Washington DC Baseball

[GeoPoto]

Another great card, Val! Thank you. And now, Griffith's Folly:

Player #83E: Stanley R. "Bucky" Harris Part 1. Second baseman for the Washington Senators in 1919-1928. 1,297 hits and 167 stolen bases in 12 MLB seasons. 1924 and 1947 World Series champion. In 1975, inducted to the MLB Hall of Fame. Named player-manager of the Washington Senators in 1924 at age 27. "The Boy Wonder" led Washington to World Series victory as "rookie" manger. Managed Washington Senators in 1924-1928, 1935-1942, and 1950-1954. Managed the Detroit Tigers in 1929-1933 and 1955-1956. Managed the Boston Red Sox in 1934. Managed the Philadelphia Phillies in 1943. Managed the New York Yankees in 1947-1948, including winning the 1947 world Series. Served as the General Manager of the Boston Red Sox in 1959-1960.

Deveaux relates an example of the type of relationship Harris cultivated with his players: In years to come, Harris would promote the notion that there were really only two things a manager had to know: when to change pitchers, and how to get along with his players. At spring training '24, Bucky showed he had a grasp of that philosophy very early on by employing a novel approach among big-league managers -- one brought on by necessity, as he was being asked to lead a bunch of former teammates, most of whom were older than he was. He informed his players in clear terms that he was not going to tell them how to play baseball. He implored them to simply make him a good manager. Walter Johnson and Joe Judge, good leaders of men, had been approached by him already, and they had pledged their allegiance.

Harris relaxed bed checks and invoked the honor system during spring training at Hot Springs, Arkansas. He turned the comradeship he had with his teammates to his advantage. On one occasion, on his way back east from Hot Springs with the main squad, he plotted with his underlings to get even but good with the team's resident clown, the comedic buzzsaw, Al Schacht. Harris hatched a plan designed to bring the prankster to his knees. Schacht was a real ladies' man, and when Bucky and the rest of the team reached Orlando, Florida, he told Schacht that there were a couple of fine-looking southern ladies who were going to be catching up with them later on in the week. And . . . they wanted to meet Al Schacht.

Intrigued, Schacht asked a number of questions. One of them was whether these ladies were single. Harris said that indeed they were, that both women were applying for divorce so there was nothing to worry about. Harris also reassured Schacht by telling him that he, manager of a big-league ballclub, knew what he was doing and was not about to get himself involved in any sort of scandal. On the appointed day, Schacht eagerly went looking for Harris at the team dinner, reminding him of the date they had for that evening. Harris encouraged Schacht to spend a few dollars, for a bottle of liquor and some oranges for the ladies. . . .

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