Gene Mauch Remembers Playing Ball in Havana, Cuba

Gene Mauch was a player and manager, who played in the Majors as a second baseman for the Brooklyn Dodgers (1944, 1948), Pittsburgh Pirates (1947), Chicago Cubs (1948–1949), Boston Braves (1950–1951), St. Louis Cardinals (1952), and Boston Red Sox (1956–1957).Mauch was best known for managing four teams from 1960 to 1987. He is by far the winningest manager to have never won a league pennant (breaking the record formerly held by Jimmy Dykes), three times coming within a single victory. Mauch managed the Philadelphia Phillies (1960–1968), Montreal Expos (1969–1975 — as their inaugural manager), Minnesota Twins (1976–1980), and California Angels (1981–1982, 1985–1987). His 1,902 career victories ranked 8th in MLB history, when he retired, and his 3,942 total games managed ranked 4th. Mauch gained a reputation for playing a distinctive "small ball" style, which emphasized defense, speed, and base-to-base tactics on offense, rather than power hitting.