Leo Durocher - Managing

Managing

After the 1938 season — Durocher's first year as Brooklyn's starting shortstop — he was appointed playing-manager by the Dodgers' new president and general manager, 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.

In his first season as player-manager, Durocher came in to his own. The most enduring image of Durocher is of him standing toe-to-toe with an umpire, vehemently arguing his case until his inevitable ejection from the game. Durocher's fiery temper and willingness to scrap came to epitomize the position for which he was to become most famous. As manager he valued these same traits in his players. His philosophy was best expressed in the phrase for which he is best remembered: "Nice guys finish last." Durocher liked to say of Eddie Stanky, 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."

In 1939 the Dodgers were coming off six straight losing seasons, but Durocher made a quick turnaround. In 1941, just his third season as manager, he led the Dodgers to a 100-54 record and the National League pennant, their first in 21 years. In the 1941 World Series the Dodgers lost to the Yankees in five games. They bettered their record in 1942, winning 104 games and just missing out on winning their second NL pennant.

Despite all the success of his first three years, Durocher and general manager Larry MacPhail had a tempestuous relationship. MacPhail was a notorious drinker, and was as hot-tempered as his manager. He often would fire Durocher in the midst of a night of drinking. The following morning, however, MacPhail inevitably would hire Durocher back. Finally, at the end of the 1942 season MacPhail's time with the Dodgers came to an end when he resigned to rejoin the United States Army. His replacement, former Cardinal boss Branch Rickey, retained Durocher as skipper. Durocher managed the Dodgers continuously until 1946, and led Brooklyn to the first postseason NL playoff series in history, where they lost to the Cardinals, two games to none.

Durocher also clashed regularly with Commissioner Albert "Happy" Chandler. Chandler, who had been named to the post in 1945, warned Duroucher away from his friends, many of whom were gamblers, bookmakers or had mob connections, and who had a free rein at Ebbets Field. Duroucher was particularly close with actor George Raft, with whom he shared a Los Angeles house, and admitted to a nodding acquaintance with Bugsy Siegel).

Durocher, who 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. In the 1950s, Day hosted a radio program called Day with the Giants, and later authored a book by the same title describing the life of a manager's wife.