Skip to main content

Sunday School: History Lesson 54

By
Burt Shotton was a swift-footed outfielder with a good eye at the plate in his playing days. He spent most of his playing career in St. Louis, playing for both the Browns and Cardinals. He twice led the American League in walks and stole 35 or more bases in 5 straight seasons. While playing with the Cardinals, Shotton would unofficially fill in on Sundays for manager Branch Rickey, as Rickey observed Christian Sabbath. Shotton would later spend six years as the skipper of the Phillies after beginning his true managerial career in the Cardinals farm system.

In his time as Philadelphia's manager, Shotton helped the team achieve a brief rise in the standings, up to 4th place from 8th (last) place. He took the Phils from a 43 win team in 1928 to an above .500 club in 1932. It was the Phillies' first winning record in 15 years and their last for the next 17 years.

Shotton's arrival coincided with an influx of offensive talent. Players like outfielder Chuck Klein, first baseman Don Hurst, outfielder Lefty O'Doul and third baseman Pinky Whitney arrived in the late 1920's to give the Phillies a boost and to serve as a solid middle of the lineup for Philadelphia.

After the winning season in 1932, the Phillies quickly fell back into old habits, losing 92 games and finishing in 7th place in 1933, which led to the Phillies parting ways with Shotton. After that, Shotton would go on to coach for the Reds and Indians before he retired from the field & clubhouse then took a scouting position with the Dodgers, where Branch Rickey was the general manager. The "retirement" didn't last long as Shotton was summoned to Brooklyn at the start of the 1947 season and asked, by Rickey, to take the reins of the Dodgers as manager.

Shotton inherited a tough situation in Brooklyn, as, within weeks of taking the managerial gig, the Dodgers ended the racial segregation of Major League Baseball when Jackie Robinson joined the team. The Dodgers won 92 regular season games and the National League pennant that year.

Also of note, Shotton is believed to be the last MLB manager to wear a suit, instead of the typical uniform that the players of the team wear.

-------------------------------------

Follow PhoulBallz.com on Twitter HERE for unique trivia, stats and other updates!


Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Rappers in Phillies Caps

By
Weekend greetings to you phine pholks out there. Today's post features pictures of rappers wearing Phillies caps. Why rappers in Phillies caps, you ask? Because... Any other questions? We will start things off properly by going with a highly recognizable hip hop star. 50 Cent stays constantly relavant by consistantly creating radio friendly material to help sell (G) units, while he "keeps it real" by still rapping about the thug life he lived before becoming the 2nd highest earning black entertainer in America. 50 is seen here in a recent interview rocking a throw-back Phillies cap. Next up we'll use a throw-back screen cap from what may be the very first major appearance by a rapper wearing Phillies gear. Chuck D, of legendary rap group Public Enemy, wore a Phillies cap in the music video for rap anthem Fight The Power in 1989. The song was the lead single from the soundtrack for Spike Lee's film Do The Right Thing . Next up we'll go with some home grown tal...
3 comments
Read more

Lidge Shaky, T-Mac Honored in Trenton

By
TRENTON, NJ- Brad Lidge made his second rehab appearance for the Double A Reading Phillies on Thursday night and it didn't go as well as the veteran reliever or the team had hoped. Lidge struggled with his command and turned in a rather poor outing for the club that entered the night in a playoff race, 1 game behind division rival Trenton for the Wild Card spot in the Eastern Division. On the disabled list since spring training with a strained right rotator cuff, Lidge experienced an elbow strain when he was working back from that issue in late May. In his outing against the Yankees affiliate in Trenton, Lidge displayed difficulty with his control as he threw three wild pitches, hit two batters, walked another and gave up a single, all while letting up two earned runs on 28 pitches in 2/3 of an inning. After the disappointing performance, Lidge was composed and focused on some positive aspects, having reached 89 and 90 MPH on scouts' radar guns, according to some reports. ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Drabek Preparing For Next Step

By
The transition has been easy for Kyle Drabek. In December, he was part of a package of young prospects that was traded to the Toronto Blue Jays for ace pitcher Roy Halladay. Now, as though nothing has changed, he's right back where he was last season...the star prospect on the pitching staff of a team in the Double A Eastern League. Drabek has often stated that he wanted to stay in the Philadelphia organization, who drafted him in the first round of the 2006 amateur draft. The 22-year-old thought after the midseason trade rumors, that surrounded him possibly going to Toronto last year, passed with no action that all the turmoil was over and that he could simply relax and focus on getting to the big leagues with the Phillies. That wasn't the case, as the deal eventually came to fruition over the off-season. In the Blue Jays system this season, Drabek doesn't have to worry about being dealt. He only has to concern himself with opposing batters and working on his secondary pit...
2 comments
Read more