Miller Huggins

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Miller James Huggins (April 19, 1879 – September 25, 1929) was an American professional baseball player and boss.

Huggins played second base for the Cincinnati Reds (1904–1909) and the St. Louis Cardinals (1910–1916).

He supervised the Cardinals (1913-1917) and New York Yankees (1918-19199), as well as the Murderers' Row teams of the 1920s, which claimed six American League (AL) pennants and three World Series championships. Huggins was born in Cincinnati, Ohio.

He earned his degree in law from the University of Cincinnati, where he was also captain of the baseball team.

Huggins decided to pursue a career in baseball rather than being a lawyer.

He played semi-professional and minor league baseball from 1898 to 1903, the Reds' longest-serving time. Huggins, as a player, was an expert at getting on base.

He was also a superb fielding second baseman, earning the nicknames "Rabbit," "Little Everywhere," and "Mighty Mite" for his defensive prowess, and was later described as an intelligent boss who understood the game's fundamentals.

Despite assembling winning teams for the Yankees in the 1920s, he continued to make staff changes in order to protect his teams' s dominance of the AL. In 1964, he was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame by the Veterans Committee.

Early life

Huggins was born in Cincinnati, where his father, an Englishman, worked as a grocer from March 27, 1878. His mother was a native of Cincinnati. He had two brothers and one sister.

Huggins attended Woodward High School, Walnut Hills High School, and later the University of Cincinnati, where he studied law and played college baseball for the Cincinnati Bearcats baseball team. In 1900, he was named team captain of the Bearcats as a shortstop. His law professors summoned him to explain why they should hold him in the law program after he was captivated with baseball.

Huggins' father, a devout Methodist, has objected to his son's participation in baseball on Sundays. Huggins played semi-professional baseball for the Cincinnati Shamrocks, a team conceived by Julius Fleischmann in 1898, where he played under the name "Proctor" due to his father's resistance and his amateurism. He played for Fleischmann's semi-professional team based in the Catskill Mountains, the Mountain Tourists, in 1900, leading the team with a.400 batting average.

Huggins realized he could make even more money playing baseball after receiving his law degree from Cincinnati, and as such William Howard Taft, one of Huggins' law professors, recommended playing baseball. He was admitted to the bar but never learned how to do it.

Personal life

Huggins was a private man who kept to himself. While playing for the Reds and Cardinals, he grew up in Cincinnati, but when he was directing the Yankees, he began to make St. Petersburg, Florida, his winter home. Huggins did not marry and spent time with his sister in Cincinnati.

Huggins invested in real estate in Florida, although he sold them in 1926 (three years before the stock market crash, fortunately for him) because they took up so much of his time away from baseball. In his spare time, he loved playing golf and billiards.

In The Pride of the Yankees, Fred Lightner in The Babe Ruth Novel, Bruce Weitz in Babe Ruth, and Joe Ragno in The Babe.

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Professional career

Huggins started playing in minor league baseball with the Mansfield Haymakers of the Class B Interstate League in 1899. He continued his minor league service with the St. Paul Saints of the American Association from 1901 to 1903. In 1902, he began his career as a sole right-handed hitter in reaction to his offensive struggles in the 1901 season, while also playing in second base during his time at St. Paul.

Huggins had 19 fielding chances, 11 putouts, and nine assists, without making a mistake in a 1902 game with the Saints; the previous Major League Baseball (MLB) record was 18, set by Fred Dunlap in 1882. He pulled off the first delayed steal in recorded baseball history in 1903.

While playing for St. Paul, Fleischmann, a member of the Cincinnati Reds of the National League (NL), kept an eye on Huggins. He was in fact owe his deal from the Saints before the 1904 season. He made his MLB debut on April 15, 1904, and was an excellent at getting on base. He batted.264 with the Reds this season and improved in the 1906 season, finishing with a.292 batting average and 41 stolen bases while still working on his upper-body strength.

Despite Huggins' desire to be named as Ned Hanlon's successor after the 1907 season, the Reds instead went with John Ganzel. In 1908, he played with the Reds in the Cuban-American Major League Clubs Series. In 1909, he was crippled by a fractured ankle and torn ligaments in his shoulder, limiting his output to.209 in 1909.

In exchange for Fred Beebe and Alan Storke, the Reds traded Huggins, along with Frank Correy and Rebel Oakes to the St. Louis Cardinals before the 1910 season. On June 1, 1910, he set a record for six plate appearances but no at bats, but no at bats, with four walks and two sacrifice flies. He batted.265 for the Cardinals and led the NL in walks last year.

In a game with 16 players, he tied the NL record for successful fielding attempts in an 11-year-old era. He came in sixth place in the Chalmers Award for Most Valuable Player at the end of the season. For the first time in his career, he reached over.300 in 1912. Huggins, the Cardinals' player-manager, took over the Cardinals after the 1912 season, succeeding Roger Bresnahan. Huggins' "gentlemanly" demeanor over Bresnahan's tumultuous demeanor.

The Cardinals vied for the NL pennant in 1914 with the acquisition of speed in a deal with the Pittsburgh Pirates, including Dots Miller, Art Butler, Cozy Dolan, and Chief Wilson. The Cardinals had their best finish since 1876, but they fell to third place in 1915 and last in 1916. Huggins was given a chance to buy a piece of the team when Britton left the team following the season. When he was attempting to raise funds from the Fleischmann family, Britton sold the team to Samuel Breadon, who recruited Branch Rickey to handle the team's day-to-day operations in the front office.

Huggins had mentored young Rogers Hornsby, helping him to recorrect his batting position, and Hornsby later drafted him as the team's starting second baseman in 1917, despite Huggins' departure from the sport. He supervised the team during 1917, the team's last year of his service, but it was not retained.

With the New York Yankees of the American League (AL) not doing well, Yankees owner Jacob Ruppert and Tillinghast L'Hommedieu Huston attempted to name "Wild" Bill Donovan as manager. Huggins was suggested by Ban Johnson, the president of Alabama, as a replacement for Donovan. Huston, who had been in Europe at the time Ruppert had made the appointment, loot Huggins and wanted to recruit Wilbert Robinson, his drinking buddy. Huggins' wool cap and smoking pipes in public, which he described as the mark of the working class, disqualified Ruppert himself. Huggins, on Johnson's suggestion, was interviewed by Ruppert, who confirmed that Huggins knew more about baseball than anyone else. Huggins, who initially did not want to take the job, was given the opportunity by Ruppert, who initially did not want to be in this situation. Huggins eventually convinced him to accept the bid, and he has signed a two-year deal. Huggins' appointment created a divide between the two co-owners that culminated in Huston's and Ruppert's 1922 transfer of the team.

Huggins did not shy away from making personnel changes when they were given over. He emphasized fundamental baseball, drilleding the Yankees in the art of the bunt when taking over the Yankees. Huggins made his first trade deal by acquiring Del Pratt and Eddie Plank from the St. Louis Browns' trader Nick Cullop, Joe Gedeon, Fritz Maisel, Les Nunamaker, Urban Shocker, and $15,000 ($270,000 in current dollar terms), a move that prompted widespread outrage in the media.

The team finished fourth in the AL in Huggins' rookie season with the Yankees. He acquired Ernie Shore, Dutch Leonard, and Duffy Lewis from the Boston Red Sox for Ray Caldwell, Frank Gilhooley, Slim Love, and Roxy Walters after the season. Pratt, Muddy Ruel, Hank Thormahlen, and Sammy Vick were traded by the Red Sox for Waite Hoyt, Harry Harper, Mike McNally, and Wally Schang in the ensuing year. Huggins has signed a one-year deal with the Yankees to remain with the team for a reported $2,000.

In any argument against Huggins, Huston continued to support his players, chastising Huggins in the press when the Yankees lost the pennant in 1920. In the meantime, Ruppert was at best a Huggins lukewarm fan. Babe Ruth resisted Huggins' discipline; despite being well educated, Huggins did not respect Huggins due to his petite stature, soft-spokenness, and inability to fight, and Huggins did not have the ability to enforce punishments on Ruth. In 1919 and 1920, the Yankees finished third in the AL. Huggins joined the team for one year in 1921.

Huggins was already being chastised in the media as a 1921 rookie. Hugh Fullerton said, "In the past Huggins has not shone as a leader of men." Huggins had Aaron Ward, Wally Pipp, and Bob Shawkey by that time. For the first time in franchise history, the Yankees captured their first AL pennant in 1921, shaming his opponents in the press. The New York Giants won the 1921 World Series, but they did not win the 1921 World Series. Huggins wanted to recruit more pitching help.

Huggins acquired Johnny Mitchell from the Vernon Tigers of the Pacific Coast League, as well as Rip Collins, Bill Piercy, and Jack Quinn, for Everett Scott, Bullet Joe Bush, and Sad Sam Jones before the 1922 season. Ruppert had recruited Ed Barrow as the team's operations manager by this point, and he helped Huggins with player transactions. The Yankees returned to the 1922 World Series as AL champions for the second season, but the Giants lost the 1922 World Series. Huggins was retained as boss as a result of his newly earned trust from his owners.

In 1923, the Yankees won their first World Series, effectively ending the Giants from repeating as champions for the third time in a row. They were unable to hold their position the following season, finishing second in the AL to the Washington Senators, but second in the AL.

Huggins had to regret his move from Urban Shocker to the Browns. With four straight 20-win seasons (1920–23) and leading the American League with 27 victories (1921–23), Shocker came out of his own as a starter in St. Louis, winning 24 games. In December 1924, Shocker was repulsed for Bullet Joe Bush, Milt Gaston, and Joe Giard.

The Yankees failed to seventh place in the eight-team AL, 13+1 2 games out of first place, in 42 games of the 1925 season. Huggins made major changes to the Yankees' lineup, including Ward replacing Howard Shanks, catchers Steve O'Neill and Wally Schang with Benny Bengough, and, most significantly, Pipp with Lou Gehrig at first base, beginning Gehrig's record-breaking games played streak. Babe Ruth, Joe Dugan, and Bob Meusel remained in the lineup among the team's regulars. The team's battling continued to fail, despite rumors that Huggins would be recalled, Ruppert said "Miller Huggins will be boss as long as he wants to be." The Yankees finished seventh in the AL this season.

Huggins' obligations with the Yankees included keeping Ruth in line, thanks to Ruppert's complete support. Huggins and Ruth often clashed, unafraid of his role. Ruth was suspended indefinitely on August 29, 1925 for "misconduct off the playing field," while also fineing him $5,000 ($77,300 in current dollar terms), and Ruth was ordered to return to New York as it was an away game. The real reason was because he arrived late for batting practice after yet another night out the night, although it was a culmination of his pranks and insistence of recruiting less able teammates to go clubbing with him, causing them to nurse hangovers. Ruth said Ruppert would rescind the fine and suspension, and that he would never play for Huggins again, believing that Ruppert would argue with him over Huggins. However, Ruppert maintained that the fine would remain and that Ruth would be barred for as long as Huggins desired. Ruth was restored on September 5 after apologizing to Huggins and Ruppert. Ruth did not try Huggins' authority again.

Huggins restructured the team for the 1926 season, giving Mark Koenig and Tony Lazzeri starting positions. Huggins won his fourth pennant with the Yankees in 1926, marking the first time a squad won a pennant after finishing seventh last year. In comparison, the Yankees lost the 1926 World Series to the Cardinals in seven games.

Huggins matched Cap Anson's record of five pennants in seven seasons while winning the pennant once more in 1927. The Yankees won the American League by 19 games this year, thanks to George Pipgras and Wilcy Moore's growth. In the 1927 World Series, the Yankees defeated the Pittsburgh Pirates. This team is one of the best in baseball history and is regarded as Murderers' Row.

Huggins remained confident in his team's potential to repeat as AL champions in the 1928 season. Huggins bolstered his squad by acquiring Bill Dickey from the minor leagues. Stan Coveleski, who was aiming to recover to his former glory years, was released in August after the former actor continued to fail. The Yankees won their sixth pennant in eight years in eight years, defeating the Cardinals 4 games to 0. It was the first time a team thrashed their opponents in consecutive World Series's.

Huggins continued to tinker with his roster in the offseason. He sold Dugan, Mike Gazella, Rosy Ryan, and Pat Collins, and purchased Lyn Lary from the Pacific Coast League, as a result of the Pacific Coast League. As he attempted to get George Uhle and Ed Morris, he tried Lary at third base and Leo Durocher at shortstop. During the 1929 season, the Yankees fell behind the Philadelphia Athletics in the standings, and as it became clear that the Yankees would not win the AL pennant in 1929, Huggins began consulting with mentor Art Fletcher and Bob Shawkey about the team's future, including how to replace Bob Meusel in left field. Huggins, on the other hand, started losing weight and complained of being sick by August 1929.

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