Bob Skinner

Bob Skinner
Left fielder / Manager
Born: (1931-10-03) October 3, 1931 (age 92) La Jolla, California, U.S.
Batted: Left Threw: Right
MLB debut
April 13, 1954, for the Pittsburgh Pirates
Last MLB appearance
September 24, 1966, for the St. Louis Cardinals
MLB statistics
Batting average	.277
Home runs	103
Runs batted in	531
Managerial record	93–123
Winning %	.431
Teams
As player Pittsburgh Pirates (1954, 1956–1963) Cincinnati Reds (1963–1964) St. Louis Cardinals (1964–1966) As manager Philadelphia Phillies (1968–1969) San Diego Padres (1977) As coach San Diego Padres (1970–1973) Pittsburgh Pirates (1974–1976) San Diego Padres (1977) California Angels (1978) Pittsburgh Pirates (1979–1985) Atlanta Braves (1986–1988)
Career highlights and awards
3× All-Star (1958, 1960, 1960²) 3× World Series champion (1960, 1964, 1979)

Robert Ralph Skinner (born October 3, 1931) is an American former professional baseball outfielder / first baseman, manager, coach, and scout, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for three National League (NL) teams. In all, Skinner spent over 50 years in the game.

Career

Bob Skinner, a left-handed hitter who threw right-handed, was listed as 6 feet 4 inches (1.93 m) tall and 190 pounds (86 kg). He is a native of La Jolla, California.

He played most of his career with the Pittsburgh Pirates (1954; 1956–63), signing with them in 1951. Skinner spent his last 3+1⁄2 years as a pinch hitter and backup outfielder for the Cincinnati Reds (1963–64) and St. Louis Cardinals (1964–66). During his best season, 1962 with the Pirates, he batted .302 and hit 20 home runs. Over his 12-year career, he batted .277 with 1,198 hits, including 197 doubles, 58 triples and 103 homers. He played for two World Series champions in two tries. In the 1960 World Series with Pittsburgh, he was injured in game 1 and unable to return until game 7. He had 1 hit in 5 at bats plus a walk, a hit-by-pitch and a stolen base. As a pinch hitter for St. Louis during the 1964 World Series, Skinner hit safely in two of three at-bats for a .667 average.

In 1967, Skinner retired from playing and became manager of his hometown team, the San Diego Padres of the Triple-A Pacific Coast League, the top farm club of the Philadelphia Phillies. He led San Diego to an 85–63 record and the 1967 PCL championship, winning Minor League Manager of the Year honors from The Sporting News. In 1968, he began the year at San Diego but on June 16 he was called to the Phillies to replace Gene Mauch as manager with the Phils in fifth place with a record of 27–27. It was a disastrous move for the Phils; under Skinner, the team plunged to eighth place, with a 48–59 record, and when they performed even worse in 1969, at 44–64, and in fifth place in the new NL East Division, Skinner was replaced by his third-base coach, George Myatt, on August 6.

He remained in the game, however, as a coach for the National League Padres, who came into being in 1969, Pirates, California Angels and Atlanta Braves. He also managed the Houston Astros' Tucson Toros PCL franchise from 1989 to 1992 before becoming a Houston scout.

His career record as a manager, including a one-game interim stint with the 1977 Padres, was 93–123 (.431).

In 1976, Skinner was also inducted by the San Diego Hall of Champions into the Breitbard Hall of Fame honoring San Diego's finest athletes both on and off the playing surface.

Career statistics

Skinner played 893 games at left field, 151 games at first base, 56 games at right field and 2 games at third base.

Personal life

Skinner is the father of former MLB catcher and coach Joel Skinner.

External links

• Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball Reference, or Fangraphs, or Baseball Reference (Minors), or Retrosheet
• Bob Skinner managerial career statistics at Baseball-Reference.com
• Bob Skinner at the SABR Baseball Biography Project
• Bob Skinner at Baseball Almanac
• Bob Skinner at Pura Pelota (Venezuelan Professional Baseball League)