Burt Shotton
Burt Shotton | |
---|---|
Outfielder / Manager | |
Born: Brownhelm Township, Ohio, U.S. | October 18, 1884|
Died: July 29, 1962 Lake Wales, Florida, U.S. | (aged 77)|
Batted: Left Threw: Right | |
MLB debut | |
September 13, 1909, for the St. Louis Browns | |
Last MLB appearance | |
April 21, 1923, for the St. Louis Cardinals | |
MLB statistics | |
Batting average | .271 |
Home runs | 9 |
Runs batted in | 290 |
Managerial record | 697–764 |
Winning % | .477 |
Teams | |
As player
As manager As coach |
Burton Edwin Shotton (October 18, 1884 – July 29, 1962) was an American
Playing career
Shotton was born in
Although he stole over 40 bases in four consecutive seasons (1913–16), he was also caught stealing over 26 times in each of those seasons. In an American League dominated by speedsters such as Ty Cobb and Clyde Milan, Shotton was never among the top five base stealers in the league, and he had a high rate of being caught stealing, but he pilfered 294 bases during his MLB career. His real talent, however, may be shown in his on-base percentage, in which he finished in the top ten in the league four times in his career. He twice (in 1913 and 1916) led AL batters in walks,[2] and finished in the top ten six seasons.[3]
In the early 1920s, as a player and coach, he was the Cardinals' "Sunday manager", relieving skipper
Philadelphia Phillies
Shotton's first formal Major League managing opportunity came the following year with the NL's then-habitually tailend team, the Philadelphia Phillies. He lasted six seasons (1928–33) with the Phils, who twice lost more than 100 games during his tenure. The Shotton-era Phillies included two notable teams. Playing home games in a notorious bandbox, Baker Bowl, during a "lively ball" season, the 1930 edition compiled a team batting average of .315 (paced by Chuck Klein's .386 and Lefty O'Doul's .383) and scored 944 runs; but the Phillie pitching staff allowed 1,199 runs and posted a horrendous 6.71 earned run average and the club finished last, at 52–102.[6] Then, only two years later, the 1932 team compiled a 78–76 record, good enough for fourth place in the National League. It would be the Phillies' only winning season and first-division finish between 1917 and 1949. Altogether, Shotton's win–loss mark in Philadelphia was 370–549 (.403).
Shotton then coached for the
But prior to the 1946 season, Shotton hung up his uniform and settled into a scouting role for the Brooklyn Dodgers, for whom Rickey was now part-owner, president and general manager.
A stand-in for Durocher
On the eve of the
Rickey pleaded with Shotton to take over the Dodgers for the remainder of the season. Then 62, and convinced that his on-field career was over, Shotton reluctantly took the reins on April 18, still in street clothes.[1]: 81–83 In doing so, he became one of the last MLB managers to wear everyday apparel rather than the club uniform. Unlike Connie Mack, however, he did usually add his team's cap and jacket.
He inherited a contending Brooklyn team that had finished in a flatfooted tie for the 1946 National League pennant before losing a playoff series to the Cardinals. He also inherited what historian Jules Tygiel called Baseball's Great Experiment — the Dodgers' breaking of the infamous color line by bringing up Jackie Robinson from their Triple-A Montreal Royals farm club at the start of the 1947 season to end over sixty years of racial segregation in baseball. The rookie was facing withering insults from opposing players, and a petition by Dodger players protesting Robinson's presence had only recently been quashed by Durocher.
Shotton's calm demeanor, however, provided the quiet leadership the Dodgers needed.[9][1]: 80 They won the National League pennant by five games, and took the New York Yankees to seven games in the 1947 World Series. In Game 4, Shotton helped to thwart Bill Bevens' no-hit bid in the ninth inning, sending into the game two pinch hitters and two pinch runners in an attempt to overcome a 2–1 deficit. The gambit worked, as Dodger pinch hitter Cookie Lavagetto drove home both pinch runners, Al Gionfriddo and Eddie Miksis, with his opposite-field double — Brooklyn's only hit — for a 3–2 victory.[10]
With Durocher's suspension over, Shotton retired again, this time to a front office post as "managerial consultant" in the Dodgers' vast
Return to Brooklyn's bench
With the
After his return, the Dodgers rallied to take the lead in the 1948 NL standings by the end of August, before they faltered in September to finish third, 71⁄2 games behind Boston. Then, in
Shotton also had severe critics within the press, notably
In 1950, despite chronic pitching woes, Shotton guided the Dodgers to within a game of first place on the final day of the season. But Dick Sisler's tenth-inning home run off Don Newcombe won the pennant for the Phillies' "Whiz Kids", and ended both the Dodger season and Shotton's managerial career. Rickey was forced from the Brooklyn front office by new majority owner Walter O'Malley at the end of October. At his home in Bartow, Florida, Shotton ignored O'Malley's repeated suggestions that he fly back north to discuss his future, saying later, "There was no point coming to Brooklyn to be fired."[1]: 119 Indeed, O'Malley had already decided on Chuck Dressen as his new manager; his hiring was formally announced November 28. In contrast to Shotton, the fiery Dressen would be conspicuous on the field wearing uniform No. 7 and doubling as Brooklyn's third-base coach.[15]
Managerial record
Team | From | To | Regular season record | Post–season record | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
G | W | L | Win % | G | W | L | Win % | |||
Philadelphia Phillies | 1928 | 1933 | 919 | 370 | 549 | .403 | — | |||
Cincinnati Reds | 1934 | 1934 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1.000 | — | |||
Brooklyn Dodgers | 1947 | 1947 | 152 | 92 | 60 | .605 | 7 | 3 | 4 | .429 |
Brooklyn Dodgers | 1948 | 1950 | 389 | 234 | 155 | .602 | 5 | 1 | 4 | .200 |
Total | 1,461 | 697 | 764 | .477 | 12 | 4 | 8 | .333 |
In retirement
Shotton's last connection with baseball was as a consultant for Rickey's Continental League, the planned "third major league" that ultimately forced expansion of MLB in 1961–62. In 1960, Rickey, the CL president, engaged Shotton to assist and supervise the managers in the Western Carolinas League, a Class D minor league originally set up to groom talent for the CL.[16]
Shotton died in Lake Wales, Florida, from a heart attack at age 77 during the second All-Star break in 1962. Although his career win–loss record as a big league manager was 697–764 (.477), his mark with the Dodgers was 326–215 (.603).
According to an informal study by researchers at the National Baseball Hall of Fame, the last manager to wear street clothes is believed to be Shotton, who last managed a game on Sunday, October 1, 1950.[17] (Connie Mack, who famously wore a full suit during his 50 years as manager of the Philadelphia Athletics, also retired on October 1, 1950, but his game that day ended earlier.)[18]
In popular culture
In the 2013 film 42, Shotton is played by Max Gail.
See also
- 1947 Brooklyn Dodgers season
- Jackie Robinson
- List of Major League Baseball career stolen bases leaders
- List of St. Louis Cardinals coaches
References
- ^ ISBN 0-89950-981-9.
- ^ McMillan's Baseball Encyclopedia, 10th edition.
- ^ "Burt Shotton Stats".
- ^ Retrosheet
- ^ a b "The story of kindly old Burt Shotton".
- ^ ESPN.com
- ^ Retrosheet: The 1934 Cincinnati Reds
- ^ ISBN 978-1-938120-48-0.
- ISBN 0-385-17762-3. pp. 213–228
- ^ Retrosheet
- ^ Durocher, Leo, with Linn, Ed, Nice Guys Finish Last. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1975
- ^ Spatz, Lyle, The People's Choice. SABR
- ^ Booth, Steven (February 4, 2011). "The Story of Kindly Old Burt Shotton". fangraphs.com. The Hardball Times. Retrieved February 17, 2023.
- ISBN 978-1-62336-297-3.
- ^ Stewart, Mark, Chuck Dressen. SABR biography project
- ISBN 978-0-8032-1103-2.
- ^ Major League Baseball's Worst Idea
- ^ Baseball Reference
External links
- Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball Reference, or Fangraphs, or Baseball Reference (Minors), or Retrosheet
- Burt Shotton managerial career statistics at Baseball-Reference.com
- Burt Shotton at Find a Grave