March 27 – Happy Birthday Miller Huggins

After thirteen seasons as a National League second baseman, “”Hug”" became a manager. He took over as skipper of the Yankees in 1918, winning over one thousand games, six AL pennants and three World Series during his one dozen seasons in the Yankee dugout. Though he was small in stature, only 5’6″ tall and weighing just 140 pounds, Huggins was able to gain the respect and love of his players. Lou Gehrig called him “the squarest shooter I ever met in baseball.” He became seriously ill during the 1929 season when an eye infection turned into a case of blood poisoning. He died that September. He was just 50 years old.

Since we’re on the topic of Yankee managers and Joe Girardi is about to begin his sixth year at the helm of the Bronx Bombers, I thought it might be interesting to take a look at the records of the top five winning managers in pinstripe history. Here’s the list:

Huggins shares his birthday with this one-time Yankee pitcher and this former Yankee DH.