George Bamberger

George Irvin Bamberger (August 1, 1923 – April 4, 2004) was an American professional baseball player, pitching coach and manager.

He served in the United States Army during World War II in the Mediterranean and European theaters of operations and signed with the hometown New York Giants in 1946.

Bamberger reached double digits in wins during four of his first five minor league seasons; he would record ten or more victories in 15 of his 18 years as a minor league pitcher, and win 213 total games during that span (1946–63).

In Major League Baseball, the right-handed pitcher appeared in ten games, nine in relief, for the 1951–52 New York Giants and the 1959 Baltimore Orioles.

Bamberger made the Giants' 28-man roster at the outset of the 1951 season.

In his big-league debut on April 19, 1951, during a Patriots' Day doubleheader against the Boston Braves at Braves Field, he gave up three hits (including a home run to Sam Jethroe) and two earned runs in two innings pitched.

Nine days later, he struggled again, as he surrendered a base on balls and then a two-run homer to Jackie Robinson, while recording no outs, against the Brooklyn Dodgers.

Bamberger spent the rest of that season with the Triple-A Ottawa Giants of the International League.

In 1952, Bamberger again was a member of the big-league Giants during the season's early weeks.

He appeared in five more games, all as a relief pitcher, but was largely ineffective, allowing six hits, three walks, and four earned runs in four full innings of work.

After June 1, he was sent to the Oakland Oaks of the top-level Pacific Coast League, where he spent the bulk of the rest of his playing career.

The Oaks transferred to Vancouver, British Columbia, in 1956, and Bamberger remained with the renamed Vancouver Mounties for another seven years until the franchise moved again, to Dallas, Texas, in 1963.

In the midst of that tenure, however, in 1959, the 35-year-old Bamberger received his third and final major league trial with the Mounties' parent club, the Baltimore Orioles.

In his American League debut on April 16, Bamberger was the starting pitcher against the defending World Champion New York Yankees at Memorial Stadium.

He held the Yankees scoreless for five full innings, as Baltimore built a 2–0 lead.

But in the sixth, he surrendered a two-run double to Norm Siebern, tying the game; and then, after the Orioles had gone ahead 3–2 in their half of the sixth, he gave up the lead in the seventh frame.

He left after 6 1⁄3 innings, having allowed four earned runs on four hits, with Baltimore trailing by a run.

(The Orioles eventually prevailed, 7–4, with Billy O'Dell getting the win in relief.)

After two relief appearances with the Orioles, Bamberger returned to the Pacific Coast League for the rest of his pitching career.

He never recorded a decision in the Majors, and compiled a 9.42 earned run average with 25 hits and ten bases on balls allowed, and three strikeouts, over 14 1⁄3 innings.

In 1960–63, Bamberger served as a player-coach for the Mounties and Dallas-Fort Worth Rangers while still pitching regularly (working in 135 games, 110 as a starter).

Then, in 1964, he retired as a player and rejoined the Baltimore organization as its roving minor league pitching instructor.

The Orioles' farm system was then among the pioneers in standardizing player instruction.

With Bamberger playing a key role, it was developing a corps of young pitchers that would help the club win the 1966 World Series.

He earned a promotion when general manager Harry Dalton appointed him to succeed Harry Brecheen as the Orioles' pitching coach on October 3, 1967.

Bamberger took over a pitching staff that often saw young stars quickly lose their effectiveness due to sore arms.

Dave McNally and Jim Palmer, two stars who recovered under Bamberger, credited a routine of regular exercises instituted by Bamberger for reversing the trend.

He later spent ten seasons (1968–77) as the Orioles' pitching coach and managed the Milwaukee Brewers (1978–80; 1985–86) and New York Mets (1982–83).

During his playing career, he threw and batted right-handed, stood 6 ft tall and weighed 175 lb.

Bamberger was born and raised in Staten Island, New York City, New York.

During that decade, he produced 18 twenty-game winners, including four for the 1971 American League champions: Jim Palmer, Mike Cuellar, Dave McNally and Pat Dobson.

He also would teach his famed pitch, "The Staten Island Sinker".

Serving under Hank Bauer and then Earl Weaver, Bamberger would remain with the ballclub through 1977 and five American League East Division championships, three American League pennants and the 1970 World Series championship.

Bamberger signed a two-year $120,000 contract to succeed Alex Grammas as manager of the Milwaukee Brewers on January 20, 1978.

The appointment reunited him with Dalton, who had become the Brewers' new general manager two months earlier.

Dalton said Bamberger “was the only man we considered” for the position.

The Milwaukee franchise never had a winning record in its first nine seasons, prior to Bamberger's arrival.

Stating that a major goal was instilling a winning attitude, he added, "Last year the feeling I got was that we (the Orioles) should not lose to the Milwaukee Brewers. We felt they did not care, that they felt we were going to win."

In his first managerial assignment, Bamberger led the 1978 Brewers to a 26-game turnaround.

His club won 93 games and finished third behind the Yankees and Boston Red Sox in the AL East.