Karl Kuehl

Karl Otto Kuehl (pronounced "keel"; September 5 1937 — August 6 2008) was an American scout, farm system official, coach and manager in Major League Baseball. He also was the co-author of two books on the mental approach to baseball: "The Mental Game of Baseball: A Guide to Peak Performance" (1989) and "A Champion's State of Mind" (2005).

Kuehl was born in Monterey Park, California. He was the second manager in the history of the Montreal Expos, but did not last even a full season in the job. Promoted after a successful stint as skipper of Montreal's top farm team, the Memphis Blues, in 1975, Kuehl had a disastrous turn as manager of the 1976 Expos, who won only 43 of 128 games (.336) and were in last place in the National League East Division when Kuehl was replaced by Charlie Fox on September 4.

Weathering the debacle (the Expos ultimately would lose 107 of 162 games in 1976), Kuehl remained in the game as a coach for the Minnesota Twins under manager Gene Mauch, the man he replaced in Montreal. He then headed the player development department of the Oakland Athletics during a period (1983-95) when the A's had one of the most productive farm systems in baseball, and for two seasons (1996-97) worked in the front office of the Toronto Blue Jays. From 2001 through 2007, Kuehl was special advisor, baseball operations for the Cleveland Indians.

As a player, Kuehl was a minor league first baseman and outfielder who batted and threw left-handed. He played in the farm system of the Cincinnati Reds from 1955 through 1958, rising to the Seattle Rainiers of the Open-Classification Pacific Coast League for ten games in 1957. He began his managing career at the young age of 21 as the playing manager of the independent Salem Senators of the Class B Northwest League in 1959. He rejoined the Reds in 1961 as pilot of the Class D Geneva Redlegs of the New York-Penn League. He then worked as a scout and minor league manager for the Houston Astros and the Seattle Pilots/Milwaukee Brewers before joining the Montreal organization in 1971.

Kuehl died of pulmonary fibrosis on August 6 2008 in a Scottsdale, Arizona hospital.

Managerial statistics