Tanner moved to tears by All-Star call

Astros manager Phil Garner was on Tanner's 1979 World Series team.
PITTSBURGH (AP) -- Chuck Tanner always said it would take someone special to get him back into a major league uniform for the first time in two decades.
Phil Garner was that guy.
Tanner, who managed Garner with the 1979 World Series champion Pirates, hasn't been in the majors since managing the Braves in 1988. As the years passed and the game moved on, Tanner began to feel a bit forgotten even though many of his former players became managers themselves.
But Garner didn't forget -- "Chuck's my mentor, and I manage a lot like he did," the Astros manager said -- so Garner made call after call to the commissioner's office to get Tanner into uniform as a special NL coach in the All-Star game Tuesday night.
"I wanted him here for this game, in this city -- 1979 was a great time around here," Garner said.
Famous manager
Tanner was known for his upbeat personality and his boundless optimism as a manager with the White Sox, Athletics, Pirates and Braves from 1970-88. But crying was never one of his recognizable traits, at least until Garner told him he would put on a Pirates uniform one more time.
Tanner isn't too proud to acknowledge the gesture moved him to tears.
"It's the biggest honor I've had since 1979," Tanner said Tuesday night. "This is the greatest. I'm on top of the mountain. It left me speechless."
Most of the NL All-Stars weren't born when Tanner, himself a former player, began managing and probably are unaware of some of his innovations. He was one of the first managers to use specialized pitchers in the late innings -- Goose Gossage was his closer with both the White Sox and Pirates -- and he championed the cause of the running game like no one else. His 1976 A's stole a remarkable 341 bases, an average of more than two per game.
But he always tried to adjust his managing to his players and not the other way around so, so when he left the speed-driven A's for the heavy-hitting Pirates, he became as big a proponent of the home run as he was the stolen base.
Unconventional moves
Tanner also didn't hesitate to make moves other managers would never dream of making -- even some of his former players who became managers, including Ken Macha, Lee Mazzilli and Tony Pena.
He once started knuckleballer Wilbur Wood in both games of a White Sox doubleheader when Wood got knocked out early in the first game. He went against the book by pulling Steve Nicosia after he went 4-for-4 against the Phillies to send up the left-handed hitting John Milner against left-hander Tug McGraw, and was rewarded with a game-winning grand slam.
And to keep closer Kent Tekulve in a Pirates game but still use a left-hander against a Giants hitter, he sent Tekulve to left field for one batter -- and the unfazed Tekulve caught the flyball that was hit to him.
Copyright 2006 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.