Bullet Rogan - Rogan As Player and Manager

Rogan As Player and Manager

Relatively small (5 foot 7, 180 pounds (82 kg)), Rogan was solidly built and strong, with thin legs and a narrow waist but broad shoulders. He threw and batted right-handed, and used an unusually heavy bat. "You saw Ernie Banks hit in his prime, then you saw Rogan," said Buck O'Neil. "He could hit that ball...He was the type of guy that stood a long way from the plate. Not too close, because they'd jam you." According to his longtime teammate Frank Duncan, "Rogan was one of the best low-ball hitters I ever saw, and one of the best curve-ball hitters. Rogan taught Bob and Irish Meusel how to hit curve balls." While not extremely fast, he ran the bases well and stole when necessary.

As a pitcher, Rogan used a no-windup delivery and both overhand and sidearm motions, and relied on an array of curveballs, a spitball, a palmball, a forkball, and the fastball that gave him his nickname. According to the sportswriter A.S. "Doc" Young, "Joe Rogan possessed as much natural ability as Smokey Joe or Satch, but his control was not up to theirs." Frank Duncan, who caught both Paige and Rogan, said,

Satchel was easier to catch. He could throw it in a quart cup. But Rogan was all over the plate—high, low, inside, outside. He'd walk five-six men, but he didn't give up many runs. Bullet had a little more steam on the ball than Paige—and he had a better-breaking curve. The batters thought it was a fastball heading for them and they would jump back from the plate and all of a sudden, it would break sharply for a strike. I would rank him with today's best. I have never seen a pitcher like him, and I have caught some of the best pitchers in the business.

Another Monarchs teammate, George Carr, said,

Rogan was the greatest pitcher that ever threw a ball. He had not only an arm to pitch with but a head to think with. Rogan was a smart pitcher with a wonderful memory. Once Rogan pitched to a batter, he never forgot that batter's weaknesses and strong points. And don't think Rogan was nicknamed "Bullet" for nothing. That guy had a ball that was almost too fast to catch. He would really burn 'em in there.

As a manager, he was a strict disciplinarian, possibly a result of his military background. Carroll "Dink" Mothell maintained that "Rogan wanted to run the ball club like they did it in the army. He liked to give orders too much, even before he was managing. He used to bawl players out for different things. I could take it, but we had ball players, when he'd get on them, they'd go into a shell, resented it, and didn't give him their best." Another Monarchs pitcher, Chet Brewer, said that "Rogan wasn't the best manager because he was such a great ball player himself. He couldn't teach pitchers much, because he'd say, 'All you have to do is go out and throw the man what I threw'." According to historian Phil Dixon, "In Rogan's first few years as manager he was reluctant to pinch-hit for many of the veterans on his roster because they were his friends." He didn't trust younger players, often inserting himself to pitch or pinch-hit for them. He sometimes treated rookies harshly. Eventually Rogan "discarded his distant approach" and became increasingly known for teaching and developing less experienced players.