YOU DON'T EXPLAIN VICTORIES
" 'There is only one place worth finishing, and that is first; second is no good,' says Leo Durocher. 'I'm out to win any way I can. I've never had anyone ask me HOW I won. You have to explain only when you lose. And I don't like to explain.' "
-Fred Russell in the Nashville Banner (Baseball Digest, February 1949)
IT MAY SEEM STRANGE, BUT - PLAYERS LIKE TO WORK FOR LEO
"To the general public, particularly outside of the town in which he is operating, Leo Durocher is one of the most disliked men in the sport.
His brash encounters with umpires, his cocky attitude towards the opposition and even the ranting tongue lashings he has been known to hand out to his own players all have made him generally unpopular with fandom.
He seems deliberately to go out of his way at times to antagonize people or to have the spotlight thrown in his direction.
There was the time in New York one day last summer when the Cardinals were playing the Giants in the Polo Grounds. Leo made a dramatic entrance. The clubhouse at the Polo Grounds is in deep center field. Just a minute or two before the game, in that pause when there is practically nothing occurring, Durocher strode in majesty from center field to dugout. It was his first appearance of the day.
That particular afternoon it was unfortunate. The Cardinals manufactured twenty-one runs. Leo was glad to have his entire team, excepting several pitchers who had departed earlier, surrounding him as he made his exit.
All this is but a preliminary to something that possibly puzzles fans, but is a fact just the same. Even if he is tyrannical at times, even if he is a showboat, Durocher is a man players themselves like to work for.
We heard that last summer directly and indirectly, from several players who once wore the same uniform as The Lip. Asked if they didn't like the peace and quiet that pervaded their present surroundings, they agreed it was nice but that 'I wouldn't mind playing for Leo again.'
This was brought out more forcefully when it became obvious Fred Fitzsimmons had done all the leading in trying to land a job as a coach of the Giants under Durocher.
Last year Fat Fred was a coach of the pennant-winning Boston Braves. There he worked for kind, enthusiastic owners who have one way and another shown they will pay their employees as well or better than most clubs. At Boston, his boss was the calm and quiet Billy Southworth.
With the Braves, had he stayed on, Fitzsimmons would have been working for a club that would definitely be in the pennant race in 1949. At least, it stands much more of a chance of doing so than the Giants who, at the latest reading, still had punch but no pitching.
In addition, the Giants were the club which a decade or so ago humiliated Fitzsimmons by trading him to the hated Dodgers for an unimportant pitcher named Tom Baker, who never amounted to anything and never made the Giant fans forget Fitzsimmons. All that Baker did was make the Giant bosses wish they could forget the whole thing.
Yet Fitzsimmons was willing to pass up the chance to be with another pennant winner, willing to forget the insult the Giants had handed him, just to be back working for that brash little guy, Durocher.
As mentioned, Fitzsimmons seemed to be the guilty party in the controversy that came to Commissioner Chandler's hands- the Braves' complaint that the Giants had tampered with a man under contract to them. Fitzsimmons made early overtures to Durocher about a job, repeated them at a later date and when an opening developed, received an oral offer.
It is reasonable to suspect Durocher believed Fitzsimmons came to him in good faith. Leo took it for granted Fitz was free to talk to him. Certainly, Durocher wouldn't take any such chances of getting back in the commissioner's doghouse.
In defense of Fitzsimmons, he perhaps did not realize that a coach, until recently, was a different sort of person. A coach is under contract from Jan. 1 of any year to Dec. 31. At the recent major league meeting this was changed so that coaches have the same status as players.
What has struck us so odd is that Fitzsimmons seemed so desperately anxious to go back to work for Leo.
'I understand it,' a Dodger player told us when we inquired. 'They're two of a kind. They're both scrappers. They fight for every inch in a ball game. When Fitz was pitching for Leo, I heard them holler at each other lots of times, but both had the same interest at heart. Sure, I've cussed out Leo behind his back myself, when I was playing for him. But when it was all over I knew he was fighting my battles for me, and that at the time he yelled he was doing everything he could to win a game. When you know your manager has his teeth in as deep as you have, you respect him. Maybe you don't like him, but you respect him.'
This is not particularly a defense of Leo, but perhaps it explains to some extent why players like to work for him."
-Robert L. Burnes, condensed from The St. Louis Globe-Democrat (Baseball Digest, March 1949)
SENTENCE HURTS
"The Giants won't be financially embarrassed over the $2,000 they must contribute to the commissioner's coffers because of the Fitzsimmons incident and neither will be Leo Durocher or Fitzsimmons, who were fined $500 each. But Fitzsimmons' suspension from March 1 to April 1 runs while the Giants are in training in Arizona and may injure the Giants' pennant chances irreparably.
Durocher was intending to have Fitz work with his pitchers while in camp. Giant pitching has been a Harlem eyesore for years and still needs hours of the sound schooling of the cagey old veteran who was a standout moundsman of the National League."
-Harold C. Burr in the Brooklyn Eagle (Baseball Digest, March 1949)
JOHNNY MCCARTHY(Yankee Farmhand of the Past)
"Last season Johnny returned to the New York Giants and appeared in 56 games, hitting .263.
He was first with the Giants in 1936. As their regular first baseman in 1937 and 1938, Johnny hit .279 and .272 respectively. He appeared in the 1937 World Series.
Johnny has also been with the Brooklyn Dodgers and the Boston Braves."
-1949 Bowman No. 220
JERRY PRIDDY
"Jerry came up to the Yankees as part of the famous double-play combination of Rizzuto and Priddy. He was traded to Washington to make room for Snuffy Stirnweiss and then, in turn, was traded to the Browns.
Jerry clubbed out a .296 average on 166 hits, driving in 79 runs. He participated in 132 double plays- tops in last season's American League play."
-1949 Leaf No. 111
HANK MAJESKI
"Hank started in the majors with the Boston Braves in 1939. He spent 1939 to mid-1941 with the Braves and on option to Newark. He was sold to the Yankee organization in 1941 but joined the armed forces before playing in New York.
Hank split 1946 between the Yankees and the A's. The next season he set a major league record for fielding by third basemen with .988. In 1948, he hit .310 for Philadelphia in 148 games and again led American League third basemen in fielding."
-1949 Bowman No. 127
"The hot-corner man for the A's. Hank established a new major league-high for expert defense at third in 1947, setting a great mark of .947. He couldn't top his own record last year, but his .975 was second in the American League. A .454 clutch slugger as well, Hank was fifth in the AL in runs batted in- 120.
Hank came from the Yankees in 1946."
-1949 Leaf No. 149
EDDIE BOCKMAN
"The Pirates bought Eddie from the Cleveland Indians at the end of the 1947 season. He was in 70 games for the Bucs last year, hitting .239.
Eddie broke into pro ball in 1939 and played with Bisbee, Joplin, Norfolk and Binghamton before joining the armed forces. He took 1946 spring training with the Yankees and was sent to Kansas City for the season. He hit .303 that year."
-1949 Bowman No. 195
EDDIE MILLER (Yankee Prospect of the Past)
"Eddie is a fiery ballplayer who ranks among the top infielders in the business. He covers plenty of ground and has a good throwing arm- he fielded .966 last season, third best in the National League. Eddie hit .248 driving out 14 home runs.
He was originally a member of the Cincinnati Reds but was traded to the Phillies in 1948."
-1949 Leaf No. 68
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