An Eighth Grader at St. Gall

 I went to college with Dave Corzine, who turned into a decent, journeyman NBA center, but we didn’t have any classes together.  I went to high school with Jim Dwyer, who spent 18 years in the majors as a lefty platoon player and pinch hitter, but we didn’t have any classes together.  And I can now say I went to St. Gall grade school with Pete Mackanin, who is managing his third big-league team (after the Pirates and Reds) on an interim basis.  On Friday, Mackanin was picked to fill in as the Phillies’ skipper when Ryne Sandburg stepped down.

I never had class with Mackanin because he was an eighth grader, one year and two days older than me.  I could only watch as he hit a 16-inch softball from one end of the playground to the other.  Mackanin was drafted as a 17-year old in 1969 by the Senators, who shipped him off to the Expos five years later as part of a trade for Willie Davis.  In Montreal, Mackanin had two decent seasons at the ages of 22 and 23, totaling 20 homers and 77 rbi’s, but he could never establish himself as an everyday player.  His last major-league game was against the White Sox at the age of 30.  He took his first managing job in the Cubs’ system three years later.

Mackanin is a baseball lifer, having been a coach, scout and manager.  He stepped in to guide the Reds to a 41-39 record in 2007 only to see Dusty Baker hired on a permanent basis; five years later, he interviewed for the Cubs’ managing job that went to Dale Sveum.  And I wouldn’t bet on him getting the Phillies’ job, which would be a thankless task, anyway; the team has a major-league worst record of 26-49.  If it’s any consolation, to me he’ll forever be an eighth grader, a year older with a bat that boomed up and down the St. Gall playground on south Kedzie Avenue.