Manager led Giants on glorious run in 1978
Joe Altobelli, who managed the Giants for three seasons and oversaw a glorious run to nearly reach the playoffs in 1978, died Wednesday of natural causes. He was 88.
Altobelli played 166 games in the majors with Cleveland and Minnesota and was best known as the manager who guided the 1983 Baltimore Orioles to the World Series championship.
In San Francisco, Altobelli managed a team that brought fans and excitement back to Candlestick Park after a rough stretch through much of the ’70s. The Giants led their division most of the summer of 1978 and won 42 onerun games, still a majorleague record.
In midAugust, the Giants fell out of first place and eventually sunk to third, finishing six games behind the Dodgers, who lost the World Series to the Yankees.
The 1978 team was so cherished that the Giants staged a reunion on the 25th anniversary at thenPacific Bell Park.
“Joe was a pretty mildmannered guy, easy to get along with, let you do your thing,” said former Giants pitcher Vida Blue, who was acquired from the A’s shortly before the 1978 season.
“He wasn’t confrontational. He expected you to be be a bigleaguer and do your job on and off the field, man. It’s a sad day to lose someone like that because he’s a member of my baseball family and will always be a member of my baseball family.”
The Giants greatly benefited from the blockbuster trade, which sent seven players to the A’s. After winning three World Series titles in Oakland, Blue crossed the bay and won 18 games and posted a 2.79 ERA, and Bob Knepper added 17 wins with a 2.63 ERA.
The rotation was so deep with John Montefusco and Jim Barr that the foursome, in full uniforms, posed for a classic Sporting News cover shot taken at Marin Headlands, with the Golden Gate Bridge and city in the background.
Blue was the leader with his golden arm and infectious spirit, prompting Altobelli to say in a 2003 Chronicle interview, “Most starting pitchers will just watch the game when they’re not pitching. But Vida was a real cheerleader. I think somebody even gave him pompoms.”
This was the summer of Mike Ivie, a first baseman who hit four pinch home runs including two grand slams, one that helped beat the Dodgers on a memorable day at Candlestick when 56,103 showed up to watch the Giants win 65.
A young Jack Clark burst onto the scene as one of the game’s most feared hitters and was surrounded by accomplished players such as Bill Madlock, Darrell Evans and, of course, Willie McCovey, who hit his 500th homer that season.
“It was my first year over there, and it was Joe’s first bigleague job after being in Rochester all those years,” Blue said. “We both were trying to get our feet wet as far as being San Franciscans. I came over to a pretty decent team. I’m not sure (the team) realized how good we were.”
Fans flocked to Candlestick, and the season attendance of 1,740,480 not only was the secondhighest total in franchise history to that point but almost matched the previous three seasons combined.
“The Dodgers were just a good ballclub,” Altobelli said in the 2003 interview. “And so were the Reds. Nobody gave up, and we played hard, but ...”
The Giants returned to mediocrity the following summer, leading to Altobelli’s firing. In three seasons, he was 225239.
In a statement, Giants President and CEO Larry Baer said, “Joe Altobelli’s leadership was one of the key factors for the Giants’ success in 1978, which rekindled excitement for Giants baseball in the Bay Area. Our condolences go out to the Altobelli family and his friends.”
Altobelli, born in Detroit in 1932, signed with the Indians and spent most of his playing career in the minors. He was a longtime manager of the Orioles’ top farm team in Rochester before the Giants hired him to replace Bill Rigney, the first manager under owner Bob Lurie, who bought the team from Horace Stoneham in 1976.
After a stint with the Yankees as a coach and minorleague manager, Altobelli was rehired by the Orioles to manage three future Hall of Famers in 1983: Eddie Murray, Cal Ripken Jr. and Jim Palmer. Replacing Earl Weaver, Altobelli managed the Orioles to a fivegame World Series victory over the Phillies.