Near the end of the 1976 season, the Dodgers were nine games out of first place and I was finishing my fourth year as third base coach for Walter Alston. When Alston, who was the skipper for 23 years and a future Hall of Famer, stepped down, everyone was shocked, including myself.
The next game was Alston's last. Peter O'Malley, who was then team president, told me that he was going to call me the next morning at 9 o'clock.
All night I wondered. Of course I wanted the job, but no one ever said to me that I was going to be the next manager of the Dodgers. I believed that when the time came that Alston would step down that my loyalty, my contribution and my hard work would warrant my getting the job.
I knew I was prepared for the job. I knew I could win. I managed for eight years in the minor leagues, and in six winter ball seasons in the Dominican Republic. The majority of the players on that Dodgers team had played for me in the minor leagues, and together we won in the Rookie League, we won in triple A and we won in the Dominican, so I knew we could win in Los Angeles.
The phone finally rang at 9 the next morning and Peter told me he wanted to see me in his office at 10.
On my way in I was saying to myself, "Don't speed, don't get stopped by the police, don't get into an accident."
I stayed right within the 65-mph speed limit. While I tried to concentrate on following the rules of the road, I couldn't help but wonder about the possibilities.
A year earlier, I was preparing to go to the Dominican to manage. John McHale, the general manager of the Montreal Expos, called my house looking for me. I had played in Montreal for a number of years and loved the city and its people. My wife called me at Dodger Stadium to let me know that Mr. McHale was looking for me.
When he called, Peter told me to take the call in his office because he had given the Expos permission to talk to me.
I told Peter that I wasn't interested, but he convinced me to talk to them as it could never hurt me.
I knew they were going to offer me the manager job. I was already a coach, and I knew they wouldn't offer me another job as a coach.
When McHale told me that he wanted to meet with me, I thought he was going to pick some hotel in downtown Los Angeles, but he surprised me and told me he wanted to meet with me the next morning in Denver.
"Denver?"
