World Series-winning O's manager Altobelli dies at 88 originally appeared on NBC Sports Washington
Baseball lifer and 1983 World Series champion Joe Altobelli died Wednesday of natural causes, his adopted hometown team the Rochester Red Wings announced. He was 88 years old.
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Altobelli’s crowning achievement came as Orioles manager. After replacing Hall of Fame skipper Earl Weaver in 1983, Altobelli led Baltimore to a 98-win season before beating the Chicago White Sox in the American League Championship Series and taking down the Philadelphia Phillies in the Fall Classic.
It would be the first of three seasons with the Orioles for Altobelli, who also managed the San Francisco Giants and Chicago Cubs and played parts of three seasons as a player for the Cleveland Indians and Minnesota Twins. He also endeared himself to the Rochester community as a player, manager, GM and color commentator for the Red Wings who moved his family there in 1966 and never left.
Dubbed Rochester’s “Mr. Baseball,” Altobelli compiled a franchise-record 502 wins for the Red Wings and led them to four first-place finishes including a Junior World Series title in 1971. The team built a statue of him in front of its stadium and retired his No. 26.
The 1983 championship season still stands as the Orioles’ last World Series title.
