Phil Mankowski

Philip Anthony Mankowski (born January 9, 1953) is an American former professional baseball third baseman. He played all or parts of six seasons in Major League Baseball with the Detroit Tigers (1976–1979) and New York Mets (1980, 1982).

Early years Mankowski was born in Buffalo, New York, in 1953. His father Ben played in the Brooklyn Dodgers farm system in the early 1940s, and his brother Paul played in the Minnesota Twins' farm system from 1965 to 1969.

Major League Baseball With Aurelio Rodriguez holding the third baseman position for Detroit, Mankowski spent six years in the minor leagues before making his major league debut. As a rookie in 1976, Mankowski appeared in 24 games, 22 of them as the Tigers' starting third baseman. In 1977, he appeared in a career-high 94 games, including 78 as the starter at second base. During the 1977 season, he also had career highs in at bats (286), hits (79), triples (three), and RBIs (27). The only other season in which Mankowski had at least 100 at bats was 1978, when he hit .275, scored 28 runs, hit four home runs, and drove in 20 runs. He appeared in 21 games for the Mets during the 1980 and 1982 seasons.

While playing for the Mets in 1982, Mankowski began studying classical piano.