Managing a Young Team

by LOU BOUDREAU

1

ON a blazing spring day in Tampa the Red Sox were playing the Cincinnati Redlegs. Gene Stephens, only 19 but very sure-fisted, was stationed in left field, which happened to be the sun field. One of the Redlegs hit a routine fly to left. Stephens lost the ball in the sun, and it went for an extra base hit.

When he returned to the bench, I asked him, “Where are your glasses, Gene?”

llis answer rocked me. “Glasses?” he asked. “What glasses?”

Gene didn’t know about sunglasses because he had never used them in the minors, where games arc played almost entirely at night. He was given a pair and taught how to flick them down to make catches while looking into the sun. He learned quickly about glasses and many other things, and today he is one of the most promising young outfielders in the game.

This inexperience, coupled with a quick desire to improve, makes my job of managing a young team like the Red Sox a great joy. I’ve never been happier in my life. These kids can run, field, and throw beautifully. In Boston’s Fenway Park, long a hitters’ paradise and a pitchers’ graveyard because of an extremely short left field fence which seems to sit directly in back of the shortstop, the young Red Sox have been bunting, stealing bases, hitting and running, and turning in some wonderful defensive plays that have won them many games as well as a host of new admirers. The pitchers have taken advantage of this fine fielding support by working on opposing batters so that they have sent balls flying to the spacious center and right fields instead of over anti against the short left field fence.

George Kell, at 30, the old man of the regular line-up, has been playing brilliantly despite being handicapped by a painful back injury. Billy Consolo, 18-year-old bonus player from Los Angeles, is the baby of the outfit. In between are Stephens, an easygoing boy; Tom Umphlett, 23, quiet and earnest; Jim Piersall, 24, sensational afield, exuberant; Dick Gernert, 24, a long ball hitter, quiet and inclined to worry; Ted Lepcio, 23, quick-thinking and with a good arm; Milt Bolling, 23, a good fielder, personable; Sammy White, 25, alert, a fiery competitor who is always trying to better himself; and Bill Henry, 25, a young pitcher with a good temperament, who came up from Louisville, where he developed a curve to go with his fine fast ball.

Piersall, in right field, has already been compared with the all-time greats in the field. The Yankees are still talking about two catches Piersall made against them back in May. Johnny Sain was robbed of at least a double when Piersall, running full speed toward the bull pen, reached up for a onehanded grab of Johnny’s long drive. The next day, Mickey Mantle hit one a country mile toward center field close to the bull pen. Once again Piersall, really flying and receiving an all-clear shout from Umphlett, made a one-handed catch to deprive the great young Yankee star of a triple.

Such plays delight the fans and please me. But the thing that really pleases me about these youngsters is their great spirit, which comes from a real desire to play good baseball. They hustle every inch of the way. They hate to lose, and especially to the Yankees, to whom they lost several close games early in the season. They are young and make mistakes, but they bounce right back.

Our defeats have been many since our early successes, and there will be more before the season is over. There will be changes and experiments as we go along. Injuries to stabilizers Goodman and Kell early in the season had a disturbing effect on some of the kids’ play. Kell was shifted to left field, where he could play daily without too much strain on his bad back and still give the Sox a boost with his good batting. Kell will alternate with Stephens. Hoot Evers will see a lot. of action in the outfield, for he is a good hitter. White will get a rest from time to time behind the plate. When we face a tough veteran like Sain, the Yankee pitcher who has a wide assortment of curves, sliders, and slow “stuff,” we may give some of the youngsters a rest. There will be other experiments, all designed to bolster confidence.

As they gain confidence, it usually follows that their hitting improves. The runs-batted-in records of Gernert and White, our biggest thumpers, are climbing steadily. We look for this year’s singles and doubles to grow into triples and home runs next year. We take the long view: with a team made up almost entirely of young players and in a stage of rebuilding, we can’t expect to be a pennant contender for at least two years. But we are still out to win every game we can and finish as high up in the league standing as possible.

The Bed Sox didn’t acquire such talented players easily. They had started developing players in their farm system long before I became their manager after the 1951 season. And they had started scouting players long before that. Our twenty-three full-time scouts are at work all over the country at sand-lot, American Legion, high school, college, and minor league games. The major leagues arc scouted for possible acquisition in player trades or purchases. Among the scouts are such familiar names as Mace Brown, Earl Johnson, and Denny Galehouse, former Bed Sox pitchers; Donie Bush, ex-major and minor league manager and executive; Jack Onslow, Tommy Thomas, and Glenn Wright.

The scout must have an experienced eye, for his job is a tough one today. When he looks at the player now, he envisions him in the future. His big questions are: can the boy run, can he throw, has he good power, and has he the ability to become a major league player? He checks into the boy’s background, environment, family, personal and even food habits. After considering all these points, he may go ahead with an offer. But when he spends the club’s money on a bonus for a player, he must be fairly certain the boy will be worth it.

Some scouts feel that it is better to give a promising player a big bonus rather than waste the organization’s time and money with mediocre players. According to the new bonus rule written last full, a boy becomes a bonus player when his salary and bonus exceed $3000 for Class B, C, or D ball, or $4000 for Class A or above. The catch to the rule is that the player must remain through the season with the minor league club with which he signs and go through the unrestricted major league draft in the fall. No club is likely to sign a boy to a minor league bonus contract, because a player with a bonus tag automatically lures the scouts and he is sure to be gobbled up in the draft.

The Red Sox have one bonus player under this new rule — Console, a fine-looking third baseman who came straight to the Red Sox from playing high school and American Legion ball in Los Angeles. He must remain with the Red Sox for two years. With Kell suffering from a bad back and facing the possibility of an early end to his career, we are forced to hurry young Consolo along as his replacement. Consolo can’t miss becoming a great star. He has all the tools; he is well built, is very fast, and has a great arm, a fine natural swing, and good power. He will make some mistakes as all kids do, but we expect him to be around for a good many years.

Consolo should be out playing in the minors this year. A year in the minors and he’d be ready to step into the regular line-up next year. As a fill-in, he can learn only about a third as much as if he were playing somewhere every day. I don’t object to bonuses for youngsters, but I do object to their being denied the benefit derived from the experience of playing daily. Harry Agganis, the former Boston University football star who received a bonus for signing with the Sox last year before the new rule, is at our Louisville farm club in the American Association, playing first base every day.

The scout’s biggest help to the manager, besides providing him with good material, is that of his daily reports on games of our American League opponents. This scouting was especially helpful on our first Western trip this year, when we compiled a good 6-2 record. Ted McGrew and Bush, two astute baseball men, went ahead of the club and looked over the Tigers, Indians, Browns, and White Sox.

I went over their reports with my capable coaching staff of Oscar Melillo, Bill McKechnie, Del Baker, George Susce, and Paul Schreiber. Later we called meetings with the players the night before our games. The players were more relaxed and got, more out of the sessions. We set up our pitching plans, went over the opposition’s batting order, and told the kids how to play the batters.

Some of the things that come up at these meetings are how to pitch to good spring hitters like Dave Philley of the A’s, Chico Carrasquel of the White Sox, and Ray Boone of ihc Tigers. The opposition may be giving away a signal or it may have a player who has changed his batting style and is hitting to a certain spot, Whenever a vulnerable spot occurs, we plot to take advantage of it.

2

TWO years ago, during one of my conferences with Joe Cronin, Red Sox general manager, he came upon the idea of the Rookie School at the Sarasota, Florida, training camp so that I could get to know our young players, their talents and personalities.

Some thirty-five players were invited to the camp to be looked over by me, the coaching staff, minor league managers Pinky Higgins and Eddie Popowski, and Johnny Murphy, the old Yankee relief pitcher who heads up our minor league operation. We quickly got the players into shape, then worked on fundamentals. Batting and fielding practice followed, and soon we were playing squad games. I can honestly say that never before had I seen so many good young players assembled on one field. It was a refreshing sight.

Out of this camp came White, Lepcio, Piersall, and Gernerl, who opened the season at Louisville and was brought up in June at the time of the big trade with Detroit. Then there were Faye Throneberry, a fine-looking outfielder, Stephens, and pitchers Ivan Delock, Bill Henry, and Dick Brodowski. I hroneberry and Brodowski are now in the service. All of their various talents commanded our attention.

White displayed great natural ability but he lacked confidence. lie loved to play ball, however, and it was easy to help build up his confidence. He worked hard on his receiving and improved so much that he was put into the line-up right at the start of the season. When he saw how well he was doing with the pitchers, he loosened up at the plate, hit well, and went on to catch over a hundred games. He promises to be one of the great catchers in the game today.

We kept about sixteen boys in all, carrying them t brough spring training and some of them to Boston for the early games. The rookies, who had been training and playing since January, were further advanced than the veteran players, so it was decided to open the season with Piersall at short, Lepcio at second, and Throneberry in right. White got into the line-up after the first two games. The kids did well, too, and their spirited play kept the club near the top of the league during those early weeks and in contention for a part of the summer.

This year our pre-training school lasted only ten days and was a mixed group including many of the veteran players as well as the rookies. Out of this session we came up with Bolling, our shortstop, and Hershell Freeman, a right-handed pitcher. The school also gave us an opportunity to work with young Console and Agganis.

Bolling is a fine fielder, can throw well, and can run. He was a stand-up batter at camp and was missing many low pitches. We put him into a crouch at the plate, similar to the one I used when playing with the Indians, and his batting improved considerably.

There is a reason for the Red Sox bringing up only one rookie pitcher this season. It is too much to expect a young team to stand up with a young pitching staff. We figure that after the other kids have gained confidence and proved themselves at their positions we can call in the young pitchers.

This year’s opening Red Sox line-up included only two veteran players—Kell and Goodman. White was behind the plate, Gernerl at firsi, Bolling at short, and the kids in the outfield. Gernerl and Lepeio, who saw a lot of early action when Goodman went out of the line-up with a rib injury, have more confidence this year, and il has reflected in their over-all play. Dick’s fielding has improved and he is becoming more relaxed at the plate. Lepcio is good on ground balls and has a great arm for the double play. His hitting is improving all the time.

Umphlett wasn’t with the club during spring training: he was with Louisville. But reports on him were so favorable that when Dom DiMaggio was late arriving at eamp because of eye trouble and was slow in getting into shape, we called up Umphlelt. He stepped right into the line-up and has been doing a fine job. He is a sound defensive outfielder, with a strong arm, and his hitting over the early weeks was a pleasant surprise.

3

THE offensive patterns of play with the Red Sox have been set up to suit the youngsters. We have few boys who have developed the power to hit the ball out of the park. So we bunt to get on, hit the ball where it is pitched on hit-and-run plays, work for bases on balls, and try to run the opposition off its feet.

Stephens, Lmpblett, and Piersall are all good bunlers. I’mphlott is best at sacrificing; Stephens and Piersall are good on t he push or drag bunt. The get-on-base bunt usually is set up by (lie manager and player before the player goes up to bat. Sometimes, however, a player will take advantage of a situation where an opposing third baseman is playing back too far by dropping a surprise hunt and beating it out.

Kell is the best hit-and-run batter in the game today. On this play, the baiter gives himself up to advance the runner from first to third. He hits the ball where it is pitched and tries to keep from hittmg into a double play. He attempts to hit through the hole vacated by the infielder who is moving over to cover second. The manager will flash the sign for a hit-and-run play to one of the coaches, who in turn notifies the batter and base runner.

The steal depends on the situation. An opposing pitcher may be lax about holding the base runner close to the bag, or the catcher may have a poor arm. The steal also depends on how main outs there are, the score of the game, how many base runners, and the speed of the base runner. Stephens, Piersall, and l mphlett are all good at stealing bases. Throneberry did well last year before going into the service. Minnie Minoso of the White Sox is perhaps the best base stealer in the American League.

I’ll always remember a big game with the Yankees when I was managing the Indians. We had two men on and no outs when suddenly the base runners took off on a double steal and the fronl man was thrown out by several feet. When the coaches returned to the dugout, I asked, “What’s going on out there?”

“Why, you signaled for a steal with your handkerchief, didn’t you?" asked Melillo.

“So I did,”I said. But I never intended it that way. I had a severe cold and was merely pulling my handkerchief to wipe my nose. Needless to say, that signal was discarded.

The best time for a player to go for a home run is when he is the tieing or winning run. For example, in one of the early season night games at Fenway Park against the Yankees, Billy Goodman came up in the eleventh in a 1-1 game and pulled an inside pitch down the right field line and into the stands for a homer to give us the game. A week later against the Indians, Maury McDermott and Bob Lemon, the Indians’ fine right-hander, were locked in a scoreless mound duel. Kell came up in the seventh with no one on base. This was a perfect spot to go for the homer. Kell did, too. He worked Lemon until he got a high pitch and drove it over the wall. The run stood up for a 1-0 victory.

The batter is on his own except when there are men on base or until he gets ahead of the pitcher. When a batter gets ahead of the pitcher, he looks down to the coach to see if the manager wants him to take or hit the next pitch. When the opposing pitcher is getting the first ball over the plate, a smart manager will have his team hit the first pitch until the opposition catches on.

The chief difference between major and minor league play is hitting. Most players who come up to the big leagues are good fielders. Some of them are fair hitters, but most of them are mediocre. In the minors, a player has been batting against so-so pitchers; in the majors, against such mound tricksters as Sain and Eddie Lopat of the Yankees, and Connie Marrero of the Nats, he is put to the big test. How far he goes depends largely on himself. If he applies himself diligently to improve his batting, he’s sure to succeed.

Kell and Phil Kizzuto, the Yankee shortstop, weren’t good hilters when they came up to the majors. They worked hard and today they are two of the smartest men to step into a batter’s box. They move around in the box, vary their swings, and hit to all fields. From what I’m told, Joe Cronin, the Red Sox general manager and former shortstop and manager of the Nats and Sox, was a poor hitter when he first came up. When he retired during the war, he had few peers as a batter.

Defensively, the manager may move his players around the field as different batters come up. Some left-handed batters are shallow left field hitters but may pull the ball a mile to right. In such a situation the left fielder plays a shallow straightaway field, while the center and right fielders play deep and toward right.

In infield play, with a deep right-handed baiter up, the infield plays deep and toward left, with the second baseman often playing behind the bag. With a deep left-handed batter up, the procedure is reversed and sometimes to extremes, such as the Ted Williams shift which I devised when managing the Indians in 1946. In that shift we had the whole infield packed on the right side, and the left fielder played on the grass behind shortstop. The second baseman played a short right field and, of course, robbed Ted of many base hits.

Pick-off plays are strictly up to the pitcher, catcher, and infielders. The pick-off play at second base depends on split-second timing. With a man on second and a left-handed batter at the plate, the pitcher looks at second, gives the shortstop a sign, and turns toward the plate. He counts, 1000one, 1000-two, whirls and throws to the shortstop, who races for the bag as the count starts. If executed properly, ihe play can be highly successful. If ;i deep right-handed batter like Gus Zernial is at the plate, I be second baseman covers the bag. Quick-moving pitchers like Bob Feller and Lemon are especially successful with this play.

To prevent big innings for the opposition at Fenway Park that would put us in an early hole, we have changed pitchers early this year. The move has worked out well on several occasions by stopping the opposing team, and our kids have bounced back to get enough runs to keep the team in the game. Ellis Kinder, who at 39 isn’t quite the old duffer many would expect him to be, is the number one relief man for the Sox. He has exceptional control and can throw hard for two or three innings. He is usually saved for late in the game.

The manager must know his pitcher, and the most vital job he faces is knowing when to remove him from a game in which he suddenly loses his stuff and begins to get hit hard. He must know the signs of a tiring pitcher: wildness, mopping of the brow, shrugging of the shoulders, shaking off signs repeatedly, or beefing at the umpire. If he shows any of these signs, he should be relieved right away, especially in a close game. If he is allowed to stay in for one more batter, and the batter hits a home run, the team may get into a deep hole.

With all the statistics he must carry in his head — files of hundreds of box scores and reports of minor league games, scouts reports on players before they reach the majors, how the weather affects their work—the manager never forgets that his players are human beings subject to moods, temperament, and loss of confidence. He wants to see them happy and see that they get along with their teammates. For good morale is a vital factor in molding a championship ball club. I shall never forget the great spirit on our bench and in our clubhouse after an early-season double-header against the A’s in which we twice came from behind to win both games. With these 1953 Red Sox, it’s comparatively easy. They are a great bunch of kids who love to play a great game.