"If he had only given his regulars more rest," he often laments. But the truth of the matter is that Leo didn't have a good third outfielder or backup catcher. The Mets had a stronger bench and got lucky in August and September.
Yawkey was an arse. As you probably know, his was the last team to sign a black player, and one who spent most of his time on the bench at that.
“Leo the Lip was a smart man and a good manager...”
Leo was old school and believed in the stolen bse, the sacrafice, and the squeeze.
You mentioning Leo brings me to one of my favorite stories as told by Leo himself. In the latter part of his career, Leo was managing the Astros and they were playing a game at home and it was tight. Al Barlick, a long time umpire was at first base and had just blown a call. In those days, Houston used the third base dugout at home and when Barlick made the call, Leo came flying out of the dugout with the air just blue behind him coming all the way across the infield. Leo said when he got there, Barlick had his hat in his hands shaking his head. Barlicke looked up at Leo and said, “Oh, hi Leo. You know, that’s the worst call I ever saw.” Leo said he didn’t have anything else to say at that point so he just trotted back across to the dugout. What else is there?
wy69