Harris, "Bucky" (Stanley R.)
Baseball
b. Nov. 8, 1896, Port Jervis, NY
d. Nov. 8, 1977
The 5-foot-9, 156-pound Harris played briefly for the AL's Washington Senators in 1919 and became the team's starting second baseman the following year, when he batted an even .300, the best average of his career.
Never a star player, Harris was a dependable performer who, beginning in 1922, teamed with veteran shortstop Roger Peckinpaugh to form the league's best double-play combination.
Although he was the youngest starter on the team, Harris received a telegram offering him the job as manager while he was golfing in Florida during the winter of 1924. Harris wired back, "I'll take that job and win Washington's first American League pennant."
It was prophetic. The Senators, who had finished 23 1/2 games out of first place in 1923, weren't expected to do much, but the "Boy Manager" guided them to first place, beating the Yankees by 2 games. Then he led them to victory over the New York Giants in a seven-game World Series, hitting .333 with 2 home runs and setting records for chances, putouts, and double plays by a second baseman.
Washington also won the 1925 pennant, but lost a seven-game World Series to Pittsburgh. The team then began to decline and Harris was traded after the 1928 season to Detroit, where he took over as manager. His playing career was essentially over; he appeared in just 7 games with the Tigers in 1929 and only 4 in 1931.
For the rest of his career, Harris usually managed poor teams: Detroit through 1933 and from 1955 through 1956, the Boston Red Sox in 1934, Washington again from 1935 through 1942 and from 1950 through 1954. He managed the Philadelphia Phillies for part of the 1943 season, but was fired in July after calling the team's owner a "jerk."
He took over the New York Yankees in 1947 and guided them to a World Series victory, but was replaced by Casey Stengel after the team finished just 2 1/2 games out in 1948. Harris also served at various times as a minor-league manager, a scout, and a major-league executive. He retired from baseball in 1971 after a nine-year stint, primarily as a scout, with the expansion Washington Senators.
In 29 managerial seasons, Harris had a record of 2,157 wins and 2,218 losses, a .493 percentage. As a player, he batted .274, with 1,297 hits in 1,263 games.