1981 Topps #156 Bob McClure

I wanted to do a post to recognize the Phillies new pitching coach, Bob McClure.  McClure was far from the team's top choice, as they had hoped to hire Roger McDowell (remained with Braves), manager Ryne Sandberg's former teammate Jeff Pico (became the Reds' pitching coach), or Bryan Price (became the Reds' new manager.)  McClure had a brief stint as the pitching coach with the Red Sox in 2012, but he clashed with then manager Bobby Valentine and was dismissed in late August from his post.  He also served as the pitching coach with the Royals from 2006 to 2011.

I remember McClure from his playing days, and his card from the 1981 Topps set immediately came to mind when I learned of his hiring.  McClure played 19 seasons with the Royals, Brewers, Expos, Mets, Angels, Cardinals and Marlins.

McClure's hiring into the Phillies family now means there are 113 cards with Phillies connections within the 1979 Topps set.  Hitting coach Steve Henderson raised the tally to 112 last year, from the original 111 I had calculated as part of this post.

Finally, here's the updated pitching coach roster from the past 40 seasons:

Ray Rippelmeyer 1970-1978

Herm Starrette 1979-1981

Claude Osteen 1982-1988

Darold Knowles 1989-1990

Johnny Podres 1991-1996

Jim Wright 1996

Galen Cisco 1997-2000

Vern Ruhle 2001-2002

Joe Kerrigan 2003-2004

Rich Dubee 2005-2013

Bob McClure 2014