1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:06,400 This is Retro Sports Radio. Visit RetroSeasons.com for more sports history. 2 00:00:06,400 --> 00:00:11,360 Ernie, we've talked about the influence that Paul Richards had on you and the other managers 3 00:00:11,360 --> 00:00:15,840 of the teams that you've worked for. Let's go back and talk for just a second and maybe 4 00:00:15,840 --> 00:00:20,040 you can give us a little insight to some of these guys that you had an especially close 5 00:00:20,040 --> 00:00:22,760 relationship with. How about Bert Schotton? 6 00:00:22,760 --> 00:00:27,680 Bert Schotton was a fellow from Bartow, Florida. He was a fisherman. He loved to fish. He'd 7 00:00:27,680 --> 00:00:32,000 played ball in the National League, played with the Cardinals and some other clubs. And 8 00:00:32,000 --> 00:00:37,240 he was very close to Branch Rickey. When Leo DeRoscia was suspended by the commissioner, 9 00:00:37,240 --> 00:00:42,320 Rickey called his old pal down there in Bartow to come on up and manage the values. And he 10 00:00:42,320 --> 00:00:50,520 came up in 47 and stayed through 48. Leo came back and eventually went over to the Giants. 11 00:00:50,520 --> 00:00:55,400 But Bert Schotton was a very laid back guy, one of the few managers that did not wear 12 00:00:55,400 --> 00:01:00,520 a uniform. He'd wear a pair of slacks and he'd wear a Dodger jacket. And he lived at 13 00:01:00,520 --> 00:01:06,120 the same hotel I did the Bosset Hotel when I broke in with the Dodgers in 1948. And I 14 00:01:06,120 --> 00:01:10,720 used to ride out to the ballpark with him after I got started with the Dodgers, usually 15 00:01:10,720 --> 00:01:16,240 with Bert and with the relief pitcher Hugh Casey. And he was a very wonderful gentleman. 16 00:01:16,240 --> 00:01:20,320 He didn't get excited one way or the other. You'd get on the train after the game. It 17 00:01:20,320 --> 00:01:25,000 might be a very tough loss or it might be a brilliant victory and you really couldn't 18 00:01:25,000 --> 00:01:29,680 tell the difference by the manner or demeanor of Bert Schotton. 19 00:01:29,680 --> 00:01:34,680 You also had the opportunity in Detroit of working with two managers who had made their 20 00:01:34,680 --> 00:01:39,920 name possibly with other teams. A guy who still owns the Major League record for being 21 00:01:39,920 --> 00:01:44,160 fired the most times by the same owner, the brat, Billy Martin. 22 00:01:44,160 --> 00:01:49,960 Yeah, Billy Martin was quite a guy. Billy came into the Tigers. He'd bounced around 23 00:01:49,960 --> 00:01:53,760 a little bit. He'd been a great player and he'd managed it in Minnesota. When he came 24 00:01:53,760 --> 00:01:59,080 to the Tigers, he was very popular at first, but as my mom used to say, he wore out his 25 00:01:59,080 --> 00:02:04,640 welcome. Billy had a proclivity for after he got started and establishing himself in 26 00:02:04,640 --> 00:02:09,960 a job, he began to carp at the other people in the organization, especially his bosses. 27 00:02:09,960 --> 00:02:15,120 And it never seemed to work because you don't criticize your bosses too heavily. 28 00:02:15,120 --> 00:02:19,800 Sparky Anderson, who had managed the Big Red Machine in Cincinnati to World Championships. 29 00:02:19,800 --> 00:02:25,120 Sparky was a big guy, no question about that. He had managed Cincinnati to the World Championship. 30 00:02:25,120 --> 00:02:30,600 He was a choice of Jim Campbell. When Les Moss was fired, Sparky came in. Actually, 31 00:02:30,600 --> 00:02:35,920 Les had a record around 500, but it was a chance to get Sparky, who'd been out of work. 32 00:02:35,920 --> 00:02:40,960 And Jim felt like if he didn't strike then that somebody else would come in and get Sparky. 33 00:02:40,960 --> 00:02:45,360 And Sparky had sort of a five-year plan and actually it worked because after five years, 34 00:02:45,360 --> 00:02:50,680 the Tigers had a championship team. Sparky and I walked a lot. When we got to be good 35 00:02:50,680 --> 00:02:55,240 friends, we'd get up every morning and we'd walk for about an hour. We talked a lot about 36 00:02:55,240 --> 00:03:00,280 baseball, a lot about life. And I think I learned a lot from Sparky. He was pretty smart. 37 00:03:00,280 --> 00:03:06,280 He was an old used car salesman who knew how to close a deal, you know, and he could read 38 00:03:06,280 --> 00:03:09,760 the minds of his players and get the most out of them. 39 00:03:09,760 --> 00:03:12,000 Charles Dillon Stingle. 40 00:03:12,000 --> 00:03:18,680 K.C., named after the town he came from. He was a failed dentist. He wanted to be a dentist 41 00:03:18,680 --> 00:03:23,640 and he couldn't make it. And he came to the National League. He played for Brooklyn and 42 00:03:23,640 --> 00:03:29,200 he played for the Giants. And he was a pretty good ball player, but he was always a clown. 43 00:03:29,200 --> 00:03:34,600 At Brooklyn, he doffed his cap one time and a bird flew out. He hit a home run in the 44 00:03:34,600 --> 00:03:40,160 polo grounds playing for the Giants against the Yankees and lost a shoe running home his 45 00:03:40,160 --> 00:03:46,560 inside the park home run. Then he became a manager, first at Boston with the Braves. 46 00:03:46,560 --> 00:03:51,120 And he was a terrible manager because he had a terrible team. Somebody said the best thing 47 00:03:51,120 --> 00:03:55,160 that ever happened to the Braves was when Casey got hit by a cab and broke his leg and 48 00:03:55,160 --> 00:04:00,280 couldn't manage anymore. But then he went to the Yankees and he became a genius. And 49 00:04:00,280 --> 00:04:04,600 later on, he was a great manager with a match. But he was the kind of a guy, you know, you'd 50 00:04:04,600 --> 00:04:08,520 ask him what time it was and he'd tell you how to build a watch. 51 00:04:08,520 --> 00:04:13,520 Mr. Sangal, I'm not sure that I made my question clear. 52 00:04:13,520 --> 00:04:20,520 Yes, sir. Well, that's all right. I'm not sure I'm going to answer yours perfectly, 53 00:04:20,520 --> 00:04:21,520 either. 54 00:04:21,520 --> 00:04:28,040 I was asking you, sir, why it is that baseball wants this bill passed. 55 00:04:28,040 --> 00:04:32,800 I would say I wouldn't know, but I would say the reason why they'd want it passed is to 56 00:04:32,800 --> 00:04:40,840 keep baseball going as the highest baseball sport that has gone into baseball. And from 57 00:04:40,840 --> 00:04:45,800 the baseball angle, I'm not going to speak of any other sport. I'm not in here to argue 58 00:04:45,800 --> 00:04:51,320 about other sports. I'm in the baseball business. It's been run cleaner than any baseball business 59 00:04:51,320 --> 00:04:55,440 that was ever put out in the hundred years at the present time. 60 00:04:55,440 --> 00:04:56,720 Leo DeRosier. 61 00:04:56,720 --> 00:05:01,520 He was very volatile. He would be up one time and down the other and he'd had feuds with 62 00:05:01,520 --> 00:05:07,120 the writers and he and his wife had feuds and he had feuds with everybody. Leo had 63 00:05:07,120 --> 00:05:11,600 come off the streets of Connecticut in the boyhood where he hung around the pool halls 64 00:05:11,600 --> 00:05:16,880 and he became a pretty good ball player, sort of a no-hit, great fielding shortstop, and 65 00:05:16,880 --> 00:05:21,800 then later made himself a manager. But I think the great thing about Leo is he instilled 66 00:05:21,800 --> 00:05:26,120 a certain amount of confidence in his players that no other manager that I've ever been 67 00:05:26,120 --> 00:05:32,040 with could do. Somehow they would really go to battle for Leo because they figured that 68 00:05:32,040 --> 00:05:37,280 he'd figure out a way as much as he could to win the game for them. Some of the players 69 00:05:37,280 --> 00:05:42,240 didn't like Leo. Some of them liked him a lot. But whether they liked him or didn't 70 00:05:42,240 --> 00:05:56,240 like him, they did play hard for him.