The Lip

The 27th of July was the birthday of one of the most successful Dodger managers. Leo the Lip Durocher. Leo Ernest Durocher was born on July 27th, 1905 in West Springfield Massachusetts. His parents had immigrated to the US from Quebec Canada. His mother was a hotel maid and his father worked as a railroad engineer. He died not long after Durocher was born. His family only spoke French, so when Leo started school, he did not know how to speak English. The Durocher family lived two blocks from Rabbit Maranville. He taught Durocher the game of baseball and gave him a glove.

Durocher became a good athlete in high school and was offered a scholarship to Holy Cross. But he was suspended from school for hitting a teacher, and never returned. Leo became a prominent semi-pro player with many Springfield area company’s competing to have him play on their company teams.

After being scouted by the Yankees, Leo broke in to pro ball with the Hartford Senators of the Eastern League in 1925. He was called up for two games, and then spent 26 and 27 in the minors playing for the Atlanta Crackers of the Southern Association, and then the St. Paul Saints of the American Association.

He was called up to the Yankees in 1928. A regular player, he was nicknamed “The All American Out” by team mate, Babe Ruth. Leo was a favorite of Yanks manager, Miller Huggins, who immediately identified him as manager material because of his passion, ego, competitiveness and his capacity to remember situations. But his outspokenness did not endear him to Yankee management, and his habit of passing bad checks to finance his expensive tastes in clothes and nightlife annoyed General Manager, Ed Barrow.

Leo helped the Yanks win their second consecutive title in 1928 and then demanded a raise. He was sold to the Reds on the 5th of February, 1930. Leo played 3 seasons for the Reds, and was traded mid season in 1933 to the St Louis Cardinals. The Cardinals were more Leo’s cup of tea. His fiery style fit right in with the Gas House Gang. He was given #2 and wore that number for the rest of his career. He supposedly inspired the Gas House Gang moniker and helped the Cards win the 34 series. He was a vicious bench jockey and rode his opponents constantly. He was the captain of the team and stayed with the Cardinals through the 1937 season and then was traded to the Dodgers. The Cardinals received Joe Stripp, Roy Henshaw, Johnny Cooney and Jim Bucher for Leo. Durocher was never a great hitter. His career BA is .247 and he hit only 24 HR’s. But he was a leader on the field. In 38 and 39 he was the regular SS for Brooklyn. In 1938 , his first year with the Dodgers, he was named player-manager by team president Larry McPhail. They were a combustible combination, and like Steinbrenner with Martin, McPhail hired and fired Durocher a few times. McPhail was pretty open to spending and trading for stars. He added Dolph Camilli, Kirbe Higby, Billy Herman and he bought a young SS from the Red Sox, Pee Wee Reese. By the end of the 1941 season, Reese had impressed Leo so much at SS that he gave up his regular job so Pee Wee could play. Pee Wee would spend 18 years as a Dodger. McPhail picked up some pretty good pieces for Leo, and they went to the World Series in 1941. First time in 21 years. One of those pickups was free agent OF, Pete Reiser. Reiser was ruled a free agent by MLB because of some mess up by Cardinals president Branch Rickey.

It was during his first year as manager that Durocher came into his own. The most iconic image of Leo is him going toe to toe with an umpire until he was eventually thrown out of the game. He valued this kind of fire in his players, and it was during this time he coined the phrase, ” Nice Guys Finish Last” He honestly believed that. Leo was also notorious for ordering his pitchers to hit opposing batters. If he wanted a batter hit, he would simply yell, ” Stick it in his ear”. Durocher’s relationship with McPhail was tempestuous. McPhail was a heavy drinker, and he and Leo would argue and he would fire him, and then rehire him in the morning. McPhail’s leadership of the Dodgers ended when he joined the Army during WWII. His replacement was Branch Rickey. Rickey retained Durocher and the Dodgers engaged the Cardinals in the first playoff in NL history. Durocher also regularly clashed with commissioner, Happy Chandler. Chandler had taken over in 1945 and warned Durocher to stay away from some of his old friends who were gamblers, bookmakers, and had mob connections. All of these people Leo allowed a free rein at Ebbets Field. Leo was very close to actor George Raft with whom he shared a house in Los Angeles. He also admitted to a nodding acquaintance with mobster Bugsy Seigel. He encouraged card schools in the club house and was something of a pool shark.
Things finally came to a head when his affair with married actress Laraine Day came to light. This drew criticism from the Influential Brooklyn Catholic Youth Organization. In spring of 1947, Leo got into trouble again. He and George Raft supposedly rigged a crap game that Dizzy Trout was in and took Dizzy Trout for a lot of money. Chandler suspended him for association with known gamblers, and the Dodgers had to have Burt Shotton replace him for the 1947 season, which was of course, Jackie Robinson’s rookie year. Leo played an influential part in assimilating Jackie onto the team. He let it be known that he would not tolerate the dissent of players on the Dodgers who were opposed to Jackie’s playing with the Dodgers. He said he did not care what color a player was, if he could help the Dodgers win the pennant, he wanted him on his team. There was a petition going around the clubhouse against having Robinson play. Some of the players who signed that petition were eventually traded by Branch Rickey, most notably, Dixie Walker and Kirbe Higby who were sent to Pittsburgh. In 1948, Leo returned to the Dodgers, but his personality and bad results caused a riff with Rickey and on July 16th, 1948, Durocher and Giant owner Horace Stoneham negotiated a deal that allowed Durocher to manage the Giants.

Leo enjoyed a lot of success with the Giants, exacting some revenge when his 51 team beat Brooklyn in the playoffs. He won his only World Championship in 1954 when the Giants beat the Indians. As Dodger manager Leo went 738-565. close to .570 winning pct. He was 637-523 with the Giants who he managed until 1955. Then in 1966 he was managing the Chicago Cubs after a stint as a coach for Walter Alston’s Dodgers 61to 64, getting another ring in 63. He went 535-526 with the Cubs over a seven year run. In 1972 he managed the last 31 games for the Astros and then the entire 1973 season. He went 82-80. and 98-95 over all and then he retired. Leo’s over all total is 2008-1709. At the time of his retirement he was 5th over all in MLB history.

Leo worked a lot in television. He was a commentator on NBC for the game of the week for a while, he also hosted NBC’s Comedy Hour and Jackpot bowling. He played himself in the Red Skelton movie, “Whistling in Brooklyn”. He also appeared in episodes of The Beverly Hillbillies and The Munster’s. I remember that episode well. Herman wrecks the ball field. One of his line drives knocks the scoreboard down. The last scene in the show, Leo is walking with Crazy Legs Hirsch and a football comes flying into his hands. He asks Leo where the nearest park is, and Leo reply’s, don’t ask.

Leo was the first manager to win 500 plus games with three teams. He died on October 7, 1991 in Palm Springs. He was married 4 times. He is buried in Forest Lawn Hollywood Hills Cemetery. He was posthumously inducted into the Hall in 1994.