Manny Trillo

Jesús Manuel Marcano Trillo (born December 25, 1950), nicknamed "Indio", is a Venezuelan former professional baseball second baseman, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Oakland Athletics, Chicago Cubs, Philadelphia Phillies, Cleveland Indians, Montreal Expos, San Francisco Giants, and Cincinnati Reds. A four-time All-Star, he was the Phillies' starting second baseman when the franchise won its first World Series Championship in 1980. He was known as one of the best fielding second basemen of his era, with a strong throwing arm."Manny Trillo: He's Unsung But Not Under-rated!", by Jayson Stark, ''Baseball Digest'', June 1981, Vol. 40, No. 6

Major league career

Signed as a catcher by the Philadelphia Phillies in 1968, Trillo was converted into a third baseman by his first minor league manager, Dallas Green. In 1969, he was selected by the Oakland Athletics from the Phillies in the Rule 5 draft. Trillo was converted into a second baseman in 1973 while playing for the Athletics' Triple A team, the Tucson Toros. He made his Major League debut at the age of 22 with Oakland on June 28, 1973 and stayed with the club as the Athletics won the American League Western Division pennant by six games over the Kansas City Royals.

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. When Mike Andrews committed two errors in a four-run twelfth inning of Oakland's Game 2 defeat, Finley attempted to have Andrews waived onto the disabled list in order to activate Trillo. Commissioner of Baseball Bowie Kuhn ruled against Finley, who was forced to reinstate Andrews for Game 4.

In April 1974, Trillo played 12 games for the Athletics before being sent back to the Tucson Toros. 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.

On October 23, , Trillo was traded along with Darold Knowles and Bob Locker to the Chicago Cubs for Billy Williams. Trillo finished third in the 1975 National League Rookie of the Year Award balloting. With the Cubs, Trillo developed a reputation for being one of the best fielding second basemen in baseball, earning his first All-Star selection in 1977. Together with Cubs' shortstop Iván DeJesús, he formed one of the best double play combinations in baseball. 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. Later that season, Trillo was reunited with his former minor league manager, Dallas Green, who had replaced Danny Ozark as the Phillies' manager. Trillo won his first Gold Glove Award in 1979.

Trillo was an integral member of the world champion Phillies, adding solid defense, while hitting for over a .300 batting average until the middle of September, finishing the season with a career-high .292 average. He won the 1980 Silver Slugger Award for second basemen, which is awarded annually to the best offensive player at each position. 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."Phillies Capture Club's First World Series Title", by Joe O'Loughlin, ''Baseball Digest'', October 2000, Vol. 59, No. 10
Trillo's performance earned him the League Championship Series Most Valuable Player Award.

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. He then hit a single with two outs in the ninth inning to drive home the winning run. The Phillies went on to win Game 6 and claimed the first world championship in the team's history.

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. He was voted to be the starting second baseman for the National League in the 1982 All-Star Game and set a since-broken major league record for consecutive errorless chances at second base (479), falling two games short of Joe Morgan's record 91-game errorless streak.

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. In 1983, he made his second consecutive start as the All-Star second baseman, this time for the American League. Trillo also won his third and final Gold Glove Award in . 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. 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. He was reacquired by the Cubs from the Giants for Dave Owen on December 11, 1985. His career as an active player ended with the Cincinnati Reds in 1989.

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 and 571 runs batted in. He ended his career with a .981 fielding percentage. A four-time All-Star, Trillo was a three-time Gold Glove winner and a two-time Silver Slugger Award winner. He led National League second basemen four times in assists, three times in range factor and twice in putouts.

In 2007, Trillo was inducted into the Venezuelan Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.www.museodebeisbol.org

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.

See also

* List of players from Venezuela in Major League Baseball
* List of Gold Glove Award winners at second base
* List of Silver Slugger Award winners at second base

References

External links

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Manny Trillo
at Baseball Almanac

{{DEFAULTSORT:Trillo, Manny
1950 births
Águilas del Zulia players
American League All-Stars
Birmingham A's players
Chicago Cubs players
Cincinnati Reds players
Cleveland Indians players
Gold Glove Award winners
Huron Phillies players
Iowa Oaks players
Leones del Caracas players
Living people
Llaneros de Portuguesa players
Major League Baseball players from Venezuela
Major League Baseball second basemen
Minor league baseball coaches
Minor league baseball managers
Montreal Expos players
National League All-Stars
National League Championship Series MVPs
Oakland Athletics players
Sportspeople from Monagas
Philadelphia Phillies players
San Francisco Giants players
Silver Slugger Award winners
Spartanburg Phillies players
Tucson Toros players
Venezuelan baseball coaches
Venezuelan expatriate baseball players in Canada
Venezuelan expatriate baseball players in the United States
20th-century Venezuelan sportsmen