Manny Mota

Manny Mota OutfielderBorn: February 18, 1938(1938-02-18) (age 70)
Santo Domingo, Dominican RepublicBatted: Right Threw: Right MLB debut April 16, 1962
for the San Francisco GiantsFinal game September 1, 1982
for the Los Angeles DodgersCareer statistics Batting average .304 Hits 1149 RBI 438 Teams

Career highlights and awards

1x MLB All-Star (1973)

Manuel Rafael Mota Geronimo, or more commonly known as Manny Mota (born on February 18, 1938 in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic) was a Major League Baseball Outfielder for the San Francisco Giants, Pittsburgh Pirates, Montreal Expos and most notably the Los Angeles Dodgers, best known for his pinch hitting abilities. He has been listed as a coach for the Dodgers since 1980, making the 2008 season the 29th consecutive year in which Mota has coached for the team. He is thus the longest-tenured coach in Dodger history, and his 29 consecutive years as a coach with the same team is the second-longest such streak in MLB annals to Nick Altrock, who spent 42 straight seasons listed as a coach for the old Washington Senators.

At the age of nineteen, Manny demonstrated his hitting abilities when he first played in the minor leagues with the Giants, then based in New York. At the end of his rookie 1962 season, the Giants traded him to the Houston Colt .45's for infielder Joey Amalfitano. But before he ever appeared in an official game with Houston, he was dealt to the Pirates for OF Howie Goss and cash on April 4, 1963, and he quickly established himself as one of the league's premiere hitters. In the following years with the Pirates, Mota had over a .300 hitting average.

In 1969, Mota was the first player selected in the National League expansion draft by the Montreal Expos. Later that same year, Mota returned to the West Coast via a trade with the Dodgers. Once in L.A., Mota became the number one pinch hitter there and hit over .300 during the next five seasons.

In 1973, Mota was selected to the National League All-Star team after leading the league in batting average. From 1974 through 1979, Mota was continuously called upon for late inning heroics, where he averaged 10 pinch hits for 6 straight seasons. The Dodgers appeared in the 1974, 1977, and 1978 World Series. In 1979, Mota established his place in the record books by becoming the all-time leader in Pinch Hits.

In 1981, Manny appeared in his fourth World Series, this time mostly as a coach but only to be activated later in the year for the stretch drive. Mota retired as a player from the Dodgers the following year. Mota left a career holding the all-time major league record for career pinch-hits (150), which has since been broken by Mark Sweeney and Lenny Harris, and an overall lifetime batting average of .304 and a .297 pinch-hitting average. His .315 batting average is second best (1,800 or more at-bats) in Los Angeles Dodgers history, trailing only Mike Piazza. Mota once again was a coach for the Dodgers to the World Series in 1988, making this a total of five World Series appearances.

Thirty years after joining the Dodgers, Mota remains an active part of both the coaching staff and his community. In the off-season, Mota and his wife Margarita reside in the Dominican Republic, where they run the Manny Mota International Foundation. Established over 30 years ago, this humanitarian organization provides needed resources and other assistance to disadvantaged youth and their families in both the Dominican Republic and the United States.

Mota worked as a color commentator on the Fox Sports en Espanol television broadcast of the 2007 World Series.

Cultural references

As one of the all-time great pinch hitters and a Los Angeles staple in the 1970s, Mota was referenced in a joke in the movie Airplane! As we hear Ted Striker's inner-dialogue echo in his mind, it resembles a stadium public address and we hear him think "Pinch hitting for Pedro Borbon... Manny Mota... Mota... Mota..." Curiously, Mota and Borbon never actually played on the same team.