Huggins

Miller Huggins

Unusual for a ballplayer in that day, Miller Huggins attended college -- at the University of Cincinnati -- where he eventually earned a degree in law in 1900 while playing shortstop for the Bearcats.

His father, a devout Methodist, certainly did not want his son to play ball on Sundays and probably did not want him to play at all. Strangely, though, one of his law professors -- you may have heard of him, William Howard Taft -- actually advised him to choose baseball for a career rather than law. Huggins took his esteemed professor's advice and, though he was admitted to the bar, he never did practice law.

It was a good choice, of course, though his early days as manager of the Yankees may have given him cause for second guessing. That cause went by the name of Babe Ruth. Ruth resisted Huggins' discipline, as he did all discipline, and did not respect the manager because of his small stature and soft-spoken ways. Everything Huggins tried by way of reigning in his superstar failed.

Until 1925. On Aug. 29 of that year, he suspended Ruth indefinitely, citing off-field misconduct, and fined him $5,000, a whopping sum at the time. Ruth wasn't worried; he assumed Yankees owner Jake Ruppert would side with him, as he had in the past. This time, however, Ruth was wrong. Ruppert backed his manager to the hilt, and the suspension and fine stood.

Ruth eventually gave him, apologizing to both Huggins and Ruppert, was reinstated on Sept. 5, and never challenged Huggins' authority again.

June

Who is this "mighty" manager?

I was born on March 27, 1878, in Cincinnati, Ohio.

I played second base for my hometown Reds from 1904 to 1909 before being traded to the Cardinals, where I was both player and manager.

I was known as the "Mighty Mite," due to my small, 5'6" stature.

In 1918, J.G. Taylor Spink, famed publisher of The Sporting News, recommended me to Jacob Ruppert for the Yankees' managerial position. Ruppert took one look at my short and boyish appearance and immediately called Spink.

"What did you send me, Taylor," he yelled in the receiver, "the damned bat boy!"

Ol' Jake hired me despite his not-so favorable first impression, and I ended up leading the Yankees to six pennants and three World Series titles over the next decade.

All told, I won 1,413 games as a manager (23rd all-time), including 110 during the memorable 1927 season with the "Murderers' Row," arguably the best team in baseball history.

I became gravely ill with influenza late in the 1929 season. On Sept. 20 I was admitted to the hospital and died there five days later.

In 1964, I was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame by the Veterans Committee.