#10 BOBBY BRAGAN
Manager
What came before: Bragan, from a true baseball family (brother Jimmy was a player, manager, scout and later Southern League president), had the uneviable task of replacing Fred Haney, who took the team to back-to-back World Series in 1957-58, winning the first.
His major league playing days were over when he was only 30, the catcher losing his roster spot as the Dodgers called up rookie Roy Campanella. He became a player-manager in the minors at age 33. He would wear both hats through the 1955 season, then got the call to manage the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1956 – a job he would hold for two seasons. He'd manage the Cleveland Indians for the 1958 season, then returned to the minors in the highly competitive PCL.
The Braves called in 1963, and he would manage them through their move to Atlanta.
The 1966 season: With a loaded Braves roster floundering, Bragan agreed to step down on August 9th. With the team in seventh place and holding a disappointing record of 34-42 and floundering in eighth place. Billy Hitchock, hired at the beginning of the season over his objections, took his place as manager.
What happened next: Bragan became a major figure in baseball during a stint as Texas League presdient from 1969-75, bringing the league back from the verge of bankruptcy. That earned him an even more important job, that as president of the National Association from 1975-78, then moved into the Texas Rangers from office until his retirementr.
He was honored by his hometown of Fort Worth in 1994, and was hired for one day to be the club manager to break Connie Mack's record as the older manager (he was 84). True to form, he was ejected in the third inning.
Bragaan suffered a fatal heart attack in 2010, passing away at the age of 92.
