1894 by Edward Drobinski - HTML preview

Page 82

Although an intelligent, ambitious man, Duffy rarely pursued outside business opportunities. He was a baseball lifer, and the remainder of his long life was devoted to service to the game.

In 1907, Dufy purchased an ownership interest in the Providence Greys of the Eastern League, and managed the club to three close, but no pennant finishes. He then sold out his Providence holdings to return to the majors, assuming the post of manager of the Chicago White Sox. Sox owner Charles Comiskey and Hugh were old friends. The two had been teammates on the 1890 Chicago Pirates; but Comiskey proved an impatient boss. Despite some modest improvement in club performance under Duffy’s direction, Comiskey fired him at the close of the 1911 season. The termination embittered Duffy, and the friendship never recovered.

In 1912, Duffy returned to Milwaukee to manage the Brewers of the Class AA American Association for a single 78-85 season, his only non-winning campaign as a minor league manager. He then went home to New England, where, as earlier in Providence, he became an owner-manager in Portland, a newly incorporated Maine franchise in the lower Class B New England League. The club, named the “Duffs” in Hugh’s honor, advanced steadily in league standings until it captured the pennant in 1915. When league president Tim Murnane, another long time Duffy friend and his

1894