Coach and Manager
Westrum served as the Giants' bullpen coach and them became their first base coach through the 1963 season. He joined the Mets as a coach in 1964, and became pitching coach in July 1965 after the release of Warren Spahn. Westrum was named the Mets' manager when Stengel was injured on August 30, 1965, and stepped down as skipper of the perennial last-place club. The Mets fared no better under Westrum in 1965, losing 48 of the 67 games under his leadership. But his 1966 club escaped the basement for the first time in the Mets' five-year history when it finished ninth in the ten-team National League, posting a record of 66 wins and 95 losses, a 16-game improvement over the previous season. The Mets were slowly developing an array of young pitchers in the minor leagues; however, apart from Tom Seaver, none arrived in time to help Westrum in 1967, when New York again finished tenth and last. Westrum resigned with 11 games to go in the season. Coach Salty Parker managed the team for the remaining games of the 1967 season, and Gil Hodges was named manager for 1968.
Westrum then rejoined the Giants, who eventually gave him a second managing opportunity in July 1974 when he succeeded Charlie Fox with the club in fifth place. He was not able to post a winning record in his 1½ years as San Francisco's manager, although he came close when his team finished one game under .500 in 1975 and in third place in the National League Western Division. That marked his last year as a major league manager, although Westrum stayed in the game as a scout for the Atlanta Braves for many years. His final record as a manager: 260 wins, 366 losses (.415).
Westrum died in 2002 in Clearbrook.
Read more about this topic: Wes Westrum
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