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Who is Jerry Narron? ESPN.com | |||||||||||||||||
Until now, Jerry Narron's biggest claim to fame was as the answer to a trivia question:
Who caught for the Yankees the day after Thurman Munson died in a plane crash?
Narron was a rookie back for the Yankees back in 1979 when given the difficult task of replacing Munson. He hit just .171 in 61 games and that offseason was traded to Seattle. He ended up playing nearly six years in the big leagues, including three years as Bob Boone's backup with the Angels.
Like Johnny Oates, Narron was a backup catcher who drifted into managing. He managed in the Orioles' system from 1989 to 1992, before joining the Rangers with Oates in 1995. He had served as third-base coach since joining the staff.
"We have not played anywhere near where we're capable of playing," said Narron, who was a minor-league teammate of Rangers GM Doug Melvin with Fort Lauderdale in 1976. "It's my job to get guys to achieve and overachieve. I don't know what we're going to change."
In his minor-league managerial days, Narron managed Double-A Hagerstown in 1990-91 and Triple-A Rochester in 1992. Among the young players he groomed were Arthur Rhodes, Ricky Gutierrez and Mike Mussina.
Narron described his managerial style as one cobbled from his time with Oates and his playing days under Billy Martin, Gene Mauch, John McNamara and Dick Williams.
He was the Rangers' interim manager in 1995 when Oates took a leave of absence, going 2-3 in five games.
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