Joe Torre Defends the Yankees
Modern Managers Could Learn From Miller Huggins
Joe Torre and today's managers can learn from the way Miller Huggins handled Babe Ruth. Mangers must be firm and not worry about how a player feels about himself.
The Yankees had just lost another game, putting their record at an amazing 37-40. Oakland A's starter Chad Gaudin limited the former Bronx Bombers' offense to a sixth inning Johnny Damon ground ball single. It was the Yankees eighth loss in their last ten games. After the game, catcher Jorge Posada, one of the few Yankees who still cares about winning, no longer could keep quiet. "Luck comes when you go after it. It seems like there are times we go through the motions and today was one of those games," Posada said. "I think everyone knows what I'm talking about." Yankees' manager Joe Torre, a staunch defender of this players, finally made close to a realistic comment. "Unfortunately, we were easy for him," Torre said, referring to Gaudin. "We should be capable of more offensively. We just made easy outs. I don't say anybody was just phoning it in, but we made easy outs."
Joe Torre Defends His Players
Torre has defended his players to such an extent that it is easy for one to conclude that he cares more about their feelings than about winning. A manager's job is to win baseball games. If treating high priced stars with "kid gloves" is effective, it should be done, but if ripping into players is necessary, then that must be done. The manager must make judgments, take the necessary actions based upon his judgments, and change his actions if they are ineffective. Defending the 2007 Yankees, worrying about how they feel about themselves, and continuing to get sub par performances from the team that was the prohibitive favorite to win the American League Eastern Division crown is not acceptable. Perhaps Joe Torre should read about Miller Huggins and a Yankees' player who was greater than any baseball player Torre ever saw.
Miller Huggins Arrives
The Yankees needed a new manager in 1918. Co-owner Col. Tillinghast L'Hommedieu Houston wanted to hire his friend and drinking companion, Brooklyn manager Uncle Wilbert Robinson, but Houston's partner, Col. Jacob Ruppert, preferred Miller Huggins, who got the job. Huggins had to tread lightly in a house divided until Ruppert bought out Houston and told the world that Huggins was his manager. Then the fun began.
Huggins and Babe Ruth
Huggins had to manage Babe Ruth, who was unmanageable, but the diminutive, 140 pound Huggins, referred to as the "Midget Manager," did more than hold his own, as he led the Yankees to six pennants in nine years before his untimely death in 1929. Ruth had always done whatever he pleased, but once Huggins got full authority, he stood up to his subordinate. One day in the Yankees' clubhouse, Ruth growled at Huggins, "I wish you were fifty pounds heavier." The nonplussed manger replied, "It's a good thing for you that I'm not."
Another time, in St. Louis, Ruth reported late before a game after a night on the town and apologized. "Sorry Hug. I had some business to attend to." Huggins calmly and deliberately told Babe Ruth not to change his clothes. "Never mind about getting into uniform today. This is the finish. You're fined $5,000 and suspended indefinitely." Babe Ruth exploded. He screamed that he would never play for Huggins again. He would make it very clear to Huggins who was the boss. He would have his pal, Jake Ruppert put Huggins in his proper place.
Jacob Ruppert Backs Huggins
Ruth went back to New York for a meeting with the Yankees' owner. Smug and confident when speaking to the baseball writers, Ruth discovered that he was in for a rude awakening. At the press conference, Col. Ruppert announced that Babe Ruth would indeed play for Miller Huggins. "Isn't that right Babe?" Meekly, Ruth replied, "Right, Colonel." Ruppert continued. "The fine and the suspension stick as long as Huggins says so. Right, Ruth?" Ruth's reply was the same as before. "Right Colonel."
Joe Torre and most of today's managers can learn a thing or two from Miller Huggins, and they can't use the excuse that today's ball players won't stand for it because, after all, Miller Huggins was dealing with highest paid and greatest player in baseball history. He stood up to Babe Ruth.
References:
Daley, Arthur. "Sports of the Times: Among the Missing." New York Times. 17 February 1959, p.36.
"A's Arms Combine to Shut Down Yanks in the Bronx." on ESPN
Miller Huggins on Baseball-Reference
