Ken Macha

Lore & Background

Macha graduated from Gateway High School in Monroeville, a suburb of Pittsburgh, and played college baseball at the University of Pittsburgh. He was selected by Pittsburgh in the sixth round of the 1972 Major League Baseball draft. He was the Eastern League batting champion in 1974 with the Thetford Mines Pirates. Macha made his major-league debut on September 14, 1974, going 1-for-1 in a 17–2 Pirates loss to the Montreal Expos at Jarry Park.

He is one of only a handful of players to play for both the Expos and Toronto Blue Jays, Canada's two major league franchises. His final major-league appearance was on September 30, 1981, in a 3–0 Blue Jays loss to the Oakland Athletics. Macha hit a combined .258 in 180 major-league games. Macha subsequently spent four years playing in Japan with the Chunichi Dragons, from 1982 until 1985.

Macha retired as a player in 1985 and joined the Expos as a major league coach in 1986. He spent six seasons at Montreal before moving to coaching for the California Angels at bullpen and third base. He then joined the Boston Red Sox organization in fall 1994. The 1997 season marked Macha's first as manager of the Triple-A Pawtucket Red Sox.

In the previous two seasons he managed the Double-A Trenton Thunder to first-place finishes, including a league-best 86–56 record and another division crown in 1996. He was chosen to manage the American League affiliates in the Double-A All-Star Game. Macha then joined the Oakland Athletics as bench coach, serving under former Pirates teammate Art Howe from 1999 through 2002. In March 2002, the A's denied permission for the Red Sox to contact Macha about their managerial vacancy.

Boston then hired Grady Little, while Macha spent a final season as a coach until he was tapped to succeed Howe, who became manager of the New York Mets after the season ended. Macha's pact with Oakland expired on October 8, 2005, and negotiations broke down between the two sides trying to reach a deal and Macha was out of a job. Six days later, after coming close to a deal with the Pittsburgh Pirates, Macha reached a deal with the Athletics and became their manager once again.

He led them to a division title and a sweep over the Minnesota Twins in the ALDS to advance to the American League Championship Series, which was the team's first playoff series victory since 1990.

Reader's Guide

Ken Macha managed the Oakland Athletics from 2003 to 2005, not 2003–2006. He was fired after the 2005 season, but the source states he was fired on October 16, 2006, after returning as manager for the 2006 season. The source says he led the Athletics to a division title in 2006 and a playoff series victory. The entry's claim that he was bench coach for the Brewers is not supported by the source; the source says he was bench coach for the Oakland Athletics from 1999 through 2002.