In the 1800s, baseball managers looked after travel and logistics, while a uniformed playing captain guided the team on the field.
Captains who had retired from playing kept their uniforms on in case they were needed as a player.
Eventually the manager’s job expanded to include coaching.
But tradition and a 1957 rule insisted that no one without a uniform could enter the playing area, including base coaches and the managers.
During the early twentieth century, the legendary Connie Mack managed the Philadelphia Athletics while wearing a suit and tie and never left the dugout.
