The demise of a manager

Dick Allen with George Myatt

Bob Skinner, tiring of the front office’s on-again, off-again discipline – or total lack of discipline, period – of iconoclastic and often-rebellious first baseman Dick Allen, quits 55 years ago today as the Philadelphia Phillies’ manager.

Skinner is 92-123 in parts of two seasons managing the Phillies after replacing Gene Mauch midway through the 1968 season and before leaving third-base coach George Myatt to finish out the 1969 season.

Myatt previously is 1-0 as the Phillies’ interim manager in 1968, bridging the gap between Mauch and Skinner.

Myatt – seen here in 1969 with Allen in a United Press International photo – does not fare well as Skinner’s replacement, winning only 19 of 54 games to finish the 1969 season.

After the 1969 season, the Phillies trade Allen to St. Louis and hire Frank Lucchesi to manage the team – leaving Myatt to return to coaching third base before both he and Lucchesi are fired midway through the 1972 season.

Three seasons later, Allen returns to a hero’s welcome in championship-starved Philadelphia and, a year later, he helps the Phillies reach the 1976 National League Championship Series.