Tuesday, June 24, 2025

1959 Yankee Coach of the Past: Chuck Dressen

CALLS 1,000-TO-1 SHOT
"The transfer of pitcher Bob Porterfield from the Cubs back to the Pirates recalls the comment made recently by Don Gutteridge, the White Sox coach.
Don pointed out that after the 1955 season, Washington peddled two of its star pitchers- Porterfield to the Red Sox and Mickey McDermott to the Yankees. He added:
'Everyone said that they'd be terrific winners with the good clubs that they'd been sent to. Everyone, that is, except Charlie Dressen, who was managing Washington. He shrugged off the deals by saying that he'd kept one pitcher, Pedro Ramos, who'd win more than the two combined.
'He could have had 1,000-to-1 odds against it- but it turned out that he was right. Porterfield won three and McDermott won two the next season, while Ramos got 12 wins- six of them against Boston.' "

-Leo Fischer, Chicago American (Baseball Digest, August 1959)

1959 Yankee of the Past: Leo Durocher

Leo Durocher, on what it takes to be a good manager: "I'll say this from the standpoint of a guy who had good years and bad years, and who still gets a call now and then from a general manager who has a job open: The good manager can't manage scared. He has to manage boldly and stick to his decisions. He can't manage to please the newspapermen. He can't kowtow to his general manager. He can't let what the players think, or the fans think, affect his judgment.
"He also can't worry about whether the players like him or not. How can you possibly have all 25 men in a group like you? They don't have to like you, but they had all better respect you. If you don't have their respect, you're lost. You have to be able to needle your players a bit- and hurt 'em with what you say, if necessary, because you've got to get through to 'em."

Baseball Digest, July 1959

Tuesday, June 3, 2025

1959 Yankee of the Past: Bill McKechnie

"Bill McKechnie, manager of the Pirates the last time they won a World Series, in 1925, who is living in retirement in Florida, got a big bang out of the All-Star Game. Told he's looking remarkably fit for a man in his 70s, he quipped:
'I'm just waiting for the third big league to get started. I have it all figured out to do a comeback. Leo Durocher, Jimmie Dykes and I will come back together to play third base- three innings each.' "

-Harry Keck, Pittsburgh Sun-Telegraph (Baseball Digest, September 1959)

1959 Yankee of the Past: Joe McCarthy

TECHNICAL K.O.
"Ball players who knew Joe McCarthy, the old Yankee manager, consider him the greatest in his line. Hank Greenberg recalls having a clubhouse boy who worked in the visiting clubhouse in Detroit. The kid eavesdropped on the opposition and reported the gossip to Greenberg.
'Somehow Joe found out about it,' says Greenberg. 'You know how sharp he was. He found out about everything. So one day he called a meeting and made me the chief topic of conversation. He told his club to knock Greenberg down. Keep knocking him down. Throw at him every time he comes up. Of course, he was only doing it so the kid would run to me with all he said. He did, too, and I was pretty uneasy at the plate all during the Yankee series.' "

-Jimmy Cannon, New York Journal-American (Baseball Digest, May 1959)