Durocher, Leo E.
Baseball
b. July 27, 1906, W. Springfield, MA
d. Oct. 7, 1991
Babe Ruth once called Durocher the "All-American out." He wasn't much of a hitter, compiling a career average of just .247 in 17 major league seasons with the New York Yankees, Cincinnati Reds, St. Louis Cardinals, and Brooklyn Dodgers, but he was a good shortstop and a scrappy, hustling player.
Durocher, known as "Leo the Lip" because he always had something to say, including "Nice guys finish last." He was playing manager of the Dodgers from 1939 through 1945, when he retired as a player but continued managing. The Dodgers won the NL pennant under his guidance in 1941, but lost to the New York Yankees in a five-game World Series.
Before the 1947 season, the Yankees hired two coaches, Charlie Dressen and Red Corriden, away from the Dodgers. An angry Durocher then accused Lee MacPhail, New York's general manager, of associating with gamblers. After an investigation, Durocher was suspended for a year for his statement.
He returned as manager in 1948. With the Dodgers mired in sixth place, Durocher suddenly gave up the Brooklyn job and became manager of the cross-town New York Giants, stunning Dodger and Giant fans alike.
Durocher managed the Giants to pennants in 1951 and 1954. The 1951 pennant race is one of baseball's most famous. The Giants were 13½ games behind the Dodgers on August 12, but they tied them at the end of the season and won the playoff when Bobby Thomson hit his legendary home run off Ralph Branca in the ninth inning of the third and final game. The pennant drive became known as the "Little Miracle of Coogan's Bluff," named for the site of the Polo Grounds.
The Giants lost the World Series to the Yankees in six games that year, but in 1954 they swept the favored Cleveland Indians in four games.
Durocher retired after the Giants slipped to third place in 1955. However, he re-joined the Dodgers, now in Los Angeles, as a coach in 1961 and he was named manager of the Chicago Cubs in 1966. After being fired during the 1972 season, he took over the Houston Astros and managed them through 1973 before retiring for good.