Four or five years ago, in spring training, I was with Herman Franks, the former general manager and field manager of the Cubs. The annual Hall-of-Fame election results had been announced earlier in the day. Leo Durocher was among the candidates, but wasn’t chosen.
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“Leo doesn’t care about that anymore,” said Franks.
Through the years, Franks and Joey Amalfitano, third-base coach for the Los Angeles Dodgers, probably were Durocher’s most loyal friends.
“He has found religion,” Franks advised. “He goes to church every morning.”
Pointing skyward, Franks said: “That’s the only Hall of Fame he wants to get into.”
“Tell him he’s not going to get in either one,” I said.
It was a flippant and harsh response. And, of course, I knew I was wrong. But having seen him close-up during the 6 1/2 years he managed the Cubs, it was difficult to be among his boosters.
Durocher ascended in 1991, at 86, and here Sunday, on the grassy lawn of the Hall of Fame Museum and Library, he will be inducted posthumously into baseball’s Valhalla along with pitcher Steve Carlton and shortstop Phil Rizzuto.
It is a deserving honor. Durocher was among the best managers of his time. More than that, he was a slice of Americana, a fiery spirit who was admonished by one commissioner, Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis, for passing bad checks and suspended for a year by another, Happy Chandler, for associating with undesirables.
Durocher was a powerful personality. His statement “Nice guys finish last,” though he insisted he was misinterpreted, is included in “Bartlett’s Familiar Quotations.” No baseball history can be written without mention of “Leo the Lion,” as he wanted to be known.
One afternoon at Wrigley Field, he told me he contributed to many charities and at Christmas he always sent baskets of food to the needy. Then he said, “My mother didn’t name me `The Lip.’ You guys did.”
By the time I caught up with Durocher, he was 60. This was in 1966 when he joined the Cubs. He was approaching the end and mellowing. Eventually, I became aware of his remarkable longevity: 48 years in uniform, from 1925, when he broke in with the Yankees, through 1973, when he managed the Houston Astros.
He was among Babe Ruth’s teammates with the New York Yankees, triggered a fight with Ty Cobb, helped the Yankees win the pennant in 1928 and was a slick-fielding shortstop of the triumphant St. Louis Cardinals’ Gas House Gang.
Later, he was the celebrity manager of the Brooklyn Dodgers and the New York Giants and left behind a legend of controversy. Not all of his players liked him. There were exceptions, of course. Willie Mays worshiped him. Kids loved him. He was very generous and had a wonderful way with children and always would load them up with gifts.
When he was with the Cubs, he had his favorites. Ernie Banks was not among them. He repeatedly taunted Banks, made snide remarks about his persona as “Mr. Cub.” By this time, Banks had lost his speed and was cautious on the bases. He seldom took much of a lead. More than once, Durocher told Banks, when other players could hear, that he would give him $100 every time he got picked off first base.
One Sunday in Philadelphia, in the first game of a getaway double-header, Banks hit two home runs and drove in five runs. Reporters hurried to the clubhouse between games and asked Durocher for comment on Banks’ sensational performance.
Replied Durocher: “That Beckert was terrific.”
Glenn Beckert, Billy Williams and Jim Hickman were his favorites. On the chartered flights, Durocher played gin rummy with the hot player. When the player cooled, Durocher dumped him. Eventually, he ran out of players. Once discarded, they refused to get on the lap the second time around.
Durocher had a much-deserved reputation as an aggressive manager, but with the Cubs he mostly played it safe. I recall Gabe Paul, then the Cincinnati general manager, expressing surprise at Durocher’s timid approach.
“When he was a young manager, Leo was critical of Bill McKechnie,” Paul said.
McKechnie was a highly respected, but aging, manager.
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“Leo was always riding McKechnie,” Paul revealed. “He said he managed like an old lady. And now Leo is the managing the same way.”
Still, Durocher, with the considerable help of General Manager John Holland, rebuilt the previously dormant Cubs into a contender. It always has been my belief that if the Cubs had won in 1969, one or two more pennants would have followed.