George Irvin Bamberger (August 1, 1923 – April 4, 2004) was an American professional baseball player, pitching coach and manager. In Major League Baseball, the right-handed pitcher appeared in ten games, nine in relief, for the 1951–52 New York Giants and the 1959 Baltimore Orioles. He later spent ten seasons (1968–77) as the Orioles' pitching coach and managed the Milwaukee Brewers (1978–80; 1985–86) and New York Mets (1982–83). During his playing career, he threw and batted right-handed, stood tall and weighed .
Early life
Bamberger was born on August 1, 1923, in Staten Island, New York City, New York, where he was raised. He attended McKee Vocational High School in Staten Island. He entered the military in February of 1943, and served in the United States Army during World War II in the Mediterranean and European theaters of operations.
Playing career
Bamberger signed with the hometown New York Giants in 1946. He was assigned to the Erie Sailors of the Class C Middle Atlantic League, where he had a 13–3 record and 1.35 earned run average (ERA) with eight shutouts in 18 games started. Bamberger reached double digits in wins during four of his first five minor league seasons; he would record ten or more victories in 15 of his 18 years as a minor league pitcher, and win 213 total games during that span (1946–63), with a 3.72 ERA. Nine days later, he struggled again, as he surrendered a base on balls and then a two-run home run to Jackie Robinson, while recording no outs, against the Brooklyn Dodgers.
Bamberger spent the rest of that season with the Triple-A Ottawa Giants of the International League.
In , Bamberger again was a member of the big-league Giants during the season's early weeks. He appeared in five more games, all as a relief pitcher, but was largely ineffective, allowing six hits, three walks, and four earned runs in four full innings of work. After June 1, he was sent to the Oakland Oaks of the top-level Pacific Coast League (PCL), going 14–6, with a 2.88 ERA. He would spend the bulk of the rest of his playing career in the PCL. and became affiliated with the Orioles.
Bamberger remained with the renamed Vancouver Mounties for another seven years In 1963, the already existing Dallas-Fort Worth Rangers moved from the Triple-A American Association to the PCL, and Bamberger played for that team in 1963.) In 1958, he had a 15–11 record with a 2.45 ERA.
After two relief appearances with the Orioles, Bamberger returned to the Pacific Coast League, where he went 11–7, with a 2.98 ERA. In 1960, the Mounties were affiliated with the Orioles, but in 1961 they changed affiliations to the Milwaukee Braves, and in 1962 to the Minnesota Twins. The 1963 Rangers were likewise affiliated with the Twins. among those providing instruction in "the Oriole Way". Bamberger observed the Orioles looked for two things in players to join their system, talent and attitude. With Bamberger playing a key role, it was developing a corps of young pitchers that would help the club win the 1966 World Series. In 1964, the Orioles farm system included pitchers like Jim Palmer, Tom Phoebus, and Eddie Watt, and the Orioles had already brought up young pitchers like Dave McNally, Wally Bunker, and Steve Barber to the major league roster from its farm system; all of whom played on the 1966 world champion team.
He earned a promotion when general manager Harry Dalton appointed him to succeed Harry Brecheen as the Orioles' pitching coach on October 3, 1967; at the same time making Weaver the Orioles new first base coach. Bamberger took over a pitching staff that often saw young stars quickly lose their effectiveness due to sore arms. Dave McNally and Jim Palmer, two stars who recovered under Bamberger, credited a routine of regular exercises instituted by Bamberger for reversing the trend.
Bamberger believed that underuse, not overuse, created sore arms, thus he had both an exercise preparation regime between starts, and had his starters pitching long innings during the season . His pitchers ran every day, including sprints, believing that leg strength would improve stamina and coordination, which would maintain a pitcher's mechanics. He also had a throwing regime between starts. McNally threw 268.2, 296 and 224.1 innings; Mike Cuellar threw 290.2, 297.2 and 292.1 innings; Palmer threw 181 (in only 23 starts), 305, and 282 innings; and Pat Dobson threw 282.1 innings in 1971.
Serving under manager Hank Bauer and then Earl Weaver when Bauer was fired in 1968, Bamberger would remain with the ballclub through 1977 and five American League East Division championships, three American League pennants and the 1970 World Series championship.
1978–80: Manager of "Bambi's Bombers" in Milwaukee
Bamberger signed a two-year $120,000 contract to succeed Alex Grammas as manager of the Milwaukee Brewers on January 20, 1978. The appointment reunited him with Dalton, who had become the Brewers' new general manager two months earlier. Dalton said Bamberger “was the only man we considered” for the position. The Milwaukee franchise never had a winning record in its first nine seasons, prior to Bamberger's arrival. Stating that a major goal was instilling a winning attitude, he added, "Last year the feeling I got was that we (the Orioles) should not lose to the Milwaukee Brewers. We felt they did not care, that they felt we were going to win."
In his first managerial assignment, Bamberger led the 1978 Brewers to a 26-game turnaround. His club won 93 games and finished third behind the Yankees and Boston Red Sox in the AL East. The Sporting News named him its Manager of the Year.
1985–86: Second term in Milwaukee
A season and a half later, during the 1984–85 off-season, Dalton called Bamberger back into harness to attempt to revive the Brewers, who had plunged into the AL East basement in . But this time, Bamberger was unable to turn the club around: they won only 71 games for him in (with the team ERA climbing by 0.33 to 4.39) and 71 more the following season. The bright spot on the Brewers' staff was left-handed starting pitcher Teddy Higuera, who won 15 games as a rookie in 1985 and 20 more the following season. Bamberger retired for a final time September 25, 1986, at age 63, turning the Brewers over to coach Tom Trebelhorn with nine games left in the season. He finished his managerial career with a record of 458–478 (.489).
Death
George Bamberger died on April 4, 2004, from cancer at his home in North Redington Beach, Florida. He was 80 years old.