MEMPHIS, Tennessee – Memphis Redbirds manager Stubby Clapp has been named the Pacific Coast League Manager of the Year as voted by league managers, media representatives, and team officials, the league office announced Tuesday. He becomes the first Redbirds skipper to earn the honor in the franchise’s 20th season in the PCL.
In his first year at the helm of the club, Clapp has piloted the Redbirds to their best season in franchise history and first division championship since 2014, which was clinched with 21 games to play in the regular season. During the course of the season, 57 different players have joined the roster and 18 have also played for the St. Louis Cardinals, including 11 on the current big league roster, with seven making their Major League debuts.
The 2017 Redbirds set the franchise record for wins in a season, eclipsing the 2000 team’s 83 wins with their 84th victory Aug. 13 at Nashville, and are on pace to become the first PCL team to win their division by 20.0 or more games since 1981. Clapp and the Redbirds won a franchise-record 11-straight games April 28-May 8 and went 22-6 in July, which was the best month in franchise history.
Memphis currently has its best ERA, its best fielding percentage, and its third-best batting average in team history.
Clapp was named the Redbirds’ seventh manager on Nov. 30, 2016. His history in Memphis dates back to the early days of the Redbirds, as he played 425 games from 1999-2002 and still holds the franchise’s career records for triples (19) and walks (222). He ranks second in runs scored (258) and third in games played, doubles (87), extra-base hits (128), and total hits (418).
He was a member of the Redbirds’ first PCL championship team in 2000, where he hit three home runs and drove in 11 runs with a .404 on-base percentage during the playoffs. Clapp also recorded the first hit in AutoZone Park history earlier that season, with a single to center field.
Clapp joins Tommy Lasorda (1970), Terry Collins (1988), Charlie Manuel (1992), and Ryne Sandberg (2010) as skippers to win the PCL Manager of the Year Award.
Clapp and the division-champion Redbirds finish the regular season with three more games against Iowa tonight–Thursday and four games at Colorado Springs Friday–Monday, before the playoffs begin at AutoZone Park on Wednesday, Sept. 6, with game one presented by Coca-Cola, and Thursday, Sept. 7.
