R.I.P. Bill Slack

Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame inductee Bill Slack (Petrolia, Ont.) passed away on Sunday at the age of 92.

November 10, 2025

By Kevin Glew

Canadian Baseball Network

Longtime minor league manager and Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame inductee Bill Slack passed away on Sunday at the age of 92.

He died at his home in Murrells Inlet, S.C. with his family by his side.

“During his parts of six decades in professional baseball as a player, coach and manager, Bill Slack developed into one of the most respected and influential Canadians in the game,” said the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame in a statement on Monday.

Born in Petrolia, Ont., on May 3, 1933, Slack honed his skills in Sarnia before he was signed as a pitcher by the Boston Red Sox in 1951. He began his pro career by winning 15 games and hitting .361 with Roanoke of the Class-B Piedmont League the following year.

Over the next several seasons, he developed into a solid right-handed reliever in the Sox organization. He would put together his finest of 13 minor league campaigns in 1957 when he notched 16 wins and posted a 2.24 ERA for Albany of the Class-A Eastern League.

Slack would reach the Triple-A level in the Boston chain, before opting to focus on a coaching career.

Beginning as a manager in the Red Sox organization in 1961, Slack soon settled in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, where he led the Red Sox Class-A team for parts of 13 seasons. During that time, his teams captured four Carolina League titles and he helped hone the skills of future big league stars Jim Rice, Carlton Fisk, Ernie Whitt and Jim Lonborg.

When the Red Sox left the Carolina League in 1985, the Atlanta Braves hired Slack as a minor league pitching instructor. During his 14 years in the Braves’ organization, he aided in the development of, among others, Steve Avery, John Smoltz and Tom Glavine.

Slack attempted to retire in 1999, but the Texas Rangers convinced him to accept a minor league coaching role in 2001. Among the players he coached and threw batting practice to in the Rangers’ organization was a young slugger named Edwin Encarnacion.

In 2002, he moved on to serve as the pitching coach for the Carolina League’s Wilmington Blue Rocks in the Kansas City Royals’ organization for two seasons. During that time, he worked with future Cy Young Award winner Zack Greinke.

A legend in Winston-Salem, Slack finished his career with more wins than any other manager in Carolina League history. For his efforts, he was named the manager on the Carolina League all-time, all-star team in 1995 and his No. 37 is honoured on the left field wall at Ernie Shore Field in Winston-Salem.

“Bill was a passionate baseball lifer who spent his career in the minor league ranks, and as a result, his teaching and influence often went unheralded. But we were proud to recognize him with his induction into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame in 2002,” said the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame in a statement. “We would like to extend our deepest condolences to his family.”

At 92, Slack had been the second oldest living Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame inductee to former Montreal Expos owner Charles Bronfman who is 94.

You can read Slack’s official obituary and leave condolences here.