Corrales made his major league playing debut at age 23 on August 2, 1964, with the Phillies. He pinch-hit for pitcher John Boozer in the fifth inning, grounding out against the Los Angeles Dodgers' Larry Miller in a 6–1 Phillies loss at Connie Mack Stadium.[3] His first career hit came the next year on June 15, 1965, in a 12–7 Phillies loss to the Milwaukee Braves at County Stadium when he singled in the eighth inning off Tony Cloninger and later scored.[4] He had one of his best career games the next day when, in a 6–2 Phillies win over the Braves, he started at catcher and went 3–4 with his first major league home run (a two-run shot in the third inning against Denny Lemaster).[5]
In a nine-year playing career as a backup catcher, Corrales played in 300 games with 166 hits, four home runs, 54 runs batted in, and a .216 batting average. He appeared in one game of the 1970 World Series for the Reds and batted once, grounding out for the final out of the series as the Reds fell in five games to the Baltimore Orioles.[2]
Managerial and coaching career
Corrales became a coach for the Texas Rangers in 1976. On the last day of the 1978 season, the Rangers fired managerBilly Hunter and named Corrales their new manager.[8][9] The Rangers fired Corrales after the 1980 season.[10]
The Phillies hired Corrales as their manager after the 1981 season.[11] On July 18, 1983, the Phillies fired Corrales, despite the Phillies having a 43–42 (.506) record and tied for first place with the St. Louis Cardinals in the National League East. Corrales had benched Mike Schmidt and Pete Rose while confusing veteran players with his changes to the lineups.[12][13]
Two weeks after being fired by the Phillies, the Indians hired Corrales as their manager. They retained him for after the 1983 season with a two-year contract extension.[14] After the 1985 season, the Indians signed Corrales to a perpetual contract.[15] The Indians fired him in July 1987.[16] Corrales spent nine years as a major league manager and finished with an overall record of 572–634 (.474) with the Rangers, Phillies, and Indians.[17]
The New York Yankees hired Corrales as their first base coach for the 1989 season.[18] The Yankees fired their manager and most of their coaching staff, including Corrales, in August 1989,[19] and he joined the Atlanta Braves as a scout in September.[20] He served as the Braves' bench coach for nine years, and was with Washington Nationals for the 2007 and 2008 seasons before being fired at the end of 2008 along with the majority of the Nationals' coaching staff. Shortly after being fired, he accepted a job as a special consultant to the Nationals. He resumed as bench coach in July 2009 after Jim Riggleman was appointed acting manager after Manny Acta was fired. Corrales was once again appointed Nats bench coach in June 2011 by new manager Davey Johnson. Corrales replaced John McLaren, who had been reassigned to scouting duty.[21]
On November 5, 2012, Corrales was hired by the Los Angeles Dodgers as a special assistant to the general manager.[22]
Corrales married Sharon Ann Grimes on September 24, 1960, and had four children. Sharon died from a blood clot soon after giving birth to the couple's fourth child in July 1969.[23] He married Heidyt Enedina Davis, May 28, 1970, in Jellico, Tennessee.[24]
Corrales was inducted as a member of the Fresno County Athletic Hall of Fame in 1980.[25][26]
^"Corrales, player, manager, coach and exec, passes away at 82". MLB.com. August 28, 2023. Retrieved August 29, 2023. Pat Corrales, who spent more than 64 years in professional baseball as a player, manager and executive, most recently in the Dodgers' front office, and who was the first Major League manager of Mexican-American descent, passed away at his home in Big Canoe, Ga., on Sunday evening at the age of 82.
^"Former MLB manager, coach, catcher Pat Corrales dies at age 82". ESPN.com. Associated Press. August 28, 2023. Retrieved August 29, 2023. The Los Angeles Dodgers said Corrales died of natural causes Sunday night at his home in the north Georgia mountains. He had worked in the team's front office since 2012, serving as a special assistant to the general manager in his final role.
