Pat Corrales

Patrick Corrales
(Ike)

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 0", Weight 195 lb.
• High School Fresno High School
• Debut August 2, 1964
• Final Game September 21, 1973
• Born March 20, 1941 in Los Angeles, CA USA
• Died August 27, 2023 in Big Canoe, GA USA

BR page

Biographical Information

Pat Corrales was a "good field, no hit" catcher who played nine seasons in the major leagues. In an even 300 games, he hit only .216/.291/.276 with four homers. He was never a regular, earning most playing time as a rookie with the Philadelphia Phillies in 1965 by playing 63 games with 174 at-bats. Despite his limited playing time, he was named to the 1965 Topps All-Star Rookie Team. He was a backup to Hall of Famer Johnny Bench on the Cincinnati Reds from 1968 to 1972 and played briefly in the 1970 World Series against the Baltimore Orioles. In 1965, he twice reached base two times in a game because of catcher's interference. This is particularly remarkable because those are two of the only seven times this has happened in major league history. Corrales spent his final two years in the minor leagues.

In 1975 he was a player/manager for the Alexandria Aces. He joined the Texas Rangers in 1976 as their first base coach where he worked for two seasons. Corrales was the Rangers third base coach in 1978 and took over as the club's manager in the final game of the season. He guided the team for two more years. In 1981 Corrales served as a Special Assignment Scout for the Rangers.

Corrales spent the next several years managing. He was the Philadelphia Phillies skipper from 1982 until mid-1983. The Phillies were in first place in a tight NL East race when they fired Corrales and replaced him with front office executive Paul Owens on July 18; Owens subsequently led the Phillies to the World Series. Corrales quickly found another managing gig with the Cleveland Indians on July 31st. Corrales and the Indians finished the season in last place. He therefore has the unique distinction of managing first place and last place teams in the same season. With the Indians, he managed to lead the team to a rare winning season in 1986, (although the team was still only 5th in the tough AL East). This ratcheted up expectations for 1987 sky high: in spring training, Sports Illustrated published a cover with a picture of the team and the headline "Best Team in the Majors?" When the Indians regressed to mediocrity, he was fired at the All-Star break.

After managing the Detroit Tigers' AAA affiliate Toledo Mud Hens in 1988, Corrales joined the New York Yankees organization. He started 1989 as the Yankees first base coach, but was fired on August 18th along with manager Dallas Green and three other coaches - just business as usual under owner George Steinbrenner. The Yankees then named him an advance scout on September 24th, a role he continued until June 28, 1990. At that point, Corrales left the Yankees to become first base coach for the Atlanta Braves. He found stability under manager Bobby Cox and served as the Braves first base coach through 1998, followed by eight years as Atlanta's bench coach. He was rumored to be Cox's heir apparent in Atlanta, but Cox outlasted him.

Corrales joined the Washington Nationals as their bench coach for the 2007 and 2008 seasons. Corrales moved to the Nationals front office in 2009 as a Special Consultant to the General Manager and retained that position through 2012. During that span he returned to on-field coaching duties on two occasions. On July 13, 2009, the Nationals fired manager Manny Acta and promoted bench coach Jim Riggleman to manager with Corrales taking over as bench coach. Two years later, Riggleman abruptly resigned as manager over a contract dispute and was replaced by Davey Johnson. Johnson subsequently made some coaching staff changes and brought Corrales aboard as his bench coach on July 1, 2011.

The Los Angeles Dodgers hired Corrales in 2013 as a Special Assistant to the General Manager. He retained this position until his death on August 27, 2023 at the age of 82. Corrales was a true baseball lifer. He signed his first contract at the age of 18 out of high school and spent 64 years, as a catcher, manager, coach, and special assistant.

Notable Achievements

• 1965 Topps All-Star Rookie Team

Preceded by Billy Hunter

Texas Rangers Manager 1978-1980

Succeeded by Don Zimmer

Preceded by Dallas Green

Philadelphia Phillies Manager 1982-1983

Succeeded by Paul Owens

Preceded by Mike Ferraro

Cleveland Indians Manager 1983-1987

Succeeded by Doc Edwards

Year-By-Year Managerial Record

Year	Team	League	Record	Finish	Organization	Playoffs	Notes
1975	Alexandria Aces	Texas League	58-72	7th	San Diego Padres
1978	Texas Rangers	American League	1-0	2nd	Texas Rangers		replaced Billy Hunter (86-75) on October 1
1979	Texas Rangers	American League	83-79	3rd	Texas Rangers
1980	Texas Rangers	American League	76-85	4th	Texas Rangers
1982	Philadelphia Phillies	National League	89-73	2nd	Philadelphia Phillies
1983	Philadelphia Phillies	National League	43-42	--	Philadelphia Phillies		replaced by Paul Owens on July 18
	Cleveland Indians	American League	30-32	7th	Cleveland Indians		replaced Mike Ferraro (40-60) on July 31
1984	Cleveland Indians	American League	75-87	6th	Cleveland Indians
1985	Cleveland Indians	American League	60-102	7th	Cleveland Indians
1986	Cleveland Indians	American League	84-78	5th	Cleveland Indians
1987	Cleveland Indians	American League	31-56	--	Cleveland Indians		replaced by Doc Edwards on July 13
1988	Toledo Mud Hens	International League	58-84	8th	Detroit Tigers

Further Reading

• Paul Newberry (The Associated Press): "Former big league manager, coach, catcher Pat Corrales dies at 82", Yahoo! Sports, August 28, 2023. [1]
• James Ray: "Pat Corrales", in Mel Marmer and Bill Nowlin, eds.: The Year of Blue Snow: The 1964 Philadelphia Phillies, SABR, Phoenix, AZ, 2013, pp. 75-78. ISBN 978-1-933599-51-9

Related Sites

• Pat Corrales at the SABR Bio Project
• BR Manager page