Black Starts New Club With Rockies Win
Black Starts New Club With Rockies Win
Summary
Getting 500 wins as a manager in Major League Baseball has been done before. Getting .500 wins with two different teams as manager has also been done before. With Tuesday’s 5-4 win over the Minnesota Twins, Rockies Manager Bud Black became the 14th manager in baseball history to record 500 wins with two different ball clubs. But in a class by himself, Black set himself apart on Tuesday by becoming the only manager to record 500 wins with two different clubs and recording over 100 wins as a pitcher, according to Elias Sports Bureau. Bud Black joined Clint Hurdle (534-625) as the only two Rockies managers with 500 wins. Hurdle wins came with the Rockies over eight seasons from 2002-2009. Black had 649 wins as manager of the San Diego Padres from 2007-2015, and his career record goes to 1,149 wins and 1,312 losses overall. His record with the Rockies goes to 500-599.“I like round numbers. I like math,” said manager Bud Black about getting his 500th win. “And then the players, probably first and foremost, who’ve played hard and have played to win regardless of our record and our standing. They’ve played hard for the coaches and me. The coaches have been great in both places I’ve been. I am grateful for all of that, but again, the opportunity, the continuation, and the belief of the people above me who’ve kept me in this position.” It was the sixth win of the year for Rockies right-handed pitcher Cal Quantrill (6-4), and it was the ninth quality start for Quantrill, now tied for third-most in the NL. The win over the Twins came with a rare 7-6-3 double play when Twins runner Carlos Santana was thrown out at first base after a deep fly-out to left field. Left fielder Jake Cave made the rundown catch in left field and hit the cutoff throw to shortstop Ezequiel Tovar. Santana had already passed second base after the catch was made in left field before he had to reverse direction. He wasn’t able to make it back to first base. That held the score at 5-4 for the Rockies win. “I kind of was nonchalant after I caught it because I figured I’d look up and see Santana almost to second base and just throw the ball in, and nothing’s going to happen,” Cave said. “But I saw somebody around second, and I was like, ‘Is that him?’“And then Tovie had his hands up and was saying, ‘Come on!’ I actually thought for a second about throwing it all the way to first base but he was so far around second that I knew if I hit Tovie with a good cutoff we’d get him easily and that’s how it worked.”Minnesota Twins manager Rocco Baldelli recognized Black for his accomplishment despite the milestone win against his club. “He’s a class act. It’s not hard to see why people put a lot of faith in and rely on him. He’s a smart baseball man but great with people,” Baldelli said. “I’ll say congrats to him, too, on my own. But it’s a heck of an accomplishment, and multiple organizations believe in him. As they should.”