Danny Ozark
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Daniel Leonard Ozark (born Daniel Leonard Orzechowski, November 24, 1923, in Buffalo, New York) is a former coach and manager in Major League Baseball. As manager of the Philadelphia Phillies (1973 through August 31 1979), Ozark led the Phils to three consecutive National League East Division championships (1976-77-78), but each year his team fell in the National League Championship Series.
A respected baseball man, but one frequently lampooned for his malaprops as a public speaker, Ozark was a minor league first baseman who spent his playing career in the labyrinthine Brooklyn Dodgers farm system. He batted and threw righthanded.
In 1956, Ozark became a manager with the Dodgers' Class B Wichita Falls farm club (Big State League) and rose through their system in succeeding years all the way to the AAA level, winning a division championship with the 1963 Spokane Indians of the Pacific Coast League. In 1965, he came to the major leagues - and the Los Angeles Dodgers - as a coach for Walter Alston. Ozark served eight years (1965-72) on Alston's staff until his hiring as manager by the last-place Phillies in October 1972.
The Phillies showed steady improvement in Ozark's first three seasons, and in 1976 broke through by winning 101 games, a club record. The Philadelphia club featured a core of players led by two future Hall of Famers: third baseman Mike Schmidt and lefthanded pitcher Steve Carlton. But in the 1976 NLCS, they faced one of the most powerful teams of the era, the defending world champion Cincinnati Reds, and they dropped the Series in three straight games.
In 1977, the Phils again won 101 games to cruise to the NL East title. This time, against the Dodgers, they were poised to take a 2-1 game Series lead when Los Angeles rallied for three runs in the ninth inning of Game 3 to steal the victory. The following day, the disheartened Phils fell to Tommy John's complete game as the Dodgers won the pennant, three games to one.
In 1978, they won only 90 games, but still prevailed by two games in their division, earning the right to face the Dodgers in an NLCS rematch. Again the Phillies lost in four games.
During the 1978-79 offseason, the Phils signed free agent Pete Rose away from the Reds. Fresh off his 44-game-hitting streak season, Rose was expected to put Philadelphia over the top in 1979. But the Phillies played poorly all season and were still two games under .500 on August 31. It cost Ozark his job; Dallas Green took over.
Ozark then returned to the Dodgers to coach under Tommy Lasorda, but when the two had a falling-out during the 1982 season, Ozark was released. He joined the archrival San Francisco Giants as a coach in 1983-84 as a member of Frank Robinson's staff, and served as the Giants' interim manager in 1984 when Robinson was fired August 5. The Giants won 24 and lost 32 under Ozark, remaining in the basement of the NL West.
Counting his Giants' tenure, Ozark compiled a lifetime record of 618 wins and 542 losses (.533).
[edit] External link
- Baseball-Reference.com - career managing record
| Preceded by: Paul Owens |
Philadelphia Phillies Manager 1973-1979 |
Succeeded by: Dallas Green |
| Preceded by: Frank Robinson |
San Francisco Giants Manager 1984 |
Succeeded by: Jim Davenport |
