| Durocher may best be remembered for uttering the famous phrase, "Nice guys finish last." Yet he was far more than a footnote person in baseball history. He roomed with Babe Ruth, won a World Series title with Dizzy Dean, tutored Pee Wee Reese, dated and married movie starlets, was suspended for a full year for consorting with gamblers, gave Roy Campanella the Dodgers' catching job, was friends with gangster Bugsy Siegel, managed the Giants to the famous playoff game that produced Bobby Thomson's "Shot Heard 'Round the World", led the Giants to their last World Series title in New York City, nearly coaxed the Cubs to a pennant in 1969, and wore the orange and black of the Houston Astros.
When the dust had settled on his controversial and colorful career, Durocher had played in more than 1,600 games and won 2,008 as a skipper. He was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1994. |
USA