OMAHA, Neb. (WOWT) – After 17 seasons with the Omaha Storm Chasers and 48 years in professional baseball, Mike “Jirsch” Jirschele is retiring.
The Kansas City Royals made the announcement Friday, calling him “the all-time winningest manager in Omaha franchise history,” with 1,214 wins on his record. He served as the 14th manager for the Triple-A Omaha baseball team for 2,454 games — a franchise record, and 31% of the club’s history.
“‘Jirsch’ led Omaha to four division titles, three league championships and one national championship,” Friday’s news release states.
“I’m grateful for every day I was in Omaha, Omaha was my second home. I enjoyed working with all the kids that came through and all the different staffs I’ve had. I got to meet a lot of really nice, really good people in Omaha, both in the clubhouse and front office.”
Jirschele spent the first 11 years of his playing career with the Texas Rangers, who picked him up in the fifth round of the 1977 MLB Draft. He spent the next 13 seasons in the Minor League, playing in 999 games — 296 of them at the Triple-A level in Oklahoma City and 23 Triple-A games in Omaha, spending two seasons in the Royals system.
Starting in 1990, he spent 36 years of his post-player career in the Royals organization, serving at every professional level, according to Storm Chasers release.
He became the manager in Omaha in 1995 — the third former Omaha Royals player to go on to manage the team — staying for three years before becoming a roving Minor League infield instructor. In 2003, he returned to the Omaha club, winning his 1,000th game as a Minor League manager, leading the Omaha Royals to four division titles, two Pacific Coast League titles; and the team’s first of two Triple-A National Championships, in 2013.
He then spent six years as the third-base coach for the Kansas City Royals, before returning for his third and final stint with Omaha in 2023.
“It has been my pleasure to work with Jirsch, the better part of the last 19 seasons,” said Martie Cordaro, Omaha Storm Chasers president. “He has committed his life’s work to developing professional baseball players and men. In 2014, when we retired his jersey, we never thought he would be back in an Omaha Triple-A uniform, so the past three seasons have been icing on the cake. Enjoy your past due retirement, number 23.”
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