John Felske

John Frederick Felske

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 3", Weight 195 lb.
• School University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
• High School Lane Technical High School
• Debut July 26, 1968
• Final Game September 8, 1973
• Born May 30, 1942 in Chicago, IL USA

BR page

Biographical Information

John Felske hit his one career home run on June 1, 1972. The opposing pitcher was Lindy McDaniel of the New York Yankees; Felske and the Milwaukee Brewers won the game, 9-8. He played his last game for the Brewers in 1973 and immediately became a manager in the Brewers' farm system.

In 1974, Felske guided the Newark Co-Pilots. The next two years he moved up to the Eastern League, with the Thetford Mines Miners in 1975 and the Berkshire Brewers in 1976. Next he spent three years in the Pacific Coast League, guiding the Spokane Indians in 1977 and 1978, and the Vancouver Canadians in 1979. He left the Brewers and spent two seasons as a Toronto Blue Jays coach in 1980 and 1981.

Felske returned to the minors in the Philadelphia Phillies chain with the Reading Phillies in 1982 and the Portland Beavers in 1983. He was a member of the Phillies coaching staff in 1984. He took over as the Phillies manager in 1985 and held that position for two and a half seasons, including guiding the team to an unexpected second-place finish behind the New York Mets in 1986. When the Phils failed to get off to a good start in 1987, he was fired and replaced buy Lee Elia. In 8 minor league seasons (7 at AA or AAA) his teams were 513-538 and in 2 1/2 major league seasons they were 190-194.

Preceded by Paul Owens

Philadelphia Phillies Manager 1985-1987

Succeeded by Lee Elia

Year-by-Year Managerial Record

Year	Team	League	Record	Finish	Organization	Playoffs	Notes
1974	Newark Co-Pilots	New York-Penn League	30-36	5th	Milwaukee Brewers	none
1975	Thetford Mines Miners	Eastern League	59-80	7th	Milwaukee Brewers
1976	Berkshire Brewers	Eastern League	68-68	5th	Milwaukee Brewers
1977	Spokane Indians	Pacific Coast League	75-69	4th	Milwaukee Brewers
1978	Spokane Indians	Pacific Coast League	64-75	8th	Milwaukee Brewers
1979	Vancouver Canadians	Pacific Coast League	79-68	3rd	Milwaukee Brewers	Lost in 1st round
1982	Reading Phillies	Eastern League	63-75	5th	Philadelphia Phillies
1983	Portland Beavers	Pacific Coast League	75-67	3rd (t)	Philadelphia Phillies	League Champs
1985	Philadelphia Phillies	National League	75-87	5th	Philadelphia Phillies
1986	Philadelphia Phillies	National League	86-75	2nd	Philadelphia Phillies
1987	Philadelphia Phillies	National League	29-32	--	Philadelphia Phillies		replaced by Lee Elia on June 18

Related Sites

• BR Manager page