Chuck Tanner Remembered

Chuck Tanner died last week, not a suprising thing for a guy who was 82 and lost his wife not too long ago, but for a fanbase still looking back to 1979 like it was last season it was a kick to the gut. It was the end of quite a journey for a guy who devoted the majority of his life to the game of baseball.

Chuck's playing career was the textbook definition of nondescript. He was good enough to stick around for several years, but was at best a journeyman. His managing career was a different story. When the Pirates were looking to replace legendary manager Danny Murtaugh (apparently Riggs was not available) they ended up pulling off one of the rare trades in baseball history involving a manager, acquiring Tanner from Oakland for Manny Sanguillen. It may seem like Tanner's run with the Pirates wasn't successful outside of the championship in 1979, but he was competing against powerhouses like the Big Red Machine on a regular basis in an era where a second place finish was sometimes the best a team could hope for.

However, outside of Pittsburgh he might be more remembered for fostering the lax atmosphere largely responsible for the rampant drug use that led to the infamous Pittsburgh Drug Trials of 1985. Chuck was known as a hands-off kind of manager, one of his famous quotes was that he managed with one eye and one ear closed, and in the mid 70s/early 80s Pittsburgh became the go to cocaine town for traveling MLB players. Even the guy wearing the Pirate Parrot mascot costume in 1979 was one of the people named as a cocaine dealer in the trials. Several Pirates were traded after the trials hit, and free agents were less inclined to sign with a team known to be a haven for drug dealers. It all added up to the quick downturn of the team from a perennial division leader in the 70s to the team that lost 104 games in 1985, the year Tanner was asked to resign.

Tanner did manage again, but it was just a couple of forgettable years with the Braves before calling it a career. He did stay in baseball, he spent the rest of his life as a special advisor/ambassador for the Pirates up until a few years ago when his health started slipping. Ironically, the team's current losing skid may have been the best thing for Tanner. Their focus on past championship teams has caused almost all current fans to not only forget about the drug trials, most have never even heard of them. Honestly, that's probably how it should be. If anyone should be fondly remembered, it's Chuck. If being too naive for the mid 70s is the worst you can say about someone, then that's the sign of a pretty solid dude.