Southworth, "Billy" (William H.)
Baseball
b. March 9, 1893, Harvard, NE
d. Nov. 15, 1969
A left-handed hitter who threw right-handed, Southworth was a pretty good outfielder with the Cleveland Indians, Pittsburgh Pirates, Boston Braves, New York Giants, and St. Louis Cardinals, batting .297 in 13 seasons.
But he made his mark as a manager. He managed the St. Louis Cardinals for part of the 1929 season, his last as a player, then worked in the minor leagues until 1940, when he again took over the Cardinals. They were in seventh place when he took charge but had a 69-40 record under Southworth to finish third.
After a second-place finish in 1941, the Cardinals won three straight pennants. They beat the New York Yankees in five games in the 1942 World Series, lost to the Yankees in five games in 1943, and beat the St. Louis Browns in six games in 1944.
The Cardinals finished second again in 1945 and Southworth was hired away by the Boston Braves. He took them to the 1948 pennant behind the pitching of Warren Spahn and Johnny Sain. The Boston slogan that season was "Spahn and Sain, then pray for rain" because the pitching staff lacked depth.
The Braves slipped into fourth place in 1949 and 1950 and they were in fifth when Southworth was fired during the 1951 season. He retired from baseball with a 1044-704 record, a .597 winning percentage.