Former major league manager Jerry Manuel turns 60 today. Did you know that over half his lifetime ago he was briefly a member of the San Diego Padres?
Before the 1982 season, Manuel had played in 94 games with the Tigers and Expos in parts of four seasons dating back to 1975, hitting no better than .200 in any of those abbreviated campaigns. The Padres acquired him from Montreal on May 22, 1982 for the delightfully named Kim Seaman.
Manuel was used as a pinch-hitter and walked in his first game in San Diego, two days after the trade. He marinated on the bench for nearly a week until he got into his second game, playing all 10 innings of a 6-5 loss at St. Louis. Manuel reached base once in five trips to the plate, but made that one time count. He hit an RBI triple to drive in Luis Salazar to put the Padres up 2-0 in the top of the ninth inning. That triple was Manuel's last major league hit, as he never suited up for the Padres or any other big league team again. Well, at least not as a player.
If not for that pinch-hit walk in a blowout win, Manuel would have gone down as one of the few Padres one-game wonders. As it stands, he'll be remembered for more notable things, namely managing the White Sox and Mets for nine seasons. These days he pops up occasionally as a talking head on MLB Network.
