Manny Mota
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Manuel Rafael Mota Geronimo, or more commonly known as Manny Mota (born on February 18, 1938 in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic) was a Major League Baseball Outfielder for the San Francisco Giants, Pittsburgh Pirates, Montreal Expos and most notably the Los Angeles Dodgers, best known for his pinch hitting.
At the age of nineteen, Manny demonstrated his hitting abilities when he first played in the minor leagues and was signed by the Houston Colt .45's. He was than traded from the Colt 45's to the Pirates, for OF Howie Goss and cash in 1963 and he quickly established himself as one of the league's premiere hitters. In the following years with the Pirates, Mr. Mota had over a .300 hitting average before leaving to play with the San Francisco Giants.
While with the Giants, Mota had the opportunity to play and to learn from Willie Mays and helped Mota further his hitting skills and, in 1969, Manny was the first player selected in the major league expansion draft by the Montreal Expos. Later that same year, Mota returned to the West Coast via a trade with the Los Angeles Dodgers. Once in L.A., Mota became the number one pinch hitter there and hit over .300 during the next five seasons.
In 1973, Mota was selected to the National League All-Star team after leading the league in batting average. From 1974 through 1979, Mota was continuously called upon for late inning heroics, where he averaged 10 pinch hits for 6 straight seasons. The Dodgers appeared in the 1974, 1977, and 1978 World Series. In 1979, Mota established his place in the record books by becoming the all-time leader in Pinch Hits off J.R. Richard.
In 1981, Manny appeared in his fourth World Series, this time mostly as a coach but only to be activated later in the year for the stretch drive. Mota retired as a player from the Dodgers the following year. Mota left a career holding the all-time major league record for career pinch-hits (150), which has since been broken by John Vander Wal and Lenny Harris, and an overall lifetime batting average of .304 and a .297 pinch-hitting average. His .315 batting average is the best (1,800 or more at-bats) in Los Angeles Dodgers history. Mota once again was a coach for the Dodgers to the World Series in 1988, making this a total of five World Series appearances.
Thirty years after joining the Dodgers, Mota remains an active part of both the coaching staff and his community. In the off-season, Mota and his wife Margarita reside in the Dominican Republic, where they run the Manny Mota International Foundation. Established over 30 years ago, this humanitarian organization provides needed resources and other assistance to disadvantaged youth and their families in both the Dominican Republic and the United States.
[edit] Cultural references
As one of the all-time great pinch hitters and a Los Angeles staple in the 1970s, Mota was referenced in a joke in the movie Airplane! As we hear Ted Striker's inner-dialogue echo in his mind, it resembles a stadium public address and we hear him think "Pinch hitting for Pedro Borbon...Manny Mota...Mota...Mota."
