The MLB manager tree

BySteve Wulf ESPN logo
Friday, July 3, 2015

The following managerial"tree" connects all 30 current major league managers back to either John McGraw, Connie Mack or Miller Huggins, Hall of Famers who played for Ned Hanlon,"TheFather of Modern Baseball." The managers had to either play for or coach under the next branch. Below the graphic is a key that show how today's skippers connect to the Big Three. Some, like Joe Girardi and Brad Ausmus, can easily be connected to more than one, but for the sake of simplicity, we used one branch per manager.

1. Don Mattingly (Los Angeles Dodgers) played for Yogi Berra (New York Yankees, 1984-85), who played for Casey Stengel (Yankees, 1948-60, and New York Mets, 1965), who played for John McGraw (New York Giants, 1921-23).

2. Bob Melvin (Oakland Athletics) played for Roger Craig (San Francisco Giants, 1986-88), who played for Stengel (New York Mets, 1962-63), who played for McGraw.

3. Matt Williams(Washington Nationals) played for Craig (San Francisco Giants,1987-92), who played for Stengel, who played for McGraw.

4. Fredi Gonzalez (Atlanta Braves) coached under Bobby Cox (Atlanta Braves, 2002-06), who played for Ralph Houk (New York Yankees, 1968-69) who played (New York Yankees, 1949-54) and coached (New York Yankees, 1958-60) under Stengel, who played for McGraw.

5. Kevin Cash (Tampa Bay Rays) played for Lou Piniella (Tampa Bay Rays, 2005), who played for Billy Martin (New York Yankees, 1975-79, 1983) who played for Stengel (New York Yankees, 1950-57), who played for McGraw.

6. Bryan Price (Cincinnati Reds) coached under Piniella (Seattle Mariners, 2001-02), who played for Martin, who played for Stengel, who played for McGraw.

7. Lloyd McClendon (Seattle Mariners) played for Don Zimmer (Chicago Cubs, 1989-90), who played for Stengel (New York Mets, 1962), who played for McGraw.

8. Joe Maddon (Chicago Cubs) coached and managed in the Angels system under Gene Mauch (1981-82, 1985-87), who played for Billy Southworth (Boston Braves, 1950-51), who played for McGraw (New York Giants, 1924-26).

9. Pete Mackanin (Philadelphia Phillies) played for Mauch (Montreal Expos, 1975, and Minnesota Twins, 1980), who played for Southworth, who played for McGraw.

10. Dan Jennings (Miami Marlins) played for Carlos Tosca (Greensboro Hornets, 1984), who coached under Art Mazmanian (Oneonta Yankees, 1978), who played for Bill McKechnie (Cincinnati Reds, 1938-42), who played for McGraw (New York Giants, 1916).

11. John Gibbons (Toronto Blue Jays) played for Davey Johnson (New York Mets, 1984 and 1986), who played for Earl Weaver (Baltimore Orioles, 1968-72), who played for Andy Cohen (New Orleans Pelicans, 1955-56), who played for McGraw (New York Giants, 1926 and 1928-29).

12. Buck Showalter (Baltimore Orioles) played for Johnny Oates (Nashville Sounds, 1982, and Columbus Clippers, 1983), who played for Weaver (Baltimore Orioles, 1970 and 1972), who played for Cohen, who played for McGraw.

13. A.J. Hinch (Houston Astros), played for Art Howe (Oakland A's, 1998-2000), who played for Danny Murtaugh (Pittsburgh Pirates, 1974-75), who played for Billy Meyer (Pittsburgh Pirates, 1948-51), who played for Connie Mack (Philadelphia Athletics, 1916-17).

14. Mike Scioscia (Los Angeles Angels) played for Del Crandall (Albuquerque Dukes, 1979-80), who played for Charlie Grimm (Milwaukee Braves, 1953-56), who played for Mack (Philadelphia Athletics, 1916).

15. Terry Collins (New York Mets) played for Crandall (Albuquerque Dukes, 1978 and 1980), who played for Grimm, who played for Mack.

16. Terry Francona (Cleveland Indians) played for Dick Williams (Montreal Expos, 1981), who played for Paul Richards (Baltimore Orioles, 1956-58 and 1961), who played for Mack (Philadelphia Athletics, 1935).

17. Bruce Bochy (San Francisco Giants) played for Williams (San Diego Padres, 1983-85), who played for Richards, who played for Mack.

18. Clint Hurdle (Pittsburgh Pirates) played for Whitey Herzog (Kansas City Royals, 1977-79), who played for Richards (Baltimore Orioles, 1961), who played for Mack.

19. Jeff Banister (Texas Rangers) played for Jim Leyland (Pittsburgh Pirates, 1991), who coached under Tony La Russa (Chicago White Sox, 1982-85), who managed in the White Sox farm system under player development director Richards (Knoxville Sox ,1978 and Iowa Oaks, 1979), who played for Mack.

20. Craig Counsell(Milwaukee Brewers) played for Leyland (Florida Marlins, 1997-98), who coached under La Russa, who was mentored by Richards, who played for Mack.

21. Walt Weiss (Colorado Rockies) played for La Russa (Oakland A's, 1987-92), who was mentored by Richards, who played for Mack.

22. Joe Girardi (New York Yankees) played for Joe Torre (New York Yankees, 1996-99), who played for Billy Hitchcock (Atlanta Braves, 1966-67), who played for Mack (Philadelphia Athletics, 1950).

23. Robin Ventura (Chicago White Sox) played for Torre (New York Yankees, 2002-03), who played for Hitchcock, who played for Mack.

24. Paul Molitor (Minnesota Twins) played for George Bamberger (Milwaukee Brewers, 1978-80 and 1985-86), who played for Leo Durocher (New York Giants, 1951-52), who played for Miller Huggins (New York Yankees, 1925 and 1928-29).

25. Ned Yost (Kansas City Royals) played for Bamberger (Milwaukee Brewers, 1980), who played for Durocher, who played for Huggins.

26. Brad Ausmus (Detroit Tigers) played for Larry Dierker (Houston Astros, 1997-98 and 2001), who played for Durocher (Houston Astros, 1972-73), who played for Huggins.

27. Chip Hale (Arizona Diamondbacks) played for Russ Nixon (Portland Beavers, 1991), who played for Billy Herman (Boston Red Sox, 1965), who played for Durocher (Brooklyn Dodgers, 1941-43 and 1946), who played for Huggins.

28. Pat Murphy (San Diego Padres) played for Steve Smith (Salem Redbirds, 1983), who played for Doug Rader (Hawaii Islanders, 1980-82), who played for Durocher (Houston Astros, 1972-73), who played for Huggins.

29. John Farrell (Boston Red Sox) played for Buck Rodgers (California Angels, 1993-94), who played for Bill Rigney (California Angels, 1961-69), who played for Durocher (New York Giants, 1948-53), who played for Huggins (New York Yankees, 1925 and 1928-29).

30. Mike Matheny(St. Louis Cardinals) played for Jim Fregosi (Toronto Blue Jays, 1999), who played for Rigney (California Angels, 1961-69), who played for Durocher, who played for Huggins.