Kirk Gibson managed one of the greatest groups ever.
In 2013, the Arizona Diamondbacks with an 81-81 record, second in the National League West. Although they may have finished .500 and eleven games out of first place, they may have had the greatest combination of baseball talent amongst any coaching staff in MLB history.
In his fourth season as the Diamondbacks manager was 2x World Series Champion Kirk Gibson. A career .268/.352/.463 hitter, Gibson finished with 255 HR, 870 RBI, 985 runs scored, and 1553 hits over his seventeen-year career. In 1984, Gibson helped lead the Detroit Tigers to the World Series, winning ALCS MVP after hitting .417/.500/.750 in a three-game sweep of the Kansas City Royals. Despite not making the All-Star team, Gibson won a Silver Slugger and the NL MVP after posting a career-high 6.5 WAR, with 25 HR, 76 RBI, 31 stolen bases, 106 runs scored, and a .860 OPS. When the Dodgers reached the 1988 World Series against the heavily favored Oakland Athletics, Gibson was sidelined with a pulled left hamstring and swollen left knee. In his only at-bat of the World Series, Gibson kick-started the Dodgers 4-1 series upset by hitting a pinch-hit, walk-off two-run home run off a 3-2 slider from Hall of Fame closer Dennis Eckersley to win Game One of the series.
Beside Gibson in the dugout was his bench coach, newly inducted Baseball Hall of Famer Alan Trammell. A 6x All-Star, 4x Gold Glove Award Winner, and 3x Silver Slugger, Trammell played his entire twenty-year career as the Detroit Tigers shortstop, hitting .285/.352/.415 with 185 HR, 1003 RBI, 1231 runs scored, 2365 hits, 412 doubles, and 236 stolen bases. Offensively, Trammell’s 70.4 career WAR ranks 93rd all-time, 11th amongst shortstops, and 62nd amongst position players. On the defensive side of things, Trammell’s 22.0 Defensive WAR is 35th all-time, and he turned the 7th most double plays ever by a shortstop. In 1984, Trammell led the Tigers to a World Series victory over the San Diego Padres, hitting .450/.500/.800 with 2 HR, and 6 RBI in 20 at-bats. Trammell’s best season came in 1987, where he finished second in the AL MVP voting behind George Bell after hitting .343/.402/.551 with 109 runs scored, 205 hits, 28 HR, 105 RBI, 21 stolen bases, and an AL-leading 8.2 WAR.
At first base coach was Steve Sax, a 2x World Series Champion with the Los Angeles Dodgers, and a 5x All-Star. In 1982, Sax made the All-Star team en route to the NL Rookie of the Year Award, hitting .282/.335/.359 with 88 runs scored, 180 hits, 23 doubles, and 49 stolen bases. A terror on the base paths, Sax stole over 30 bases in nine different seasons, finishing his career with 444 steals, 55th all-time. In 1986, Sax won his only career Silver Slugger after leading the NL in Offensive WAR with 6.3 WAR, stealing 40 bases, and setting career highs by hitting .332/.390/.441, with 43 doubles, 210 hits, and 59 walks. Throughout his career, Sax finished in the top ten in hits six times, and stolen bases eight times.
Across the diamond at third base coach was former Diamondbacks third baseman Matt Williams, a member of their 2001 World Series winning team. A 5x All-Star, 4x Gold Glove Award Winner, and 4x Silver Slugger, Williams finished his career with 378 HR (73rd all-time), 1218 RBI, a .489 SLG %, 1878 hits, 997 runs scored, and 338 doubles. Known for his power, Williams finished in the top four in the NL in home runs four times, including 1994, when he finished the strike-shortened season by hitting 43 home runs in only 112 games, good enough to finish as the runner-up in the NL MVP vote behind Jeff Bagwell. In 1990, Williams led the NL with 122 RBI, and is tied with Luis Gonzalez for the most RBI in a single season by a Diamondback with 142. In total, Williams had six seasons where he finished with over 30 HR and 90 RBI.
Working with the offense at hitting coach was former All-Star and AL MVP Don Baylor. A 3x Silver Slugger, Baylor was a unique balance of power and speed, finishing his career hitting .260/.342/.436, with 338 HR, 1276 RBI, 285 stolen bases, 1236 runs, 2135 hits, and 366 doubles. Baylor, who hit 20 home runs in his career eight times, won the AL MVP Award in 1979, his lone All-Star season, after hitting .296/.371/.530 with 36 HR, a league-leading 139 RBI and 120 runs scored, 22 stolen bases, a 71:51 walk to strikeout ratio, and 186 hits. From 1986-1988, Baylor appeared in the World Series in three consecutive seasons with three different teams; the Boston Red Sox, Minnesota Twins, and Oakland Athletics. In 1986, Baylor set the Red Sox record by being hit by 35 pitches in a season (his career total of 267 is fourth all-time), and in the ALCS, hit a dramatic two-run home run with the Red Sox down to their last out in the ninth inning of Game 5 to help send the game into extra innings. The Red Sox would later go on to win Game 5, and the ALCS four games to three.
They say a team is only as good as its pitching staff; working with the 2013 Diamondbacks at pitching coach was 3x All-Star and 1988 Olympic Gold medalist Charles Nagy. Despite a career 4.51 ERA and 1.419 WHIP, Nagy finished his career 129-105 with 1242 strikeouts in 1954.2 innings pitched. In 1992, 1994, and 1996, Nagy finished in the top ten of the AL in ERA and WAR for Pitchers; his best season came in 1996, when he compiled 6.7 WAR after he went 17-5 with a 3.41 ERA, and 167 strikeouts in 222.0 innings pitched. From 1996-1999, Nagy was the workhorse of the Cleveland Indians’ staff, averaging 16 wins, 33 starts, and 215.0 innings pitched per season. Nagy had 15 or more wins every season from 1995-1999, a feat matched only by Hall of Famer Greg Maddux over that time.
To recap, the 2013 Diamondbacks coaching staff included a Hall of Famer, two MVPs, five All-Stars, Silver Sluggers, Gold Glove Award winners, and multiple World Series Champions. While the Diamondbacks may not have gone far that season, in a game of sandlot baseball, I’d take their coaching staff up against any in the history of baseball.
