Brewers Follow Trend, Hire Garner

The days of the good old boys’ network in major league baseball may be ending. Former second baseman Phil Garner, 42, was named manager of the Milwaukee Brewers Wednesday. He becomes the fourth relatively young former player in a month to be hired without any previous big league managerial experience, joining the Boston Red Sox’s Butch Hobson, the Seattle Mariners’ Bill Plummer and the New York Yankees’ Buck Showalter.

Garner, who earned the nickname “Scrap Iron” for his feisty play during the 1970s with the Oakland Athletics and the Pittsburgh Pirates, said he has always aspired to be a manager but not this quickly. “I had not put out any feelers,” he said. “I had not been seeking a job.”