Tucson is a breeding ground for MLB managers | Greg Hansen

What hasn't got any real acclaim is that Tucson has been a breeding ground (and landing place) for a long list of major-league baseball managers. I can't imagine a city that has produced and celebrated more major-league managers than Tucson. How many? Fourteen former Tucson Toros/Sidewinders and UA baseball players were (and are) big league managers. Can any city top that?

I bring this to your attention because one of those MLB skippers was in the news last week. Bob Skinner, a former manager for the San Diego Padres and Philadelphia Phillies who managed the Tucson Toros to the most memorable victory in 43 years of Triple-A baseball in this town, died in his hometown of San Diego. He was 94.

Here's the Fab 14, headlined by Skinner:

– Terry Francona: A Tucson resident and the NCAA's baseball player of the year in 1980 while at Arizona, Francona is now managing the Cincinnati Reds and previously managed the Phillies, Red Sox and Guardians.

– Chip Hale: Now the UA's head coach, Hale played in more games than any UA baseball player in history. He managed the 2006 Tucson Sidewinders to the Triple-A championship and later managed the Arizona Diamondbacks.

– Matt Galante: The Toros manager in 1983-84, became manager of the Houston Astros in 1999.

– Al Pedrique: The Sidewinders manager in 2004, became the manager of the Arizona Diamondbacks.

– Bill Plummer: The Sidewinders manager in 2007-08, became the manager of the Seattle Mariners.

– Pat Murphy: The manager of the PCL's Tucson Padres in 2013, is now the manager of the Milwaukee Brewers.

– Brad Mills: An all-conference third baseman for Arizona in 1979 and Toros infielder in 1984-85, became manager of the Houston Astros from 2010-12.

– Ron Washington: An infielder for the Toros in 1989, went on to be the manager of the Los Angeles Angels and Texas Rangers.

– Phil Nevin: A third baseman for the Toros in 1993, became the manager of the Los Angeles Angels.

– Craig Counsell: A second baseman for the Sidewinders in 2000, is the manager of the Chicago Cubs.

– Andy Green: An infielder for the Sidewinders in 2002, became the manager of the San Diego Padres.

– Billy Adair: The first manager of the Tucson Toros, 1969, went on to be the manager of the Chicago White Sox.

– Phil Garner: A Toros infielder in 1976, went on to manage the Brewers, Tigers and Astros.

Last week's news that Skinner died brought back a flood of unforgettable memories from the 1991 PCL playoffs.

In the PCL championship game on Sept. 13, 1991, Skinner managed the Toros to an epic comeback, a 4-3, walk-off championship in the bottom of the ninth inning. The MVP of that series victory over the Calgary Stampeders was former Arizona basketball point guard Kenny Lofton.

In what I contend is one of the 10 most memorable sporting events in Tucson history — up there with Arnold Palmer winning the 1967 Tucson Open and Dick Tomey’s Arizona football team stunning No. 1 Washington 16-3 in 1992 — a standing-room only crowd of 8,919 watched Skinner's team rally with two outs in the ninth. It seemed like all 8,919 fans stormed the field.

In the Toros celebratory locker room, Skinner held a bottle of champagne and sprayed some of his players and some of the media, including me. How many times in your life do you get a champagne shower? I loved it.

I asked Skinner that question, and he said he had only had one previous champagne shower: as a Pittsburgh Pirates starting outfielder in Game 7 of the classic 1960 World Series against the New York Yankees. After Bill Mazeroski’s walk-off home run, perhaps the most famous home run in baseball history, Skinner remembered "I'm not a big drinker, but that day in the locker room in Pittsburgh I must've consumed a whole bottle of champagne."

In 1991 at Hi Corbett Field, Skinner went back in time to the ’60 World Series at Forbes Field.

"This a game I'll never forget," he said, soaked in his Toros uniform. "There's no Maz, but it sure feels the same."