Baseball Managers And Their Responsibilities

By Dusty Writes

February 24, 2026

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It was amazing how much responsibility a manager had back in the day, especially when they were player/managers. They had to be their own bench coach, pitching coach, batting coach, and also teach fundamentals in many instances. Many times the manager made trades, had a great amount of influence in who the team acquired, got rid of, and more.

Managers back in the day were to some extent general managers. Managers were so powerful and influential in those days that sometimes the team was named after the manager or they had nicknames named after their manager.

Managers back then often were scouts and handled contract negotiations, along with everything else they had to do.

For example, the Philadelphia A's were sometimes called "the Mackmen ," named after the legendary Connie Mack. Brooklyn's team was called the Robins, named after their manager, Wilbert Robinson, who was also called " Uncle Robbie."

Connie Mack had a stadium named after him, but of course, he was also the owner of the A's, as well as their manager.

When people name the most powerful or influential people in a team's history, one of the first names they mention if they are speaking about legendary New York Giants is John McGraw. Connie Mack was also one of the most influential people in A's history. Joe McCarthy and Casey Stengel are also powerful figures in Yankees history. When Billy Martin became A's manager, the A's style of play was called " Billy Ball".

Miller Huggins, Yankees manager from 1918-1929, was honored with a monument in Yankee Stadium.

Some managers were a big part of a team's legacy and history. Managers were often innovators. John McGraw has been given credit for being the first manager to popularize relief pitching. Lou Boudreau has been given credit for inventing the shift vs Ted Williams, but the shift was used regularly in the 1920s, well before Ted Williams became a player.

Casey Stengel has been given credit as the first  "modern " manager to platoon players on a regular basis.

Another incredible aspect of managing in the early days, up to around the 1950s, was that managers sometimes wore suits and not baseball uniforms.

Player/managers back in the day have not received nearly enough credit for handling that incredibly difficult job. Some big-name managers, mentioned above have received tremendous recognition. However, other player/managers haven't received enough credit.