Hurdle, Nutting, Coonelly, Leyland, Tekulve All Present at the Chuck Tanner Baseball Manager of the Year Awards

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Clint Hurdle received the Chuck Tanner Major League Baseball Manager of the Year Award at a gala banquet on Saturday, November 16, 2013 at the Rivers Club in downtown Pittsburgh. Sponsored annually by the Pittsburgh chapter of Rotary International, previous winners of the award were Joe Torre (New York Yankees), Joe Maddon (Tampa Bay Rays), Ron Gardenhire (Minnesota Twins), Charlie Manuel (Philadelphia Phillies), Jim Leyland (Detroit Tigers), Bob Melvin (Oakland Athletics) and Davey Johnson (Washington Nationals).

Pittsburgh Pirate Chairman and principal owner Bob Nutting also was present to receive the Chuck Tanner Memorial Award, while former Pirate ace reliever Kent Tekulve was presented a Lifetime Achievement Award. Former Pirate Manager Jim Leyland and current Pirate President Frank Coonelly were on hand as presenters.

This year also marked the first time that the Chuck Tanner Awards honored a woman in baseball, and the inaugural category award was presented to Sally O’Leary, a retired front office worker for the Pittsburgh Pirates who was with organization for 32 years and who remains involved with the Pirate Alumni Association. The award will henceforth be known as the Sally O’Leary Award for Women in Baseball.

In addition, Seton Hill University’s Marc Marizzaldi was named the Chuck Tanner Collegiate Manager of the Year, making this event a representation of baseball’s future legacy.

Tom Lane and Kent Tekulve

KeepScore Co-founder Tom “T.J.” Lane shares a moment with former Pirate ace reliever Kent Tekulve, after Teke received the Chuck Tanner Lifetime Achievement Award

Each year, the Chuck Tanner Baseball Manager of the Year Award is determined by
a prestigious national selection committee, which previously have included Major League Baseball executives Roland Hemond (Arizona Diamondbacks, California Angels, Chicago White Sox, Baltimore Orioles) and Tal Smith (Cincinnati Reds, Cleveland Indians, New York Yankees, Houston Astros.) The committee also has included former MLB players and sports journalists, like Hal Bodley (MLB.com) and Murray Chass (The New York Times, Associated Press.) Selections are based on the quality of the current season and total career and are made within a week of the final regular season game.

Each year, the event includes a live auction, and this year the KeepScore Baseball/Softball Scorebook, autographed by all the evenings’ award winners, was part of a highly prized Pittsburgh Pirates luxury box package. Also this year, celebrated filmmaker Ken Burns donated two autographed DVD sets of his acclaimed documentary, “Baseball” for auction. In addition, nationally recognized celebrity sports artist Kevin-John created a special limited edition print of Kent Tekulve that was given to everyone in attendance. Kevin-John was present to personally sign his creation, and his artwork has been showcased on ESPN, Spike TV, NBC and at three Super Bowls, as well as the PGA Tour. The auction also featured several autographed items from Andrew McCutchen, Pedro Alvarez and other baseball greats. Manny Sanguillen was there. So were former Pirate pitchers Steve Blass and Bob Friend.

Planned and hosted by the Rotary Club of Pittsburgh, all funds raised during the event will be used for local post-high school scholarships, annual high school ethics symposia and to assist worldwide humanitarian efforts, such as polio inoculation and shoes for children in third-world poverty stricken countries.

Mark your calendars for next year.

KeepScore Baseball/Softball Scorebooks is a contributor on the Chuck Tanner Banquet committee.