| |

The Mets’ managerial youth movement

When Mickey Callaway oversees his first pitchers and catchers workout on Valentine’s Day, he’ll be the youngest Mets manager to open spring training since Davey Johnson, who was 41 at the start of his first camp in 1984. Callaway, who’ll turn 43 on May 13, is the third-youngest man to guide the Amazin’s through spring workouts in their history. Only Joe Torre (37 in his first spring at the helm in 1978) and Johnson were younger. Wes Westrum, who had a November birthday, was 43 during his first camp after taking over for Casey Stengel during the 1965 season.

I don’t know if this means anything, but when Callaway was named manager last year and his age was cited, it made me curious. After having MLB’s oldest manager for a few years in Terry Collins, I was happy the Mets were going younger. Maybe a fresh perspective will make a difference in this analytical age.

Here are the Mets managers, from youngest to oldest at the time of their first springs. In the cases of Salty Parker, Roy McMillan, Frank Howard and Mike Cubbage, their ages represent the time of their in-season appointments. They did not get the full-time job, so they never guided the team during spring training.

Mets Managers by Age

Manager's listed age is at the beginning of spring training of first season.

ManagerYrs1st SeasonAgeGWLW-L%Ties
Joe Torre51977377092864200.4053
Mike Cubbage1199140*7340.4290
Davey Johnson719844110125954170.5880
Mickey Callaway1201842-----
Wes Westrum31965433801422370.3751
Gil Hodges41968436493393090.5231
Roy McMillan1197545*5326270.4910
Yogi Berra41972465882922960.4970
Bobby Valentine719964610035364670.5340
Bud Harrelson21990462741451290.5290
Frank Howard1198346*11652640.4480
Willie Randolph42005505553022530.5440
Jeff Torborg2199250200851150.4250
Joe Frazier21976532071011060.4880
Salty Parker1196754*11470.3640
Jerry Manuel32008554172042130.4890
Art Howe22003563231371860.4240
George Bamberger2198258208811270.3890
Dallas Green41993595122292830.4470
Terry Collins720116111345515830.4860
Casey Stengel41962715821754040.3023

Similar Posts

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

For security, use of Google's reCAPTCHA service is required which is subject to the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.