Eighth-year manager Greg Tagert is the winningest skipper in team history and the man who guided the ‘Cats to six consecutive playoff appearances including five straight trips to the Northern League Championship Series and two league titles. He enters the 2012 season just six wins shy of 800 in his career.

The two-time Northern League Manager of the Year (2007, 2009), Tagert, in 16 seasons as a manager, has remarkably never posted a below-.500 record.

The California native has made his name in baseball by building teams not just on talent alone, but by valuing character as much as on-field ability.  The results have produced teams that play with an uncanny knack for pulling out wins late and a steadfast refusal to quit.  Tagert’s RailCats are a remarkable 6-0 all-time in Game Five (the decisive game) in the Northern League Playoffs and have faced elimination in six of their seven all-time playoff series wins.  Tagert’s 2006 team had to fight just to get into the playoffs, going 7-0 to end the season to force a one-game playoff against Joliet, and winning that game to make it back to the postseason.

Aside from producing winners with the RailCats, Tagert has also guided 15 of his RailCats charges to affiliated baseball, including 2006 RailCats outfielder Nathan Haynes, who played in the Major Leagues with the Los Angeles Angels and Tampa Bay Rays from 2007-08.  Tagert has also mentored three Northern League Pitchers of the Year, a Northern League Player of the Year, Rookie of the Year and Relief Pitcher of the Year, five Baseball America All-Independent Leagues selections and eight full-season Northern League All-Stars.

Tagert's RailCats made the playoffs in his first six seasons as manager, and made a valiant effort at making it seven straight in 2011. Despite a 54-46 record, Gary fell a game  short of Central Division Champion Wichita in their first season in the American Association.

The 2010 RailCats battled through injuries all-year-long but, sure enough, found themselves in the playoffs yet again. Powered by Northern League Pitcher of the Year Willie Glen, who returned to the 'Cats after spending the last two seasons in the Florida Marlins system, and an eight game win-streak in early August, the RailCats clinched a sixth consecutive playoff berth before being bounced by eventual champion Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks.

The 2009 RailCats posted the best regular season record in the Northern League (57-39), the second time they have done so in the last three seasons.  The RailCats had to dig out of a big early hole to rally to the top of the league, too, going 42-18 over the last 60 games of the season after starting 17-21.  The ‘Cats revival was buoyed by the resurgence of starter Tony Cogan, who went on a record 28.2 inning scoreless streak en route to being named the Northern League’s best left-handed pitcher.

The 2008 RailCats were Tagert’s best offensive team, setting a litany of team records and breaking the Northern League record for hits in a single season (1,057).  That club featured Northern League Player of the Year Tanner Townsend and went 56-40, finishing second in the league.  The RailCats once again won a semifinal playoff series (besting Winnipeg 3-1) before falling two wins short of a third title.

Tagert arrived in Northwest Indiana in 2005, taking over a team that had set a league record for losses the previous season.  Tagert’s impact was immediate and the turnaround was impressive, as the RailCats made the playoffs and won back-to-back five game series to win the Northern League Championship.  After taking the RailCats to the brink of a title in 2006, the 2007 ‘Cats dominated the circuit with a 58-38 regular season record and went on to win the title in another dramatic five-game series.

A longtime Frontier League Manager, Tagert won his 700th career game in 2010 and has a .557 lifetime winning percentage (794-635).  Originally from Vacaville, California, Tagert worked as a scout for the Detroit Tigers and as a collegiate pitching coach before becoming a professional manager.