Leo Durocher
Encyclopedia
Leo Ernest Durocher (July 27, 1905 – October 7, 1991), nicknamed Leo the Lip, was an American
infielder
and manager
in Major League Baseball
. Upon his retirement, he ranked fifth all-time among managers with 2,009 career victories, second only to John McGraw in National League
history. Durocher still ranks tenth in career wins by a manager. A controversial and outspoken character, Durocher's career was dogged by clashes with authority, umpires (his 95 career ejections as a manager trailed only McGraw when he retired, and still rank fourth on the all-time list), and the press.
Durocher was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in .
to a French-Canadian family, Durocher joined the New York Yankees
briefly in before rejoining the club in as a regular, if unspectacular, player. Babe Ruth
nicknamed him "The All-American Out."
Durocher was a favorite of Yankee manager Miller Huggins
, who saw in him the seeds of a great manager – the competitiveness, the passion, the ego, the facility for remembering situations. Durocher's outspokenness did not endear him to Yankee ownership, however, and his habit of passing bad checks, to finance his expensive tastes in clothes and nightlife, annoyed Yankee general manager Ed Barrow
.
Durocher helped the team win its second consecutive World Series
title in 1928
. He demanded a raise and was sold to the Cincinnati Reds in 1930.
Durocher spent the remainder of his professional career in the National League
. After three years with the Cincinnati Reds
, he was traded to the St. Louis Cardinals
in mid-. Upon joining the Cardinals he was assigned uniform number 2 http://www.thebaseballpage.com/players/durocle01.php, which he wore for the rest of his career, as player, coach and manager. That team, whose famous nickname "Gashouse Gang
" was supposedly inspired by Leo, were a far more appropriate match for him; in St. Louis, Durocher's characteristics as a fiery player and vicious bench jockey were given full rein. Durocher remained with the Cardinals through the season, captaining the team and winning the 1934 World Series
(their third title in nine years) before being traded to the Brooklyn Dodgers
.
Primarily a shortstop
, Durocher played through (excluding the and seasons), and was known as a solid fielder but a poor hitter. In 5,350 career at bats, he batted
.247, hit 24 home run
s and had 567 runs batted in
. He was named to the NL's All-Star
team three times—once with St. Louis, and twice with the Dodgers. In he made history of a sort by making the final out in Johnny Vander Meer's second no-hitter.
, Larry MacPhail
. The two were a successful and combustible combination. MacPhail spared no expense in purchasing and trading for useful players (and sometimes outright stars), such as Dolph Camilli
, Billy Herman
and Kirby Higbe
; he purchased unknown shortstop
Pee Wee Reese
from the Boston Red Sox
, and signed another young star, Pete Reiser
, when he was ruled a free agent
from the Cardinals' farm system; and found stalwarts such as American League veterans Dixie Walker
and Whitlow Wyatt off the waiver wire.
And in his first season as a manager, , Durocher epitomized the position for which most would remember him. As a manager, his temperament came into its own, and the most enduring images of Durocher are of him standing toe-to-toe with an umpire, vehemently arguing his case until his inevitable ejection from the game. In assembling his teams, he valued the same characteristics in his players, his philosophy best expressed in the widely quoted – but misunderstood – phrase for which he is now best remembered: "Nice guys finish last
."
In a July 6, , interview with Red Barber
, Durocher had been commenting on the common belief at the time that if a team's players got along well, they would naturally play better than teams with difficult or irascible players; noting some of the players on the Giants who had reputations as personable individuals, notably Mel Ott
, he observed that they were all "nice guys", but would nonetheless finish last (while his Dodgers were in first place), summing up his argument with, "Nice guys; finish last." Durocher later noted that the remark was quoted accurately in the published interview, but came to take on a different meaning when some incorrectly thought he meant that such a team would finish last because it included "nice guys", when in fact he had meant that there was no correlation (and in fact, saw it more as an ironic situation) between the personalities on a team and their level of play. (See 1966 Chicago Cubs, below.) Thus the quote "Nice guys finish last" has long been attributed to Durocher, including an entry in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations
. Many historians assert, however, that the famous four words never were actually uttered by Durocher; the quotation as it is remembered actually came from headline writers distilling Durocher's quote that "The nice guys are all over there, in seventh place, not in this dugout" into a pithy soundbite.
The Dodgers were coming off six straight losing seasons, but Durocher made a quick turnaround; apart from the war year of 1944, he would not have a losing campaign with the team. In 1941, just his third season of managing, he led the Dodgers to the National League pennant (their first in 21 years) with a 100-54 record. They lost the 1941 World Series
to the Yankees in five games and just missed the 1942 NL pennant despite winning 104 games.
Yet despite all the success between 1939–42, Durocher and GM MacPhail had a tempestuous relationship. MacPhail was a notorious drinker and as hot-tempered as his manager, and often he would fire Durocher in the midst of a night of drinking. In the morning, however, MacPhail would always hire Durocher back. Finally, with World War II
raging, the Dodger GM resigned to rejoin the United States Army
at the end of the 1942 season. His replacement, former Cardinal boss Branch Rickey
, retained Durocher as skipper. Durocher managed the Dodgers continuously until , and led Brooklyn to the first postseason NL playoff series in history, losing to the Cardinals two games to none.
But Durocher also clashed regularly with Commissioner Albert "Happy" Chandler
, who had been named to the post in 1945. Throughout his tenure Leo had been warned away from his friends, many of whom were gamblers, bookmakers or had mob connections, and who had a free rein at Ebbets Field
(he was particularly close with actor George Raft
, with whom he shared a Los Angeles house, and admitted to a nodding acquaintance with Bugsy Siegel
).
Furthermore, Durocher encouraged and participated in card schools within the clubhouse, was something of a poolshark himself and a friend to many pool hustlers. He also followed horse racing closely. Matters came to a head when Durocher's affair with married actress Laraine Day
became public knowledge, drawing criticism from Brooklyn's influential Catholic Youth Organization
; the two later eloped and married in Mexico in 1947. They divorced in 1960. During happier times, in the 1950s, Day authored a book describing the life of a manager's wife, titled Day with the Giants.
. The Yankee boss had hired away two coaches from Durocher's 1946 staff (Chuck Dressen
and Red Corriden
) during the off-season, causing friction. Then matters got worse.
In person, Durocher and MacPhail exchanged a series of accusations and counter-accusations, with each suggesting the other invited gamblers into their clubhouses. In the press, a ghostwritten article appeared under Durocher's name in the Brooklyn Eagle
, seeking to stir the rivalry between their respective clubs and accusing baseball of a double standard for Chandler's warning him against his associations but not MacPhail or other baseball executives.
Chandler was pressured by MacPhail, a close friend who was pivotal in having him appointed Commissioner, but the commissioner also discovered Durocher and Raft might have run a rigged crap game that took an active ballplayer for a large sum of money. (The player's identity was never confirmed officially, but a former Detroit Tiger
pitcher, Elden Auker
, wrote in his 2002 memoir that it was a then-current Tiger pitcher, Dizzy Trout
.) Chandler suspended Durocher for the season for "association with known gamblers".
Before being suspended, however, Durocher played a noteworthy role in erasing baseball's color line
. In the spring of 1947, he let it be known that he would not tolerate the dissent of those players on the team who opposed Jackie Robinson
's joining the club, saying:
He greatly admired Robinson for his hustle and aggression, calling him "a Durocher with talent." And Durocher liked to say of Eddie Stanky
, the sparkplug on his 1951 pennant-winning Giants team,
Meanwhile, as Durocher sat out his suspension, the Dodgers won the NL pennant under an interim skipper, scout Burt Shotton
, then went on to lose the 1947 World Series
to MacPhail's Yankees in seven games.
owner Horace Stoneham
negotiated a deal whereby Durocher was let out of his Brooklyn contract to take over the Dodgers' cross-town rivals. He enjoyed perhaps his greatest success with the Giants, and possibly a measure of sweet revenge against the Dodgers, as the Giants won the NL pennant in a playoff against Brooklyn, ultimately triumphing on Bobby Thomson
's historic game-winning home run
.
Later with the Giants in , Durocher won his only World Series
championship as a manager by sweeping the heavily favored Cleveland Indians
, who had posted the best American League record of all time (111-43) in the regular season.
After leaving the Giants following the 1955 season, Durocher worked at NBC
, where he was a color commentator on the Major League Baseball on NBC and host of The NBC Comedy Hour
and Jackpot Bowling
. He later served as a coach for the Dodgers, by then relocated to Los Angeles
, from to .
During this period, Durocher, who had made his screen debut in the 1943 Red Skelton
comedy Whistling in Brooklyn
, played himself in several television shows. In an (4/10/63) airing of The Beverly Hillbillies
, Durocher plays golf with Jed Clampett (Buddy Ebsen
) and Jethro Bodine (Max Baer, Jr.
), and he tries to sign Jethro to a baseball contract after discovering Jethro has a strong pitching arm. In a memorable episode of The Munsters
, entitled "Herman the Rookie" (4/8/65), Durocher believes Herman (Fred Gwynne
) is the next Mickey Mantle
when he sees the towering Munster hit long home runs. Football great Elroy Hirsch
also appeared with Durocher. Three years earlier, he also appeared as himself in an episode of Mr. Ed, when the talking horse sought a tryout with the Los Angeles Dodgers. He also appeared on television in the early 1970s on the syndicated
What's My Line?
as a mystery guest.
. For the past four seasons, the Cubs had tried an experiment called the "College of Coaches
," in which they were led by a "head coach" rather than a manager. However, at his first press conference, Durocher formally announced an end to the experiment by saying:
At the same press conference, Durocher declared, "I am not the manager of an eighth place team." He was right: the Cubs finished 10th and became the first team to finish behind the previously hapless New York Mets
. Three years later, Durocher suffered one of his most remembered failures. The 1969 Chicago Cubs season
started well: the team led the newly created National League East for 105 days, and by mid-August they had a seemingly insurmountable 8½-game cushion and appeared to be a shoo-in for their first postseason appearance in 25 years. However, they foundered down the stretch, and finished eight games behind the "Miracle Mets" (who had been 9½ games back in mid-August).
"Are these the real Cubs?" a reporter asked Durocher after his team lost one against the New York upstarts during the pennant drive.
"I don't know," Durocher answered, "but these are the real Mets."
While with the Cubs, Durocher encountered a difficult dilemma in regards to the Cubs aging superstar, Ernie Banks
, whose injured knees made him a liability but whose legendary status made benching him impossible. Durocher also nearly came to blows with Cubs star Ron Santo
during an infamous clubhouse near-riot. The problems would be symbolic of Durocher's difficulty in managing the new breed of wealthier, more outspoken players who had come up during his long career. He was fired midway through the 1972 season
, later stating that his greatest regret in baseball was not being able to win a pennant for longtime Cubs owner P.K. Wrigley.
for the final 31 games of the 1972 season and the entire season before retiring. Durocher made a brief comeback in 1976 in the Japanese Pacific League
with the Taiheiyo Club Lions, but retired due to illness before the beginning of the season.
Durocher, with Ed Linn, wrote a memoir titled Nice Guys Finish Last, a book that was recently re-published by the University of Chicago Press
.
Leo Durocher died in 1991 in Palm Springs, California
at the age of 86, and is buried in Forest Lawn, Hollywood Hills Cemetery
in Los Angeles. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1994.
, Leo was also married to Grace Dozier in 1934 and Lynne Walker Goldblatt in 1969. All of his marriages ended in divorce.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
infielder
Infielder
An infielder is a baseball player stationed at one of four defensive "infield" positions on the baseball field.-Standard arrangement of positions:In a game of baseball, two teams of nine players take turns playing offensive and defensive roles...
and manager
Manager (baseball)
In baseball, the field manager is an individual who is responsible for matters of team strategy on the field and team leadership. Managers are typically assisted by between one and six assistant coaches, whose responsibilities are specialized...
in Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...
. Upon his retirement, he ranked fifth all-time among managers with 2,009 career victories, second only to John McGraw in National League
National League
The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League , is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball, and the world's oldest extant professional team sports league. Founded on February 2, 1876, to replace the National Association of Professional...
history. Durocher still ranks tenth in career wins by a manager. A controversial and outspoken character, Durocher's career was dogged by clashes with authority, umpires (his 95 career ejections as a manager trailed only McGraw when he retired, and still rank fourth on the all-time list), and the press.
Durocher was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in .
Playing career
Born in West Springfield, MassachusettsWest Springfield, Massachusetts
The Town of West Springfield is a city in Hampden County, Massachusetts, United States. It is part of the Springfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 28,391 at the 2010 census...
to a French-Canadian family, Durocher joined the New York Yankees
New York Yankees
The New York Yankees are a professional baseball team based in the The Bronx, New York. They compete in Major League Baseball in the American League's East Division...
briefly in before rejoining the club in as a regular, if unspectacular, player. Babe Ruth
Babe Ruth
George Herman Ruth, Jr. , best known as "Babe" Ruth and nicknamed "the Bambino" and "the Sultan of Swat", was an American Major League baseball player from 1914–1935...
nicknamed him "The All-American Out."
Durocher was a favorite of Yankee manager Miller Huggins
Miller Huggins
Miller James Huggins , nicknamed "Mighty Mite", was a baseball player and manager. He managed the powerhouse New York Yankee teams of the 1920s and won six American League pennants and three World Series championships....
, who saw in him the seeds of a great manager – the competitiveness, the passion, the ego, the facility for remembering situations. Durocher's outspokenness did not endear him to Yankee ownership, however, and his habit of passing bad checks, to finance his expensive tastes in clothes and nightlife, annoyed Yankee general manager Ed Barrow
Ed Barrow
Edward Grant Barrow was an American manager and executive in Major League Baseball, primarily with the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox...
.
Durocher helped the team win its second consecutive World Series
World Series
The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball, played between the American League and National League champions since 1903. The winner of the World Series championship is determined through a best-of-seven playoff and awarded the Commissioner's Trophy...
title in 1928
1928 World Series
In the 1928 World Series, the New York Yankees swept the St. Louis Cardinals in four games. Along with , this was the first time a team had swept consecutive Series....
. He demanded a raise and was sold to the Cincinnati Reds in 1930.
Durocher spent the remainder of his professional career in the National League
National League
The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League , is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball, and the world's oldest extant professional team sports league. Founded on February 2, 1876, to replace the National Association of Professional...
. After three years with the Cincinnati Reds
Cincinnati Reds
The Cincinnati Reds are a Major League Baseball team based in Cincinnati, Ohio. They are members of the National League Central Division. The club was established in 1882 as a charter member of the American Association and joined the National League in 1890....
, he was traded to the St. Louis Cardinals
St. Louis Cardinals
The St. Louis Cardinals are a professional baseball team based in St. Louis, Missouri. They are members of the Central Division in the National League of Major League Baseball. The Cardinals have won eleven World Series championships, the most of any National League team, and second overall only to...
in mid-. Upon joining the Cardinals he was assigned uniform number 2 http://www.thebaseballpage.com/players/durocle01.php, which he wore for the rest of his career, as player, coach and manager. That team, whose famous nickname "Gashouse Gang
Gashouse Gang
The Gashouse Gang was a nickname applied to the St. Louis Cardinals Major League Baseball team of .The Cardinals, by most accounts, earned this nickname from the team's generally very shabby appearance and rough-and-tumble tactics...
" was supposedly inspired by Leo, were a far more appropriate match for him; in St. Louis, Durocher's characteristics as a fiery player and vicious bench jockey were given full rein. Durocher remained with the Cardinals through the season, captaining the team and winning the 1934 World Series
1934 World Series
The 1934 World Series matched the St. Louis Cardinals against the Detroit Tigers, with the Cardinals' "Gashouse Gang" winning in seven games for their third championship in nine years....
(their third title in nine years) before being traded to the Brooklyn Dodgers
Los Angeles Dodgers
The Los Angeles Dodgers are a professional baseball team based in Los Angeles, California. The Dodgers are members of Major League Baseball's National League West Division. Established in 1883, the team originated in Brooklyn, New York, where it was known by a number of nicknames before becoming...
.
Primarily a shortstop
Shortstop
Shortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball fielding position between second and third base. Shortstop is often regarded as the most dynamic defensive position in baseball, because there are more right-handed hitters in baseball than left-handed hitters, and most hitters have a tendency to pull the...
, Durocher played through (excluding the and seasons), and was known as a solid fielder but a poor hitter. In 5,350 career at bats, he batted
Batting average
Batting average is a statistic in both cricket and baseball that measures the performance of cricket batsmen and baseball hitters. The two statistics are related in that baseball averages are directly descended from the concept of cricket averages.- Cricket :...
.247, hit 24 home run
Home run
In baseball, a home run is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to reach home safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team in the process...
s and had 567 runs batted in
Run batted in
Runs batted in or RBIs is a statistic used in baseball and softball to credit a batter when the outcome of his at-bat results in a run being scored, except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play. The first team to track RBI was the Buffalo Bisons.Common nicknames for an RBI...
. He was named to the NL's All-Star
Major League Baseball All-Star Game
The Major League Baseball All-Star Game, also known as the "Midsummer Classic", is an annual baseball game between players from the National League and the American League, currently selected by a combination of fans, players, coaches, and managers...
team three times—once with St. Louis, and twice with the Dodgers. In he made history of a sort by making the final out in Johnny Vander Meer's second no-hitter.
Managing
After the season — Durocher's first year as Brooklyn's starting shortstop — he was appointed playing-manager by the Dodgers' new president and general managerGeneral manager (baseball)
In Major League Baseball, the general manager of a team typically controls player transactions and bears the primary responsibility on behalf of the ballclub during contract discussions with players....
, Larry MacPhail
Larry MacPhail
Leland Stanford "Larry" MacPhail, Sr. was an American lawyer, and an executive and innovator in Major League Baseball.-Biography:...
. The two were a successful and combustible combination. MacPhail spared no expense in purchasing and trading for useful players (and sometimes outright stars), such as Dolph Camilli
Dolph Camilli
Adolph Louis Camilli was an American first baseman in Major League Baseball who spent most of his career with the Philadelphia Phillies and Brooklyn Dodgers. He was named the National League's Most Valuable Player in after leading the league in home runs and runs batted in as the Dodgers won the...
, Billy Herman
Billy Herman
William Jennings Bryan "Billy" Herman was an American second baseman in Major League Baseball during the 1930s and 1940s. He was known for his stellar defense and consistent batting...
and Kirby Higbe
Kirby Higbe
Walter Kirby Higbe was an American right-handed starting pitcher in Major League Baseball from to . He was born and died in Columbia, South Carolina.-Career:...
; he purchased unknown shortstop
Shortstop
Shortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball fielding position between second and third base. Shortstop is often regarded as the most dynamic defensive position in baseball, because there are more right-handed hitters in baseball than left-handed hitters, and most hitters have a tendency to pull the...
Pee Wee Reese
Pee Wee Reese
Harold Peter Henry "Pee Wee" Reese was an American professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as a shortstop for the Brooklyn and Los Angeles Dodgers from to . A ten-time All Star, Reese contributed to seven National League championships for the Dodgers and, was inducted...
from the Boston Red Sox
Boston Red Sox
The Boston Red Sox are a professional baseball team based in Boston, Massachusetts, and a member of Major League Baseball’s American League Eastern Division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight charter franchises, the Red Sox's home ballpark has been Fenway Park since . The "Red Sox"...
, and signed another young star, Pete Reiser
Pete Reiser
Harold Patrick "Pete" Reiser , nicknamed "Pistol Pete," was an outfielder in Major League Baseball during the 1940s and early 1950s. He played primarily for the Brooklyn Dodgers, and later for the Boston Braves, Pittsburgh Pirates, and Cleveland Indians.-Early career:A native of St...
, when he was ruled a free agent
Free agent
In professional sports, a free agent is a player whose contract with a team has expired and who is thus eligible to sign with another club or franchise....
from the Cardinals' farm system; and found stalwarts such as American League veterans Dixie Walker
Dixie Walker
Fred E. "Dixie" Walker was a right fielder in Major League Baseball who played for the New York Yankees , Chicago White Sox , Detroit Tigers , Brooklyn Dodgers and Pittsburgh Pirates...
and Whitlow Wyatt off the waiver wire.
And in his first season as a manager, , Durocher epitomized the position for which most would remember him. As a manager, his temperament came into its own, and the most enduring images of Durocher are of him standing toe-to-toe with an umpire, vehemently arguing his case until his inevitable ejection from the game. In assembling his teams, he valued the same characteristics in his players, his philosophy best expressed in the widely quoted – but misunderstood – phrase for which he is now best remembered: "Nice guys finish last
Nice guy
Nice guy is a term in the general public discourse and in popular culture describing an adult or teenage male with friendly yet unassertive personality traits in the context of a relationship with a woman. A typical nice guy is perceived to put the needs of others before his own, avoids...
."
In a July 6, , interview with Red Barber
Red Barber
Walter Lanier "Red" Barber was an American sportscaster.Barber, nicknamed "The Ol' Redhead", was primarily identified with radio broadcasts of Major League Baseball, calling play-by-play across four decades with the Cincinnati Reds , Brooklyn Dodgers , and New York Yankees...
, Durocher had been commenting on the common belief at the time that if a team's players got along well, they would naturally play better than teams with difficult or irascible players; noting some of the players on the Giants who had reputations as personable individuals, notably Mel Ott
Mel Ott
Melvin Thomas Ott , nicknamed "Master Melvin", was a Major League Baseball right fielder. He played his entire career for the New York Giants . Ott was born in Gretna, Louisiana. He batted left-handed and threw right-handed...
, he observed that they were all "nice guys", but would nonetheless finish last (while his Dodgers were in first place), summing up his argument with, "Nice guys; finish last." Durocher later noted that the remark was quoted accurately in the published interview, but came to take on a different meaning when some incorrectly thought he meant that such a team would finish last because it included "nice guys", when in fact he had meant that there was no correlation (and in fact, saw it more as an ironic situation) between the personalities on a team and their level of play. (See 1966 Chicago Cubs, below.) Thus the quote "Nice guys finish last" has long been attributed to Durocher, including an entry in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations
Bartlett's Familiar Quotations
Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, often simply called Bartlett's, is an American reference work that is the longest-lived and most widely distributed collection of quotations...
. Many historians assert, however, that the famous four words never were actually uttered by Durocher; the quotation as it is remembered actually came from headline writers distilling Durocher's quote that "The nice guys are all over there, in seventh place, not in this dugout" into a pithy soundbite.
The Dodgers were coming off six straight losing seasons, but Durocher made a quick turnaround; apart from the war year of 1944, he would not have a losing campaign with the team. In 1941, just his third season of managing, he led the Dodgers to the National League pennant (their first in 21 years) with a 100-54 record. They lost the 1941 World Series
1941 World Series
The 1941 World Series matched the New York Yankees against the Brooklyn Dodgers, with the Yankees winning in five games to capture their fifth title in six years, and their ninth overall....
to the Yankees in five games and just missed the 1942 NL pennant despite winning 104 games.
Yet despite all the success between 1939–42, Durocher and GM MacPhail had a tempestuous relationship. MacPhail was a notorious drinker and as hot-tempered as his manager, and often he would fire Durocher in the midst of a night of drinking. In the morning, however, MacPhail would always hire Durocher back. Finally, with World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
raging, the Dodger GM resigned to rejoin the United States Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
at the end of the 1942 season. His replacement, former Cardinal boss Branch Rickey
Branch Rickey
Wesley Branch Rickey was an innovative Major League Baseball executive elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1967...
, retained Durocher as skipper. Durocher managed the Dodgers continuously until , and led Brooklyn to the first postseason NL playoff series in history, losing to the Cardinals two games to none.
But Durocher also clashed regularly with Commissioner Albert "Happy" Chandler
Happy Chandler
Albert Benjamin "Happy" Chandler, Sr. was a politician from the US state of Kentucky. He represented the state in the U.S. Senate and served as its 44th and 49th governor. Aside from his political positions, he also served as the second Commissioner of Major League Baseball from 1945 to 1951 and...
, who had been named to the post in 1945. Throughout his tenure Leo had been warned away from his friends, many of whom were gamblers, bookmakers or had mob connections, and who had a free rein at Ebbets Field
Ebbets Field
Ebbets Field was a Major League Baseball park located in the Flatbush section of Brooklyn, New York, USA, on a city block which is now considered to be part of the Crown Heights neighborhood. It was the home of the Brooklyn Dodgers of the National League. It was also a venue for professional football...
(he was particularly close with actor George Raft
George Raft
George Raft was an American film actor and dancer identified with portrayals of gangsters in crime melodramas of the 1930s and 1940s...
, with whom he shared a Los Angeles house, and admitted to a nodding acquaintance with Bugsy Siegel
Bugsy Siegel
Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel was an American gangster who was involved with the Genovese crime family...
).
Furthermore, Durocher encouraged and participated in card schools within the clubhouse, was something of a poolshark himself and a friend to many pool hustlers. He also followed horse racing closely. Matters came to a head when Durocher's affair with married actress Laraine Day
Laraine Day
Laraine Day was an American actress and a former MGM contract star.-Career:Born La Raine Johnson in Roosevelt, Utah, to an affluent Mormon family, she later moved to California where she began her acting career with the Long Beach Players...
became public knowledge, drawing criticism from Brooklyn's influential Catholic Youth Organization
Catholic Youth Organization
A Catholic Youth Organization is an organization for young Catholics. Usually each group uses the church for meeting and gathering, although some have their own premises. It was initiated by Bishop Bernard J...
; the two later eloped and married in Mexico in 1947. They divorced in 1960. During happier times, in the 1950s, Day authored a book describing the life of a manager's wife, titled Day with the Giants.
Suspension
During spring training 1947, Durocher became involved in an unseemly feud with the new Yankee owner, Larry MacPhailLarry MacPhail
Leland Stanford "Larry" MacPhail, Sr. was an American lawyer, and an executive and innovator in Major League Baseball.-Biography:...
. The Yankee boss had hired away two coaches from Durocher's 1946 staff (Chuck Dressen
Chuck Dressen
Charles Walter Dressen , known as both "Chuck" and "Charlie," was an American third baseman, manager and coach in professional baseball during a career that lasted almost fifty years, and was best known as the manager of the powerful Brooklyn Dodgers of 1951–1953...
and Red Corriden
Red Corriden
John Michael "Red" Corriden was a player, coach, manager and scout in American Major League Baseball. A shortstop and third baseman in his playing days, Corriden appeared in 223 major league games with the St. Louis Browns , Detroit Tigers and Chicago Cubs , batting .205...
) during the off-season, causing friction. Then matters got worse.
In person, Durocher and MacPhail exchanged a series of accusations and counter-accusations, with each suggesting the other invited gamblers into their clubhouses. In the press, a ghostwritten article appeared under Durocher's name in the Brooklyn Eagle
Brooklyn Eagle
The Brooklyn Daily Bulletin began publishing when the original Eagle folded in 1955. In 1996 it merged with a newly revived Brooklyn Daily Eagle, and now publishes a morning paper five days a week under the Brooklyn Daily Eagle name...
, seeking to stir the rivalry between their respective clubs and accusing baseball of a double standard for Chandler's warning him against his associations but not MacPhail or other baseball executives.
Chandler was pressured by MacPhail, a close friend who was pivotal in having him appointed Commissioner, but the commissioner also discovered Durocher and Raft might have run a rigged crap game that took an active ballplayer for a large sum of money. (The player's identity was never confirmed officially, but a former Detroit Tiger
Detroit Tigers
The Detroit Tigers are a Major League Baseball team located in Detroit, Michigan. One of the American League's eight charter franchises, the club was founded in Detroit in as part of the Western League. The Tigers have won four World Series championships and have won the American League pennant...
pitcher, Elden Auker
Elden Auker
Elden le Roy Auker was an American right-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball noted for his submarine pitching style....
, wrote in his 2002 memoir that it was a then-current Tiger pitcher, Dizzy Trout
Dizzy Trout
Paul Howard "Dizzy" Trout was a Major League Baseball pitcher primarily for the Detroit Tigers. Born in Sandcut, Indiana, he first played professionally in 1935 with the Terre Haute Tots in the Three-I League before signing with Detroit in 1939.Trout played for the Tigers for fourteen seasons,...
.) Chandler suspended Durocher for the season for "association with known gamblers".
Before being suspended, however, Durocher played a noteworthy role in erasing baseball's color line
Baseball color line
The color line in American baseball excluded players of black African descent from Organized Baseball, or the major leagues and affiliated minor leagues, until Jackie Robinson signed with the Brooklyn Dodgers organization for the 1946 season...
. In the spring of 1947, he let it be known that he would not tolerate the dissent of those players on the team who opposed Jackie Robinson
Jackie Robinson
Jack Roosevelt "Jackie" Robinson was the first black Major League Baseball player of the modern era. Robinson broke the baseball color line when he debuted with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947...
's joining the club, saying:
- "I do not care if the guy is yellow or black, or if he has stripes like a fuckin' zebra. I'm the manager of this team, and I say he plays. What's more, I say he can make us all rich. And if any of you cannot use the money, I will see that you are all traded."
He greatly admired Robinson for his hustle and aggression, calling him "a Durocher with talent." And Durocher liked to say of Eddie Stanky
Eddie Stanky
Edward Raymond Stanky , nicknamed "The Brat", was an American second baseman and manager in Major League Baseball. He played for the Chicago Cubs , Brooklyn Dodgers , Boston Braves , New York Giants , and St. Louis Cardinals...
, the sparkplug on his 1951 pennant-winning Giants team,
- "He can't hit, he can't field, he can't run—all he can do is beat you."
Meanwhile, as Durocher sat out his suspension, the Dodgers won the NL pennant under an interim skipper, scout Burt Shotton
Burt Shotton
Burton Edwin Shotton was an American player, manager, coach and scout in Major League Baseball. As manager of the Brooklyn Dodgers , he won two National League pennants and served as Jackie Robinson's first permanent major league manager.-Playing career: Fleet-of-foot outfielder:Shotton was born...
, then went on to lose the 1947 World Series
1947 World Series
The 1947 World Series matched the New York Yankees against the Brooklyn Dodgers, with the Yankees winning the Series in seven games for their first title since , and the eleventh championship in team history...
to MacPhail's Yankees in seven games.
Move to New York Giants
He would return for the season, but his outspoken personality and poor results on the field that season (Brooklyn briefly fell into the basement) would again cause friction with Rickey, and on July 16 of that year, Durocher, Rickey and New York GiantsSan Francisco Giants
The San Francisco Giants are a Major League Baseball team based in San Francisco, California, playing in the National League West Division....
owner Horace Stoneham
Horace Stoneham
Horace C. Stoneham was the principal owner of Major League Baseball's New York/San Francisco Giants from the death of his father, Charles Stoneham, in 1936 until 1976. During his ownership, the team won National League pennants in 1936, 1937, 1951, 1954 and 1962, a division title in 1971, and a...
negotiated a deal whereby Durocher was let out of his Brooklyn contract to take over the Dodgers' cross-town rivals. He enjoyed perhaps his greatest success with the Giants, and possibly a measure of sweet revenge against the Dodgers, as the Giants won the NL pennant in a playoff against Brooklyn, ultimately triumphing on Bobby Thomson
Bobby Thomson
Robert Brown "Bobby" Thomson was a Scottish-born American professional baseball player. Nicknamed "The Staten Island Scot", he was an outfielder and right-handed batter for the New York Giants , Milwaukee Braves , Chicago Cubs , Boston Red Sox and Baltimore Orioles .His season-ending three-run...
's historic game-winning home run
Shot Heard 'Round the World (baseball)
In baseball, the "Shot Heard 'round the World" is the term given to the walk-off home run hit by New York Giants outfielder Bobby Thomson off Brooklyn Dodgers pitcher Ralph Branca at the Polo Grounds to win the National League pennant at 3:58 p.m...
.
Later with the Giants in , Durocher won his only World Series
1954 World Series
The 1954 World Series matched the National League champion New York Giants against the American League champion Cleveland Indians. The Giants swept the Series in four games to win their first championship since , defeating the heavily favored Indians, who had won an AL-record 111 games in the...
championship as a manager by sweeping the heavily favored Cleveland Indians
Cleveland Indians
The Cleveland Indians are a professional baseball team based in Cleveland, Ohio. They are in the Central Division of Major League Baseball's American League. Since , they have played in Progressive Field. The team's spring training facility is in Goodyear, Arizona...
, who had posted the best American League record of all time (111-43) in the regular season.
After leaving the Giants following the 1955 season, Durocher worked at NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
, where he was a color commentator on the Major League Baseball on NBC and host of The NBC Comedy Hour
The Colgate Comedy Hour
The Colgate Comedy Hour is an American comedy-musical variety series that aired live on the NBC network from 1950 to 1955. The show stars many notable comedians and entertainers of the era, including Eddie Cantor, Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis, Fred Allen, Donald O'Connor, Bud Abbott and Lou...
and Jackpot Bowling
Jackpot Bowling
Jackpot Bowling is a professional bowling show on NBC from January 9, 1959 to June 24, 1960 and again from September 19, 1960 to March 13, 1961....
. He later served as a coach for the Dodgers, by then relocated to Los Angeles
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
, from to .
During this period, Durocher, who had made his screen debut in the 1943 Red Skelton
Red Skelton
Richard Bernard "Red" Skelton was an American comedian who is best known as a top radio and television star from 1937 to 1971. Skelton's show business career began in his teens as a circus clown and went on to vaudeville, Broadway, films, radio, TV, night clubs and casinos, all while pursuing...
comedy Whistling in Brooklyn
Whistling in Brooklyn
Whistling in Brooklyn is the third and last film starring comedian Red Skelton as radio personality and amateur detective Wally "The Fox" Benton. Wally prepares to marry his girlfriend, but gets sidetracked when he is mistaken for a serial murderer...
, played himself in several television shows. In an (4/10/63) airing of The Beverly Hillbillies
The Beverly Hillbillies
The Beverly Hillbillies is an American situation comedy originally broadcast for nine seasons on CBS from 1962 to 1971, starring Buddy Ebsen, Irene Ryan, Donna Douglas, and Max Baer, Jr....
, Durocher plays golf with Jed Clampett (Buddy Ebsen
Buddy Ebsen
Buddy Ebsen was an American character actor and dancer. A performer for seven decades, he had starring roles as Jed Clampett in the long-running television series The Beverly Hillbillies and as the title character in the 1970s detective series Barnaby Jones, and played Barnaby Jones in the movie...
) and Jethro Bodine (Max Baer, Jr.
Max Baer, Jr.
Max Baer Jr is an American actor, screenwriter, producer, and director. He is best known for playing Jethro Bodine on The Beverly Hillbillies.-Early life:...
), and he tries to sign Jethro to a baseball contract after discovering Jethro has a strong pitching arm. In a memorable episode of The Munsters
The Munsters
The Munsters is a 1960s American family television sitcom depicting the home life of a family of monsters. It starred Fred Gwynne as Herman Munster and Yvonne De Carlo as his wife, Lily Munster. The series was a satire of both traditional monster movies and popular family entertainment of the era,...
, entitled "Herman the Rookie" (4/8/65), Durocher believes Herman (Fred Gwynne
Fred Gwynne
Frederick Hubbard "Fred" Gwynne was an American actor. Gwynne was best known for his roles in the 1960s sitcoms Car 54, Where Are You? and The Munsters, as well as his later roles: Pet Sematary and My Cousin Vinny...
) is the next Mickey Mantle
Mickey Mantle
Mickey Charles Mantle was an American professional baseball player. Mantle is regarded by many to be the greatest switch hitter of all time, and one of the greatest players in baseball history. Mantle was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1974.Mantle was noted for his hitting...
when he sees the towering Munster hit long home runs. Football great Elroy Hirsch
Elroy Hirsch
Elroy "Crazylegs" Hirsch was an American football running back and receiver for the Los Angeles Rams and Chicago Rockets, nicknamed for his unusual running style.-Early life:...
also appeared with Durocher. Three years earlier, he also appeared as himself in an episode of Mr. Ed, when the talking horse sought a tryout with the Los Angeles Dodgers. He also appeared on television in the early 1970s on the syndicated
Television syndication
In broadcasting, syndication is the sale of the right to broadcast radio shows and television shows by multiple radio stations and television stations, without going through a broadcast network, though the process of syndication may conjure up structures like those of a network itself, by its very...
What's My Line?
What's My Line?
What's My Line? is a panel game show which originally ran in the United States on the CBS Television Network from 1950 to 1967, with several international versions and subsequent U.S. revivals. The game tasked celebrity panelists with questioning contestants in order to determine their occupations....
as a mystery guest.
Chicago Cubs
Durocher returned to the managerial ranks in with the Chicago CubsChicago Cubs
The Chicago Cubs are a professional baseball team located in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the Central Division of Major League Baseball's National League. They are one of two Major League clubs based in Chicago . The Cubs are also one of the two remaining charter members of the National...
. For the past four seasons, the Cubs had tried an experiment called the "College of Coaches
College of Coaches
The College of Coaches was an unorthodox strategy employed by the Chicago Cubs in 1961 and 1962. After the Cubs finished 60-94 in 1960, their 14th straight second-division finish, Cubs owner P.K. Wrigley announced in December 1960 that the Cubs would no longer have a manager, but would be led by...
," in which they were led by a "head coach" rather than a manager. However, at his first press conference, Durocher formally announced an end to the experiment by saying:
At the same press conference, Durocher declared, "I am not the manager of an eighth place team." He was right: the Cubs finished 10th and became the first team to finish behind the previously hapless New York Mets
New York Mets
The New York Mets are a professional baseball team based in the borough of Queens in New York City, New York. They belong to Major League Baseball's National League East Division. One of baseball's first expansion teams, the Mets were founded in 1962 to replace New York's departed National League...
. Three years later, Durocher suffered one of his most remembered failures. The 1969 Chicago Cubs season
1969 Chicago Cubs season
The Chicago Cubs season involved the Cubs finishing as "the most celebrated second-place team in the history of baseball.". In the first season after the National League was split into two divisions, the Cubs finished with a record of 92-70, 8 games behind the New York Mets in the...
started well: the team led the newly created National League East for 105 days, and by mid-August they had a seemingly insurmountable 8½-game cushion and appeared to be a shoo-in for their first postseason appearance in 25 years. However, they foundered down the stretch, and finished eight games behind the "Miracle Mets" (who had been 9½ games back in mid-August).
"Are these the real Cubs?" a reporter asked Durocher after his team lost one against the New York upstarts during the pennant drive.
"I don't know," Durocher answered, "but these are the real Mets."
While with the Cubs, Durocher encountered a difficult dilemma in regards to the Cubs aging superstar, Ernie Banks
Ernie Banks
Ernest "Ernie" Banks , nicknamed "Mr. Cub", is a former Major League Baseball shortstop and first baseman. He played his entire 19-year baseball career with the Chicago Cubs . He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1977.-High school years:Banks was a letterman and standout in football,...
, whose injured knees made him a liability but whose legendary status made benching him impossible. Durocher also nearly came to blows with Cubs star Ron Santo
Ron Santo
Ronald Edward Santo was an American professional baseball player and long-time radio sports commentator. He played in Major League Baseball from 1960 to 1974, most notably as the third baseman for the Chicago Cubs. A nine-time All-Star, he was a powerful hitter who was also a good defensive...
during an infamous clubhouse near-riot. The problems would be symbolic of Durocher's difficulty in managing the new breed of wealthier, more outspoken players who had come up during his long career. He was fired midway through the 1972 season
1972 in baseball
-Labor strife and more moving:1972 was tainted by a players' strike over pension and salary arbitration. The strike erased the first week and a half of the season, and the Leagues decided to just excise the lost portion of the season with no makeups. As a result, an uneven number of games were...
, later stating that his greatest regret in baseball was not being able to win a pennant for longtime Cubs owner P.K. Wrigley.
Houston Astros and beyond
He then managed the Houston AstrosHouston Astros
The Houston Astros are a Major League Baseball team located in Houston, Texas. They are a member of the National League Central division. The Astros are expected to join the American League West division in 2013. Since , they have played their home games at Minute Maid Park, known as Enron Field...
for the final 31 games of the 1972 season and the entire season before retiring. Durocher made a brief comeback in 1976 in the Japanese Pacific League
Pacific League
The or is one of the two professional baseball leagues constituting Nippon Professional Baseball in Japan. The winner of the league championship competes against the winner in the Central League for the annual Japan Series...
with the Taiheiyo Club Lions, but retired due to illness before the beginning of the season.
Retirement
Durocher finished his managerial career with a 2008-1709 record for a .540 winning percentage. He posted a winning record with each of the four teams he led, and was the first manager to win 500 games with three different clubs.Durocher, with Ed Linn, wrote a memoir titled Nice Guys Finish Last, a book that was recently re-published by the University of Chicago Press
University of Chicago Press
The University of Chicago Press is the largest university press in the United States. It is operated by the University of Chicago and publishes a wide variety of academic titles, including The Chicago Manual of Style, dozens of academic journals, including Critical Inquiry, and a wide array of...
.
Leo Durocher died in 1991 in Palm Springs, California
Palm Springs, California
Palm Springs is a desert city in Riverside County, California, within the Coachella Valley. It is located approximately 37 miles east of San Bernardino, 111 miles east of Los Angeles and 136 miles northeast of San Diego...
at the age of 86, and is buried in Forest Lawn, Hollywood Hills Cemetery
Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Hollywood Hills)
Forest Lawn – Hollywood Hills Cemetery is part of the Forest Lawn chain of Southern California cemeteries. It is at 6300 Forest Lawn Drive in the Hollywood Hills neighborhood in the Hollywood district of Los Angeles, California, on the lower north slope at the far east end of the Santa Monica...
in Los Angeles. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1994.
Personal life
In addition to his aforementioned marriage to Laraine DayLaraine Day
Laraine Day was an American actress and a former MGM contract star.-Career:Born La Raine Johnson in Roosevelt, Utah, to an affluent Mormon family, she later moved to California where she began her acting career with the Long Beach Players...
, Leo was also married to Grace Dozier in 1934 and Lynne Walker Goldblatt in 1969. All of his marriages ended in divorce.
External links
- NY Times obituary - July 27 'On This Day'
- A 16-page excerpt from Durocher's autobiography, Nice Guys Finish Last
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