The 10 Most Outspoken Managers in MLB History

It's not easy being the manager of a major league baseball team. Not only do you have to turn your squad into a consistent winner/contender, but you're also in charge of 25 men who trust you to lead them the right way. On top of that, there's the unwritten code of whatever happens in the clubhouse stays there.

Long story short, the manager's job is to just do everything they can to win, answer the press's questions tactfully and just stay quiet in general.

However, looking through baseball history, there were some managers out there who just marched to the beat of their own drums. Some—notably Billy Martin—openly criticized team ownership, while others like new Red Sox skipper Bobby Valentine just carried a brash, spitfire attitude with them 24/7.

Here are the 10 most outspoken managers in baseball history, as we salute them for their fiery passion regardless of our opinions of them.

No. 10: Buck Showalter

In his defense, Buck Showalter doesn't really have a reputation for being outspoken. He's passionate, but it's rare that he ever runs his mouth off or says anything controversial.

However, at the start of last season, Showalter made some interesting remarks about the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox, division rivals of his Baltimore Orioles. The veteran skipper called out Derek Jeter for jumping away from balls nowhere near him and criticized then-Red Sox GM Theo Epstein for spending too much money on free agents. After that, Showalter admitted taking pride in his team beating high-payroll squads because of the satisfaction.

I don't know what prompted those remarks from Showalter, but they certainly turned a lot of heads. That was some big talk considering how he has only been to the postseason twice and has never made it past the first round.

No matter how you look at it, Showalter's words just under a year ago put him in the Outspoken Managers Club.

No. 9: Casey Stengel

Casey Stengel wasn't so much outspoken as he was quirky and just plain hilarious. Nicknamed "The Old Perfessor," Stengel was a lot like that elderly relative every family has.  He shut off his filter and spoke exactly what was on his mind, regardless of what people thought.

With gems like, "Everybody line up alphabetically according to your height" and "If we're going to win the pennant, we've got to start thinking we're not as good as we think we are," the language known as "Stengelese" took New York Yankees fans by storm as they fully embraced their team's oddball of a manager.

In a dozen seasons with the Bronx Bombers, Stengel won seven World Series championships (including five in a row from 1949-1953) and 10 AL Pennants.

The future Hall of Famer was fired following his team's heartbreaking loss in the 1960 Fall Classic. The 70-year-old was thought to have been let go because of his age and when asked about it, he showed that he still had the razor-sharp outspoken wit: "I'll never make the mistake of being 70 again."

No. 8: Leo Durocher

Leo Durocher's managerial experience spanned 24 years with four different teams, including three NL pennants and a World Series championship. His 2,008 career wins were enough to garner him election into the Hall of Fame in 1994, three years after his death.

However, as good a manager as he was, Durocher's nickname sums up his legacy perfectly.  "Leo the Lip" was one of the brashest and most outspoken managers of his time, and he was quick to both call out and defend his players.

One of his notable moments came when Jackie Robinson was starting to break in with the Dodgers and some members of the team expressed thoughts of refusing to play alongside the man who would become the first African-American player in the majors.

All Durocher had to do was lay out some choice words for those men, and that was that.

No. 7: Bobby Valentine

Controversy appears to follow Bobby V wherever he goes; he always seems to find himself at odds with someone. During his first stint as manager of the Chiba Lotte Marines, in Japan, he had issues with the team's GM. With the Texas Rangers, he and team ownership never seemed to see eye to eye.

However, it was with the New York Mets that Valentine earned his true stripes as being outspoken. Here, he showed he was never hesitant to get into arguments with umpires and even get kicked out of games. After one particular ejection, he donned a disguise and went back into the dugout.

On top of that, Valentine publicly clashed with Mets GM Steve Phillips.

He's now set to take over the Boston Red Sox, who need a tough skipper after last year's meltdown. It will be interesting to see how this outspoken individual is received by even more outspoken fans once the season starts.

No. 6: Earl Weaver

I understand that Bobby Valentine has a penchant for getting kicked out of the game, but this tirade by longtime Orioles manager Earl Weaver makes Valentine look like Barney the Purple Dinosaur.

Don't believe me? Watch the video.

**WARNING!  VIDEO CONTAINS LANGUAGE THAT MAY BE CONSIDERED NSFW**

No. 5: Tommy Lasorda

I've probably rooted for the Los Angeles Dodgers twice in the 20 years I've been a baseball fan, but I still have a ton of respect for Tommy Lasorda. The guy managed the Boys in Blue for 21 years and went to the World Series four times, winning twice.

As good as the Hall of Famer was, however, his legacy will forever be remembered in one way. Besides fielding some great teams, Lasorda was never shy about defending his players under any circumstances.

Take a listen to this gem here, when then-Padres infielder Kurt Bevacqua accused Dodgers pitcher Tom Niedenfuer of throwing at a teammate.

**WARNING!  AUDIO CLIP CONTAINS LANGUAGE THAT COULD BE CONSIDERED NSFW**

No. 4: Lee Elia

First rule of being an MLB manager: Don't criticize and subsequently piss off your team's fans.

I guess Lee Elia didn't get that memo when he was skipper of the Chicago Cubs.

**WARNING!  CLIP CONTAINS LANGUAGE THAT COULD BE CONSIDERED NSFW**

No. 3: Billy Martin

Seeing as how he was fired and re-hired by the New York Yankees five times, it's pretty obvious that Billy Martin was outspoken. In a managerial career that lasted nearly 20 years, Martin managed five different teams and was notorious for clashing with front office executives as well as his players.

While at the helm for the Minnesota Twins, he was fired after getting into a barfight with one of his pitchers, Dave Boswell.

However, the feuds that people remember Martin for the most occurred during his time with the New York Yankees. In his first stint with the team, he publicly clashed with star outfielder and free-agent acquisition Reggie Jackson, nearly getting into a fight with him in the dugout.

Martin also had a volatile relationship with team owner George Steinbrenner, who fired and re-hired him five times, as mentioned before.

The relationships Martin had with those two can be summed up in a statement made to reporters following his suspending Jackson for not following orders: "They deserve each other. One's a born liar (Jackson) and the other's a convicted felon (Steinbrenner)."

Those remarks led to his forced resignation.

No. 2: Ozzie Guillen

Ozzie Guillen is a manager who's so outspoken that you can't help but love the guy. If getting ejected from a game were an Olympic event, he'd take home the gold medal automatically.

However, Guillen's outspokenness is seen in all its glory in another way: his Twitter account. He uses social media more than any manager out there and is not afraid to voice some critical opinions on it. He's even been suspended because of some of his Tweets.

If that's not outspoken, I don't know what is.

No. 1: Pete Rose

Well, where do I begin with Pete Rose? As a player, he was unapologetic about his rough-and-tumble style of play and as a manager...well, I think we all know where this is going.

While serving as manager of the Cincinnati Reds in the mid-late '80s, an investigation was launched. The subject: Rose and the possibility that he bet on baseball games, which was and still is strictly forbidden by the Commissioner's Office.

Despite constant denials, Rose voluntarily put himself on the permanent ineligibility list and to date has not been inducted into the Hall of Fame, which is strange considering how he is the all-time leader in career hits.

Rose played the denial game for years before finally admitting to his actions in his book published in 2004, My Prison Without Bars. Given how the book was released just a couple of days after the Hall of Fame induction ceremonies, fans reacted quite negatively. Not only did Rose admit to committing one of the cardinal sins of the game, but he did so in such a manner that it was clearly for publicity.

Forget all of the ejections, possible dirty play and the shoving incident with an umpire. Admitting to such a crime in such a manner is the picture definition of outspoken.