Altobelli, who managed Giants and guided Orioles to title, dies

Former Giants manager Joe Altobelli, who won the National League Manager of the Year award in San Francisco and a World Series title in Baltimore, died Wednesday of natural causes at 88.

Altobelli’s three-year stay as the Giants manager in the late 1970s produced optimism in San Francisco, albeit without any real rise in the standings. His Giants teams from 1977-79 went 225-239 and finished no higher than third in the NL West.

Altobelli became the eighth manager in San Francisco history when general manager Spec Richardson hired him to replace Bill Rigney on Oct. 7, 1976. After a lackluster beginning, when San Francisco finished 12 games under .500 in ’77, Altobelli oversaw an energetic season in 1978.

Invigorated by acquiring Vida Blue from the A’s in a blockbuster deal at the end of spring training, the Giants used a strong Blue-led pitching staff and an offense featuring Jack Clark, Darrell Evans and Bill Madlock to finish 1978 with their best record in seven years. The Giants’ 89-73 record, though, was only good enough for third place in the West.

The Giants’ surprising ’78 resurgence also enabled the team to more than double its attendance at Candlestick Park. The Giants set a then-franchise record by drawing 1.7 million fans that year — just 700,000 fans came to games in San Francisco in 1977.

Blue said Altobelli couldn’t have been more helpful to him while both were going through their first season in San Francisco.

“Joe was always nice to me and allowed me to do my job,” Blue said. “He was a pretty mild mannered man, and he allowed you to do your thing. He expected you to do your job and be a big leaguer on and off the field.”

Altobelli’s greatest achievement during his nearly six decades in baseball came in 1983, four years after he was fired by the Giants with 22 games left in the 1979 season. That’s when Altobelli led the Orioles to a World Series victory over the Philadelphia Phillies to culminate his first season as their manager.

Hall of Famer Cal Ripken Jr. said Altobelli’s calm demeanor was a huge benefit to the Orioles during their championship season.

Altobelli spent most of his adult life in Rochester, N.Y., the longtime home of the Orioles’ TripleA team. He played and managed there, leading the Red Wings to one of their greatest runs in franchise history from 1971-74 while winning two championships.

In parts of seven seasons as a big league manager, Altobelli had a 437-407 record. After parts of three seasons in both San Francisco and Baltimore, Altobelli served as the Cubs’ interim manager for one game in 1991.