Mike Jirschele’s 48 years in pro baseball meant he crossed paths with — and coached — some of the biggest names, was part of thousands of wins and countless moments.
On Friday, the Omaha Storm Chasers announced the 66-year-old manager was retiring from the sport.
Under Jirschele, Omaha won four division titles, three league championships and one national title. He is the winningest manager in franchise history with 1,214 victories in 17 seasons with the Triple-A club. That also was part a franchise-record 2,454 games, 31% in the club’s history.
“I’m grateful for every day I was in Omaha, Omaha was my second home,” Jirschele said in a press release. “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 began his Omaha managerial career in 1995, a club he once played for. After three years as the Omaha Royals manager, he spent five years as Kansas City’s minor league infield instructor (1998-2002) before returning to the O-Royals in 2003.
In his second stint as Omaha manager (until 2013), Jirschele won his 1,000th game, led Omaha to four division titles, three consecutive trips to the Pacific Coast League championship series with two titles (2011, 2013) and the team’s first of two Triple- A national championships (2013).
After six years in the major leagues (2014-2019) as the third base coach for Kansas City — which included a World Series title in 2015 — Jirsch returned for his third and final stint with Omaha (2023-2025). The Storm Chasers won the International League title in 2024, when the team won a franchise- best 89 games.
“It has been my pleasure to work with Jirsch the better part of the last 19 seasons,” Storm Chasers President Martie Cordaro said. “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.”
Jirschele was selected by the Texas Rangers in the fifth round of the 1977 MLB draft and spent the first 11 seasons of his playing career in their organization. He played 13 minor league seasons overall, appearing in 999 games.
Jirschele played two seasons in the Royals system, including 23 Triple-A games with the Omaha Royals.
After his pro career ended, Jirschele joined the Royals organization in 1990 — were he spent the rest of his 36-year coaching tenure. He won manager of the year in the Gulf Coast League (1992), Carolina League (1994) and International League (2024).
Over his 20 seasons as a minor league manager, Jirschele oversaw 716 players with 161 going onto major league careers — including Zack Greinke, Eric Hosmer, Mike Moustakas and Johnny Damon.
