Manny Guerra

Manuel "Manny" Guerra is one of the most revered individuals in Las Vegas' rich baseball heritage.

Born in Minnesota, Guerra enlisted in the United States Air Force in 1950 where he served four years. Eventually, he was assigned to Nellis Air Force Base in 1952 and was honorably discharged from service in 1954 as a Staff Sergeant. Upon separation from the Air Force he was hired by the United States Government and returned to Nellis as a civilian jet aircraft mechanic specialist in 1955. At the time of his retirement in 1986 he was the highest-ranking civilian to ever work at Nellis and command a joint Military and Civilian Squadron. 

During his service he received a National Defense Service Medal and Good Conduct Medal. In 1980, he was promoted to Supervisor of the 57th Equipment Maintenance Squadron. 

He began coaching youth baseball in 1961 in North Las Vegas. For the next 56 years, he coached the North Las Vegas City League, Clark County Youth Baseball League and American Legion Baseball in Southern Nevada. In the early 1970's he met Ralph Meder, and together they conducted Sunday workouts at Valley High School and later at Hadland Park for any player that wanted to compete. 

In the coming years, he was approached by the St. Louis Cardinals to become a scout for the Las Vegas area. During the next 26 years he was a Scout Supervisor and covered the states of Nevada, Montana, Wyoming, Utah, Arizona and New Mexico. 

In 1998 Manny started the first "Scout Team" in Southern Nevada. The team consisted of the top high school prospects in the area. In 2001, he and Carl Cassell, a local scout with the Texas Rangers, began working together to showcase the prospects to other scouts and college coaches. This fall tradition has continued for more than 20 years. 

During his career, he received many accolades. In 2008, The Southern Nevada Coaches Association inducted him into the Southern Nevada High School Baseball Hall of Fame for his contribution to youth baseball. Most recently, he was honored by UNLV and CSN College of Southern Nevada for his many years of service to the Las Vegas Baseball Community. He finished his baseball career as a scout for the Philadelphia Phillies.

Guerra passed away on August 1, 2018.