Former Phillies manager Pat Corrales dies at 82
Corrales was fired by the Phillies in 1983, even though the team was tied for first place in the NL East. He became a coach on the Atlanta Braves' powerhouse teams under Bobby Cox.
ATLANTA — Pat Corrales, who managed the Texas Rangers, Cleveland Indians, and Phillies before a long stint on the Atlanta Braves coaching staff under Hall of Fame skipper Bobby Cox, has died at the age of 82.
The Los Angeles Dodgers said Mr. Corrales died of natural causes Sunday night at his home in the north Georgia mountains. He had served as a special assistant to the team’s general manager since 2012.
Mr. Corrales was fired by the Phillies in 1983, even though the team was tied for first place in the NL East. General manager Paul Owens replaced Mr. Corrales and guided the Phillies to the World Series, where they lost to the Baltimore Orioles in five games.
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Phillies manager Rob Thomson played in the minors with the Tigers while Mr. Corrales was Detroit’s triple-A manager in 1988. ”I got to meet him in spring training,” Thomson said. “Nice man. Very knowledgeable baseball man, obviously.”
Mr. Corrales was a backup catcher with four teams over a nine-year career in the majors, but he was more notable as MLB’s first manager of Mexican-American descent when he took over the Rangers for the final game of the 1978 season.
Corrales managed the Rangers for two full seasons after his one-game interim stint, finishing with a record of 160-164 in Arlington.
He was hired as the Phillies manager in 1982, going 89-73 in his only full season with the team. Mr. Corrales was let go with Philadelphia at 43-42 the following year, but he wasn’t out of work for long.
Finishing out the season as Cleveland’s manager, he would guide the AL team then known as the Indians over five seasons. After a 102-loss campaign in 1985, Cleveland bounced back to an 84-78 mark the following year.
But Mr. Corrales was fired in 1987 with the Indians mired at 31-56. His overall mark in Cleveland was 280-355.
Mr. Corrales followed with a coaching stint in Atlanta, working on Cox’s staff from 1990-2006. That tenure coincided with Atlanta’s rise to MLB powerhouse, which included a record 14 straight division titles and a World Series championship in 1995.
“The Atlanta Braves mourn the passing of long time Atlanta Braves bench coach Pat Corrales,” the team said in a statement posted on X, the social media site formerly known as Twitter. “Our thoughts are with his friends and family during this difficult time.”
Mr. Corrales finished his career in the dugout as a coach with the Washington Nationals before taking the front-office job with the Dodgers. He also had coaching tenures with Texas and the New York Yankees.
Mr. Corrales was survived by his wife of 40 years, Donna Myers Corrales of Atlanta; daughters Rena Hammerness and Patricia Collins; and son Jason Corrales. Two other children, son Patrick Corrales and daughter Michele Pollitt, had died.
“I was fortunate to have worked with Pat for more than 30 years at three franchises, and he was instrumental in turning all three into championship organizations,” said Stan Kasten, the Dodgers president and CEO who formerly worked in Washington and Atlanta.
“He loved mentoring young players and the number of players he influenced is too long to count,” Kasten said in a statement. “Pat truly loved the game of baseball, and we will miss him.”
A funeral service will be held Sept. 5 in Atlanta, with burial in Marble Hill, Georgia.