Chuck Tanner & Johnnie Sunshine

Found out today about the death of former big league manager Chuck Tanner. He also was a player, but playing wasn't the salt that flavored his food. He was lucky enough to have managed a team to a World Series title. The 1979 Pittsburgh Pirates. Willie Stargell. Dave Parker. Burt Blyleven. "We Are Family" by Sister Sledge. Black and Gold. Storied franchise. The Baltimore-Oriole-beating 1979 Pittsburgh Pirates.

(Don't forget, from a big picture standpoint, that while the 1979 Pittsburgh Steelers also won the Super Bowl, the city in general was not in a very good place, what with the steel industry in the crapper, and unemployment at an all-time high during that period.)

But the real reason I'm bringing all this up is that I totally forgot, until today, who he was and that he even managed that team. And so, as happens whenever anyone of consequence dies, I'd seen a few short articles rehashing his career. And then one struck me. It was by Brian McTaggart who is the beat writer for the Houston Astros. Phil Garner was the Astros' manager in 2005 when they won the NL pennant. And it gets better. Phil Garner was on that 1979 Pirates team. In fact, he hit .500 in the World Series.

The article is worth checking out because it's just a good article, but there was one specific sequence that moved me.

Phil Garner on Chuck Tanner: "He never met a day he didn't like. His famous deal was you could get beat 15-0 in the worst conditions under the sun—snowing, sleeting and hailing—and he'd come in after the game and say it was great. He'd say, 'Just think what else we could be doing? Nothing else is as good as playing baseball.' We'd say, 'Yeah, right, Chuck,' but his attitude permeated everybody's spirit."

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Now, I'm the kind of guy that does his share of complaining. But I like to think that mine is a constructive brand of complaining. Not bitching just for the sake of bitching. But generally—and my wife will surely second this—I'm mister Johnnie Sunshine. Always giving the benefit of the doubt. Thinking anyone innocent unless proven guilty. I'm just not a big fan of people who spend a lot of time whining, especially without there's a reason.

So that reminiscence of Phil Garner, about Chuck Tanner, by way of Brian McTaggart, pleased me. It reinforced that there is a place for good-natured positivity. That there's always a place.

Yeah, students of the game will point out that Tanner could have shown some accountability during the cocaine scandals of the late '70s and early '80s. No one's perfect. And neither are most people well regarded at looking at the positive in spite of the negative. But Chuck Tanner was. And I'm all for that.

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Two more things I've come across regarding Chuck Tanner:

1) Before Game 5 of that 1979 World Series, with the Pirates trailing 3 games to 1, Tanner's mom passed. His response: "My mother is a great Pirates fan. She knows we're in trouble, so she went upstairs to get some help." The Pirates obviously went on to win that game, as well as the final two of the Series, which were in Baltimore. To this day, they are the last team to win a Game 7 of the World Series on the road.

2) "Everyday was a great day. When we won, we beat the greatest players in the world. The second greatest thing was that you lose because you've had the chance to play against the best players in the world."