Manny Trillo

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Marcano and the second or maternal family name is Trillo.
Manny Trillo
Second baseman
Born: (1950-12-25) December 25, 1950
Caripito, Venezuela
Batted: Right
Threw: Right
MLB debut
June 28, 1973, for the Oakland Athletics
Last MLB appearance
May 20, 1989, for the Cincinnati Reds
MLB statistics
Batting average.263
Home runs61
Runs batted in571
Stats at Baseball Reference 
Teams
Career highlights and awards
Member of the Venezuelan
Baseball Hall of Fame
Induction2007

Jesús Manuel Marcano Trillo (born December 25, 1950), nicknamed "Indio", is a Venezuelan former professional baseball player and coach. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a second baseman, most prominently with the Chicago Cubs where he established himself as an All-Star player, and then with the Philadelphia Phillies where he was an integral member of the 1980 World Series winning team.[1][2][3]

A four-time All-Star with a strong throwing arm, Trillo was known as one of the best fielding second basemen of his era, winning three Gold Glove Awards during his career (1979, 1981, 1982).[2][4] In 1982, he set a Major League record for second basemen when he fielded 479 consecutive chances without an error. He also played for the Oakland Athletics, Cleveland Indians, Montreal Expos, San Francisco Giants, and Cincinnati Reds.[5] After his playing career he worked as a minor league coach for several major league organizations.

In 1983, the Phillies selected Trillo as the second baseman for their Centennial Team, commemorating the best players of the first 100 years in franchise history. He was inducted into the Venezuelan Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in 2007 and in 2020, he was selected for enshrinement on the Philadelphia Baseball Wall of Fame.

Major league career

Early life

Trillo was born on December 25, 1950 in Caripito in northeastern Venezuela, where his father worked in the oil industry.[1] He grew up in the small town of Quiriquire, where a physical education instructor encouraged him to contact former major league player, Pompeyo Davalillo, who had played for the Washington Senators in 1953.[1] Trillo spent two years training under Davalillo's tutelage and in 1968 he signed a contract to play for the Philadelphia Phillies as a catcher.[1]

Minor league career

Trillo was converted into a third baseman by his first minor league manager, Dallas Green.[4][6] In 1969, he was selected by the Oakland Athletics from the Phillies in the Rule 5 draft.[1] In 1973, manager Sherm Lollar allowed Trillo to gain experience as a second baseman while playing for the Athletics' Triple A team, the Tucson Toros.[1][4] In 130 games with the Toros he posted a .312 batting average and led the team with 78 RBIs.[1] His impressive performance earned him a promotion and he made his Major League debut at the age of 22 with Oakland on June 28, 1973.[1]

Oakland Athletics

Trillo remained with the club as the Athletics won the American League Western Division pennant by six games over the Kansas City Royals.[7][8] Trillo was involved in a pair of controversies about his roster eligibility for the 1973 postseason. MLB strictly enforced a rule that only players on a major league roster on August 31 were eligible for the postseason. After José Morales' contract was sold to the Montreal Expos on September 18 and Bill North severely sprained an ankle, the A's received approval from their American League Championship Series opponent the Baltimore Orioles to allow the additions to their roster of both Trillo and Allan Lewis. A's owner Charlie Finley submitted the same request to the New York Mets, his team's 1973 World Series opponent, but New York only approved Lewis.[9] When Mike Andrews committed two errors in a four-run twelfth inning of Oakland's Game 2 defeat,[10] Finley attempted to have Andrews waived onto the disabled list in order to activate Trillo.[4] Commissioner of Baseball Bowie Kuhn ruled against Finley, who was forced to reinstate Andrews for Game 4 while Trillo remained on the ineligible list.[4]

In April 1974, Trillo played 12 games for the Athletics but only had a .100 batting average when he was sent back to the Tucson Toros.[5] He was eventually brought back to the major leagues in September. He appeared in one game of the 1974 American League Championship Series against the Baltimore Orioles, but did not make any further appearances as the Athletics defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 1974 World Series.[11]

Chicago Cubs

On October 23, 1974, Trillo was traded along with Darold Knowles and Bob Locker to the Chicago Cubs for Billy Williams.[12] In his first full season in the Major Leagues, Trillo had a career-high 70 runs batted in, and he finished third in the 1975 National League Rookie of the Year Award balloting behind John Montefusco and Gary Carter.[5][13] With the Cubs, Trillo developed a reputation for his impressive defensive skills and, coalesced with Cubs' shortstop Iván DeJesús into one of the best double play combinations in baseball.[14][15] He led National League second basemen in assists for four consecutive seasons from 1975 to 1978.[5]

In 1977 he led the league with a .380 batting average at mid-season, earning him his first selection to the National League All-Star team as a reserve player behind Joe Morgan.[1][16] In 1978 Trillo led National League second basemen in double plays turned.[5] He remained with the Cubs for four seasons before being traded to the Philadelphia Phillies on February 23, 1979, as part of an eight-player trade.[17][18]

Philadelphia Phillies

Trillo was reunited with his former minor league manager in Philadelphia when Dallas Green replaced Danny Ozark as the Phillies' manager on August 31, 1979.[19] He won his first Gold Glove Award in 1979 and became an integral member of the Phillies defense.[2][3][20][21] In 1980, Trillo hit for over a .300 batting average until the middle of September, finishing the season with a career-high .292 average as the Phillies won the National League Eastern Division title.[2][22][23] Along with his defensive talents, he won the 1980 Silver Slugger Award for second basemen, which is awarded annually to the best offensive player at each position.[24] In the 1980 National League Championship Series against the Houston Astros, he posted a .381 batting average with four runs batted in, and teamed up with Bake McBride in the decisive Game 5 to relay a throw to home plate, cutting off Luis Pujols attempting to score from first base on a double by Craig Reynolds.[3][25][26][27] Trillo's performance earned him the League Championship Series Most Valuable Player Award.[20][28]

In the 1980 World Series against the Kansas City Royals, Trillo once again made his mark in Game 5 by making another relay throw to cut off Darrell Porter trying to score in the sixth inning.[20][3][29] He then hit a single with two outs in the ninth inning to drive home the winning run.[20][29] The Phillies went on to win Game 6 and claimed the first world championship in the team's history.[27][30]

1981 was another good year for Trillo as he was selected as a reserve for the National League All-Star team, and won his second Gold Glove Award and his second consecutive Silver Slugger Award however, the Phillies dropped to third place in the National League Eastern Division. He was voted to be the starting second baseman for the National League in the 1982 All-Star Game.[31] Trillo played 89 consecutive games overall before he committed an error, falling two games short of the Major League record 91-game errorless streak for second basemen set by Joe Morgan in the 1977 and 1978 seasons.[32] During his streak, Trillo handled 479 consecutive chances without an error, breaking the previous Major League record of 458 set by Jerry Adair over the 1964 and 1965 seasons.[3][33][34][35] His record was broken by Ryne Sandberg in 1990.[33][36] Trillo committed only 5 errors during the 1982 season, setting a new National League record for second baseman with a .9937 fielding percentage.[37][38] This record was also broken by Sandberg in 1990.[38]

Later career

Trillo was one of five Phillies along with George Vukovich, Julio Franco, Jerry Willard and Jay Baller who were traded to the Cleveland Indians for Von Hayes at the Winter Meetings on December 9, 1982.[39] In 1983, he made his second consecutive start as the All-Star second baseman, this time for the American League.[5] Trillo also won his third and final Gold Glove Award in 1983.[5] He finished the 1983 campaign with the Montreal Expos after being dealt from Cleveland for minor-league outfielder Don Carter and cash on August 17.[17] Trillo had expressed a desire to return to the National League and demanded a five-year $4 million contract, the latter of which the Indians lacked the wherewithal to re-sign him.[40] At the end of the season Trillo became a free agent and signed a contract with the San Francisco Giants.[17] In two seasons with the Giants, he produced a ,238 batting average and committed 18 errors.[5]

After Dallas Green became the Chicago Cubs' General Manager he acquired Trillo from the Giants for Dave Owen on December 11, 1985.[1][41] During his three seasons with the Cubs, Trillo played all the infield positions while serving as a utility player and helped to mentor younger Cubs players such as Ryne Sandberg and Shawon Dunston.[1] He had a .296 batting average in 1986 along with a career-high eight home runs in 1987.[5] Trillo was released by the Cubs after the 1988 season and signed a contract to play for the Cincinnati Reds as a utility player.[5] After playing in 17 games, he was released by the Reds on May 25, 1989.[5] Trillo played in his final major league game on May 20, 1989 at the age of 38.[5]

After his playing career, Trillo worked as a minor-league coach for the Cubs and Phillies as well as the Milwaukee Brewers, New York Yankees, and the Chicago White Sox.[1] White Sox manager, Ozzie Guillen, hired Trillo as a guest coach for the 2005 World Series.[1]

Career statistics

In a seventeen-year major league career, Trillo played in 1,780 games, accumulating 1,562 hits in 5,950 at bats for a .263 career batting average along with 61 home runs,571 runs batted in and a .316 on-base percentage.[5] He ended his career with a .981 fielding percentage.[5] A four-time All-Star, Trillo was a three-time Gold Glove winner and a two-time Silver Slugger Award winner.[5][42][43] He led National League second basemen four times in assists, three times in range factor and twice in putouts.[5]

G AB H 2B 3B HR R RBI BB IBB SO SH SF HBP AVG OBP SLG FLD%
1,780 5,950 1,562 239 33 61 598 571 452   35 742 88 49 34 .263 .316 .345 .981

Awards & honors

In 2007, Trillo was inducted into the Venezuelan Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.[44] In 1983, he was named to the Philadelphia Phillies Centennial Team as its second baseman. In 2020, he was selected for enshrinement on the Philadelphia Baseball Wall of Fame.[35]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Landino, Leonte. "Manny Trillo Baseball BioProject". Society for American Baseball Research. Retrieved June 26, 2025.
  2. ^ a b c d "He's Hot, But Not A Hot Dog". si.com. Retrieved June 24, 2025.
  3. ^ a b c d e "Unsung hero Trillo still flying under the radar". mlb.com. Retrieved July 2, 2025.
  4. ^ a b c d e Stark, Jayson (June 1981). "Manny Trillo: He's Unsung But Not Under-rated!". Baseball Digest. Vol. 40, no. 6. ISSN 0005-609X.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p "Manny Trillo at Baseball Reference". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved June 17, 2025.
  6. ^ Ashburn, Ritchie (April 1978). "How The Phils Let Trillo Get Away". Baseball Digest. Vol. 37, no. 4. ISSN 0005-609X.
  7. ^ "1973 American League standings". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved June 17, 2025.
  8. ^ "1973 American League Championship Series". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved June 17, 2025.
  9. ^ Dickey, Glenn. Champions: The Story of the First Two Oakland A's Dynasties – And the Building of the Third. Chicago, IL: Triumph Books, 2013. Retrieved July 28, 2018
  10. ^ "1973 World Series Game 2 box score". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved June 17, 2025.
  11. ^ "1974 World Series". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved June 17, 2025.
  12. ^ A's get Billy Williams in trade with Chicago
  13. ^ "1975 Rookie of the Year Award voting results". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved June 17, 2025.
  14. ^ Vass, George (February 1981). "Double Play Leaders". Baseball Digest. Vol. 40, no. 2. ISSN 0005-609X.
  15. ^ Vass, George (August 1977). "The Cubs' New Latin Connection". Baseball Digest. Vol. 36, no. 8. ISSN 0005-609X.
  16. ^ Jauss, Bill (June 9, 1977). "Cubs' Light-Hitting Trillo Wielding Heavy Bat In NL". The News Dispatch. Retrieved June 26, 2025.
  17. ^ a b c "Manny Trillo Trades and Transactions". baseball-almanac.com. Retrieved June 17, 2025.
  18. ^ "Phils Acquire Trillo". The Phoenix. February 24, 1979. Retrieved June 26, 2025.
  19. ^ "Phillies dismiss Ozark as manager". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Block Communications. Associated Press. September 1, 1979. p. 9. Retrieved July 2, 2025.
  20. ^ a b c d "A Look Back at Manny Trillo's Legendary Four Seasons in Philadelphia". si.com. Retrieved June 24, 2025.
  21. ^ "National League Gold Glove Award winners". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved June 17, 2025.
  22. ^ "Manny Trillo 1980 Batting Log". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved June 17, 2025.
  23. ^ "He's The Phillies Fillip". si.com. Retrieved June 24, 2025.
  24. ^ "1980 National League Silver Slugger Award winners". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved June 17, 2025.
  25. ^ "1980 NLCS Game 5 box score". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved June 17, 2025.
  26. ^ "1980 National League Championship Series". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved June 17, 2025.
  27. ^ a b O'Loughlin, Joe (October 2000). "Phillies Capture Club's First World Series Title". Baseball Digest. Vol. 59, no. 10. ISSN 0005-609X.
  28. ^ "NLCS MVP Award winners". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved June 17, 2025.
  29. ^ a b "1980 World Series Game 5 box score". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved June 17, 2025.
  30. ^ "1980 World Series". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved June 17, 2025.
  31. ^ "1982 All Star Game". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved June 29, 2025.
  32. ^ Vass, George (September 1986). "The Game I'll Never Forget". Baseball Digest. Vol. 45, no. 9. ISSN 0005-609X.
  33. ^ a b "Cubs' Sandberg Sets Error-Free Record". latimes.com. Retrieved June 29, 2025.
  34. ^ "Manny Trillo will attempt to break the National League". upi.com. Retrieved June 29, 2025.
  35. ^ a b "Trillo joins Wall of Fame". mlb.com. Retrieved June 29, 2025.
  36. ^ "Ryne Sandberg at baseballbiography.com". baseballbiography.com. Retrieved June 30, 2025.
  37. ^ "Manny Trillo at baseballbiography.com". baseballbiography.com. Retrieved June 30, 2025.
  38. ^ a b "Progressive Leaders & Records for Fielding Percentage as 2B". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved June 29, 2025.
  39. ^ "Phillies Trade Trillo for Hayes," The New York Times, Friday, December 10, 1982. Retrieved July 9, 2023.
  40. ^ "The Cleveland Indians have traded All-Star second baseman Manny...," United Press International (UPI), Thursday, August 18, 1983. Retrieved July 9, 2023.
  41. ^ "Orioles Trade Roenicke for Bordi, Hudler," The Washington Post, Thursday, December 12, 1985. Retrieved July 10, 2023.
  42. ^ "Manny Trillo at Baseball Almanac". baseball-almanac.com. Retrieved June 24, 2025.
  43. ^ "Manny Trillo at the Baseball Cube". thebaseballcube.com. Retrieved June 24, 2025.
  44. ^ www.museodebeisbol.org Archived 2009-09-04 at the Wayback Machine
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