Jeff Banister: Starling Marte's Gold Glove A Credit To Pirates' Organization
PITTSBURGH (93-7 The Fan) – Less than 24 hours after being named a finalist for the American League Manager of the Year award, Rangers manager and longtime Pirates coach Jeff Banister joined "The Fan Morning Show" to talk about the accomplishment and his outstanding first season in Texas.
"It was an incredible ride, really, from the very beginning," Banister said. "Our month of April, which was horrendous to say the least, the 7-14, [we] put ourselves in such a hole. But really, what a great group of guys that we had here. They never gave up, they never quit, they played hard for each other every single day. They continued to show up and play the game of baseball to get themselves to an American League West championship and into the playoffs, just really an incredible ride."
Banister also shared his thoughts on Starling Marte winning a Gold Glove award on Tuesday night. It's something Banister sees as a major credit to the Pirates' organization.
"To see where this guy came from from the very beginning, just the raw talent that we all saw in Starling Marte, and just the complete development of the man and the player, it's just a testament to everybody in that scouting and development system over there in Pittsburgh," Banister said. "But really, a testament to Starling and how hard he's actually worked. And listen, there was a smile on my face and some inner joy to be able to say that I had a small part in that."
Banister also talked about an award he has already secured - the 2015 Chuck Tanner MLB Manager of the Year Award. It's an honor that will be especially meaningful for Banister, given that Tanner was one of his biggest mentors and supporters in Pittsburgh.
"I hold a special place in my heart for Chuck," Banister said. "I got to know Chuck very well...he was a larger than life person...just to be mentioned in the same breath with Chuck, for me, I've got to tell you, it's incredible, because this is a guy I got to spend a lot of time with, I got to learn a lot of baseball from. There are a lot of things I do today in being honored to be a Major League manager that Chuck had a direct impact on."
One of Tanner's lessons stuck out to Banister more than any other.
"I'll never forget the things that Chuck helped me out with," Banister said. "And every day that I suit up, and I put the uniform on, and I walk out on the baseball field, the one thing that I took away from Chuck is this - that every day you're trying to make a difference in baseball players' lives, not only on the baseball field, but off the baseball field. And that's extremely important to me."
The interview can be heard here:
