Damn Yankees by Edward Drobinski - HTML preview

Damn Yankees

Page 128

in 1948, with the roster heavy with former major leaguers. Among the younger players on the team was 20 year old shortstop Billy Martin. Stengel was impressed by Martin's fielding, baseball acuity, and, when there were brawls on the field, fighting ability. The Oaks clinched the pennant on September 26, and defeated Los Angeles and the Seattle Rainiers to win the Governors' Cup. The Sporting News named Stengel the Minor League Manager of the Year.

Stengel had been talked about as a possible Yankee manager in the early 1940s, but longtime team boss Ed Barrow, who retired

in 1945, refused to consider it. Yankee manager Joe McCarthy retired during the 1946 season, and after the interim appointment of catcher Bill Dickey as player-manager, Bucky Harris was given the job in 1947. Stengel's name was mentioned for the job before Harris got it. He was backed by Weiss, but

Larry MacPhail, then in charge of the franchise, was opposed. Harris and the Yankees won the World Series that year, but finished third in 1948, though they were not eliminated until the last day of the season. Harris was fired, allegedly because he would not give Weiss his home telephone number. MacPhail could no longer block Stengel's hiring, as he had sold his interest in the Yankees after the 1947 season. Weiss, who became general manager after MacPhail's departure, urged his partners