The Cubs end their college of coaches experiment with the hiring of Leo Durocher, who signs a three-year deal and is given complete authority on the field. The Lip’s assessment that Chicago is “not an eighth-place ball club,” will prove to be correct when his team finishes tenth next season.

ByTom

The Cubs end their college of coaches experiment with the hiring of Leo Durocher, who signs a three-year deal and is given complete authority on the field. The Lip’s assessment that Chicago is “not an eighth-place ball club,” will prove to be correct when his team finishes tenth next season.

Johnny Keane

Johnny Keane, three days after resigning as manager of the World Champion Cardinals, replaces Yogi Berra as the Yankees’ field boss. The new skipper of the Bronx Bombers will not fare well next year, leading the aging team to their first losing season since 1925.

ByThis Day in Baseball

Johnny Keane, three days after resigning as manager of the World Champion Cardinals, replaces Yogi Berra as the Yankees’ field boss. The new skipper of the Bronx Bombers will not fare well next year, leading the aging team to their first losing season since 1925.

Leo Durocher & son stare intently at the action during 1955 spring training

Dodger coach Leo Durocher suffers a near-fatal allergic reaction to a penicillin injection while in the clubhouse at the Polo Grounds before a game. An emergency intravenous injection of adrenaline saves his life.

ByThis Day in Baseball

Dodger coach Leo Durocher suffers a near-fatal allergic reaction to a penicillin injection while in the clubhouse at the Polo Grounds before a game. An emergency intravenous injection of adrenaline saves his life.

Rumors swirl that legendary manager Leo Durocher would be named the first manager of the new Houston franchise
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Rumors swirl that legendary manager Leo Durocher would be named the first manager of the new Houston franchise

ByThis Day in Baseball

1961 – Rumors swirl that legendary manager Leo Durocher, currently a coach with the Dodgers, would be named the first manager of the new Houston franchise. Reports of phone conversations between Durocher and General Manager Gabe Paul are true but nothing materializes beyond that. Durocher would eventally lead the club in 1972 after several years as skipper of the Cubs.

new york giants 1954

New York Giants Stun Cleveland Indians 1954 World Series

ByTom

  Special Memory or Event? Want to have some fun? Advertise your business? Dedicate this page The 1954 World Series matched the National League champion New York Giants against the American League champion Cleveland Indians. The Giants swept the Series in four games to win their first championship since 1933, defeating the heavily favored Indians,…

With Giants manager Leo Durocher yelling “stick it in his ear”, Ruben Gomez hits Carl Furillo, the National League’s leading hitter, on the wrist by a pitch. After taking first base, the Dodgers right fielder bolts into the opposing dugout to choke ‘Leo the Lip’, but in the melee, the knuckle on his little finger is fractured, putting an end to his season.

With Giants manager Leo Durocher yelling “stick it in his ear”, Ruben Gomez hits Carl Furillo, the National League’s leading hitter, on the wrist by a pitch. After taking first base, the Dodgers right fielder bolts into the opposing dugout to choke ‘Leo the Lip’, but in the melee, the knuckle on his little finger is fractured, putting an end to his season.

ByTom

With Giants manager Leo Durocher yelling “stick it in his ear”, Ruben Gomez hits Carl Furillo, the National League’s leading hitter, on the wrist by a pitch. After taking first base, the Dodgers right fielder bolts into the opposing dugout to choke ‘Leo the Lip’, but in the melee, the knuckle on his little finger is fractured, putting an end to his season.

June 2, 1962 - Willie Mays in action as the Giants take on the Mets in a DH at the Polo Grounds.
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Pafko hits a walk off for Dodgers – but Willie Mays makes the catch he’ll later call his greatest

ByThis Day in Baseball

Stealing considerable thunder from Brooklyn’s victorious home opener, a 7 – 6, 12-inning triumph, Willie Mays makes the catch he’ll later call his greatest. The Associated Press reports: “Willie Mays, army-bound centerfielder of the New York Giants, astounded an opening day crowd of 31,032 fans at Ebbets Field with a sensational catch of a drive by Bobby Morgan in the 7th inning.” With two out, two on and the Dodgers down by one, “the sophomore star made a diving, sliding catch of a sinking liner near the left centerfield wall that robbed Morgan of a potential triple.” Unfortunately for Mays, Ebbets Field’s Little League dimensions afford little leeway for such hijinks. “I go and catch the ball in the air,” Mays recalls 45 years later. “I’m in the air, like this, parallel. I catch the ball, I hit the fence. Ebbets Field was so short that if you run anywhere you’re going to hit a fence. So I catch the fence, knock myself out.” “As he lay motionless,” reports the New York Times, “players of both sides rushed to his aid. All, that is, but the three Dodgers on the bases, who continued their wild dash for the plate, only to learn Willie had held on to the ball for the third out.” Willie’s impression is that the first player to reach his side has a somewhat less altruistic agenda. “The first guy that I saw – there were two guys – when I open my eyes, was Leo Durocher and Jackie Robinson. And I’m saying to myself, ‘Why is Jackie out here?’ Jackie came to see if I caught the ball, and Leo came to see about me.”

In the opening game of the World Series, the first all-black outfield in major league history makes its appearance

In the opening game of the World Series, the first all-black outfield in major league history makes its appearance

ByThis Day in Baseball

In the opening game of the World Series, the first all-black outfield in major league history makes its appearance when Monte Irvin, Willie Mays, and Hank Thompson take the field for the Giants at Yankee Stadium. Leo Durocher, in a curious move, replaces the previously injured outfielder Don Mueller in right field with Hank Thompson, a third baseman by trade, and uses veteran outfielder Bobby Thomson at the hot corner.