers. 57,000 people showed up (it was Bay Day). Mike rooted for the Yankees and Mickey Mantle as a youngster in upstate New York."
-New York Yankees 1979 Media Guide
JIM HEGAN (Coach)
"Those of us who can easily recall the not-so-distant past remember Jim Hegan as the Yankee bullpen coach from 1960-1973. After those 14 seasons, Jim moved to the Tiger organization for five years.
As a player, he handled one of the finest pitching corps ever put together: Lemon, Feller, Garcia and Wynn. With that pitching staff in Cleveland, Jim had the good fortune to catch three no-hitters, play in two World Series and be selected for five All-Star Games.
Welcome back, Jim, for your 20th year of coaching."
-The New York Yankees Official 1979 Yearbook
"Jim Hegan, who coached 14 seasons for the Yanks (1960-1973), returns to them after spending the last five years as the bullpen coach with the Detroit Tigers.
A classic receiver, who played 18 years in the major leagues (1941-1960), he handled one of the greatest pitching staffs ever assembled: Feller, Lemon, Garcia and Wynn while at Cleveland in the late 40s and early 50s. Jim caught three no-hitters and played in two World Series. A five-time All-Star with the Indians, he also played with the Tigers, Phillies, Giants and Cubs. Jim was a teammate of both Yankee President Al Rosen and Yankee manager Bob Lemon while with the Indians. His son Mike, a former big league ballplayer, is now a broadcaster for the Milwaukee Brewers.
A first class petty officer in the Coast Guard, Jim caught Bob Feller in a win, and hit a home run, in his first major league game."
-New York Yankees 1979 Media Guide
ELSTON HOWARD (Coach)
"Whether he's reminding a runner to stay close to the bag or just helping the young catchers handle certain pitchers, you can be sure Elston Howard knows his baseball. Ellie, one of the most popular and respected coaches in the game, starts his 11th season by returning to the first-base lines.
His 14-year playing career, highlighted by nine All-Star selections, two Gold Gloves and the World Series MVP award in 1958, just stands to remind the younger fans of Ellie's part in the famous Dickey-Berra-Howard-Munson catching tradition."
-The New York Yankees Official 1979 Yearbook
"Popular Elston Howard is now in his 11th season as a Yankee coach. The assignment immediately followed a distinguished career in which he played for nine pennant winning Yankee teams and one in Boston.
Nine times he was an American League All-Star. He won the MVP award in 1963 and batted .348 in 1961 when he was one of six Yankees to hit 20 or more home runs.
Elston won the Babe Ruth Award in 1958 for his outfield heroics in the World Series, but also won two Gold Glove Awards as a catcher and made only one error in 1964. He was the first black player on the Yankees and the first black coach in the American League.
Ellie returns to the first base coaching lines this year after a year in the bullpen."
-New York Yankees 1979 Media Guide
CHARLEY LAU (Coach)
"Charley Lau is known throughout baseball as one of the top hitting instructors in the game. He has been teaching the art of hitting for ten years with the Orioles, A's and Royals, and his basic technique teaches the hitter to spray the ball to all fields by 'going with the pitches.'
Charley is credited with the development of such notable hitters as Hal McRae and George Brett. As the Yankees enter the new season with hopes for another World Championship, Charley Lau's experience should add even more punch to the Yankee barrage."
-The New York Yankees Official 1979 Yearbook
"Charley Lau joins the Yankee coaching staff after spending the last eight years with the Kansas City Royals as their special hitting instructor. Lau is regarded as one of the top hitting instructors in the game and was given much of the credit for the Royals' success at the plate, and the development of such hitters as George Brett and Hal McRae. Lau is a firm believer in hitting to all fields and teaches batters to 'go with the pitches.'
Charley had an 11-year major league playing career, highlighted by his catching of Warren Spahn's second no-hitter in 1961, collecting four doubles in a game in 1962, and getting two hits in one inning as a pinch hitter in 1964. The latter two feats tied major league records.
He was a coach for the Orioles in 1969 and with the A's in 1970, joining the Royals in 1971."
-New York Yankees 1979 Media Guide
TOM MORGAN (Coach)
"After 22 years, Tom Morgan returns to Yankee Stadium. The Plowboy hurled for the Yankees from 1951-1956, including three World Series. Morgan compiled a .588 lifetime winning percentage during his 12-year major league career, most of that time spent as a reliever. Tom previously served in the Angels' system as a minor league pitching instructor and also as their major league pitching coach for three years. He should prove a valuable addition to the Yankee brain trust."
-The New York Yankees Official 1979 Yearbook
"Tom Morgan, who pitched for the Yankees from 1951 to 1956, returns to the team as their pitching coach. Tom appeared in three World Series for the Yankees (1951, '54, '56) and was known as the 'Plowboy.' He won 11 games for the Yanks in 1954, and also saw action with Kansas City, Detroit, Washington and the Angels in his 12-year career. Tom had a 13-4 record as a reliever with the Angels, and compiled a 67-47 lifetime mark. In 1964 he was named the Angels' minor league pitching instructor.
He began his playing career at Ventura and pitched a 13-inning, 1-0 victory over San Jose on his 19th birthday.
Tom served as the Angels' pitching coach from 1972-74, the Padres' pitching coach in 1975, and for the last four years has been a scout for the Braves."
-New York Yankees 1979 Media Guide
JEFF TORBORG (Coach)
"Former Cleveland manager Jeff Torborg has joined the Yankees as a coach for the remainder of the season. The Westfield, New Jersey native is a graduate of Rutgers University where he set the NCAA batting record by hitting .537. Torborg spent ten years in the major leagues and caught three no-hitters. He managed the Indians for two years.
Jeff was one of Billy Martin's All-Star coaches in both 1977 and 1978."
-New York Yankees 1979 Scorebook & Official Magazine
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