Danny Murtaugh, who coached the Pirates for parts of 15 seasons throughout the 50's, 60's, and 70's, was named among ten finalists eligible to be voted into the Hall of Fame. The voting will take place December 7th.
Murtaugh, who died in 1976 just three months after leading the Pirates to a 92-70 season, deserves to be in the Hall. As I said, he coached the Pirates for parts of 15 seasons and only three times did he fail to field a team that was below .500. Yeah, I know, hard to imagine now, isn't it?
Murtaugh also was at the helm when the Pirates won both the 1960 World Series and 1971 World Series. In all, he won two championships, and led the team to three more NLCS. He never managed a team other than the Pirates and compiled a 1115-950 record between four different stints as team manager.
Murtaugh also played nine seasons in the Majors, four of them with the Pirates as a second baseman between 1948-1951.
