Billy Southworth

Infobox MLB retired
name=Billy Southworth


position=Outfielder / Manager
bats=Left
throws=Right
birthdate=March 9, 1893
city-state|Harvard|Nebraska
deathdate=death date and age|mf=yes|1969|11|15|1893|3|9
city-state|Columbus|Ohio
debutdate=August 4
debutyear=by|1913
debutteam=Cleveland Indians
finaldate=July 9
finalyear=by|1929
finalteam=St. Louis Cardinals
stat1label=AVG
stat1value=.297
stat2label=Hits
stat2value=1296
stat3label=RBIs
stat3value=561
teams=As Player
*Cleveland Indians (by|1913, by|1915)
*Pittsburgh Pirates (by|1918–by|1920)
*Boston Braves (by|1921–by|1923)
*New York Giants (by|1924–by|1926)
*St. Louis Cardinals (by|1926–by|1927, by|1929)As Manager
*St. Louis Cardinals (by|1929, by|1940–by|1945)
*Boston Braves (by|1946–by|1951)
highlights=
*Led NL in triples in 1919 with 14
*Managed four NL pennant winners: 1942, 1943, 1944, 1948
*Managed two World Series champions: 1942, 1944
hofdate=2008
hofmethod=Veterans Committee

William Harrison Southworth (March 9, 1893 – November 15, 1969) was an American right fielder, center fielder and manager in Major League Baseball. Playing in by|1913 and by|1915 and from by|1918 to by|1929, he batted left-handed and threw right-handed. Southworth managed in by|1929 and from by|1940 through by|1951. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2008. [cite web |url=http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20071203&content_id=2315723&vkey=news_mlb&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb|title=Five elected to Hall by Vets Committee|accessdate=2008-08-01 |work=MLB.com |publisher= |date= ]

Born in Harvard, Nebraska, Southworth decided to play baseball despite his father's wishes. He batted .300 three times in his career, not counting shortened seasons.

In a 13-season career, he batted .297 with 52 home runs with 561 runs batted in. He stole 138 bases in his career. He had 1,296 hits in 4,359 at bats.

Early career as a manager

As a manager, he was very successful; his .597 winning percentage is second all-time to Joe McCarthy's .615. Southworth's major league managerial won-loss record was 1,044-704 with four first-place finishes, and he won two World Series titles (1942, 1944) as manager of the St. Louis Cardinals. Southworth also won one World Series as a player (1926, also with the Cards). However, his career as a manager was paved with obstacles.

It began in 1928 with the Rochester Red Wings of the AA International League, the top club in the Cardinals' leading-edge farm system. After winning the IL championship, Southworth was promoted to St. Louis as manager for by|1929, replacing Bill McKechnie, who had won a National League pennant the previous year but lost the 1928 World Series in four straight games to the New York Yankees.

Southworth, a player-manager who was only one year removed from being a teammate of his charges, attempted to impose discipline on the Cards, banning them from driving their own automobiles. But the Redbirds did not respond to his hard line and won only 43 of their first 88 games. Southworth was sent back to Rochester and McKechnie was rehired. Although Southworth immediately resumed his successful minor league managerial career, the firing began a downward spiral. Beset by struggles with alcoholism, he even left baseball for two seasons. Finally, after a recovery, he rejoined the Cardinals' minor league system in 1935 and by 1939 he was again enjoying success as Rochester's manager.

A second chance with the Cardinals

In June by|1940, he received a second chance with the struggling Cardinals when owner Sam Breadon fired manager Ray Blades and promoted Southworth from Rochester. This time, the Cards flourished under him. With talented players such as Enos Slaughter, Marty Marion, Stan Musial, Walker Cooper, Mort Cooper, and Johnny Beazley being harvested each spring from the club's farm system, the Cardinals entered a Golden Age in their history. Upon Southworth's appointment, they won 69 of 109 games and jumped from seventh to third place in 1940. The following season they won 97 games and finished second. Then, from 1942-44, the Cardinals won 106, 105 and 105 games, three pennants and two World Series titles. Southworth had presided over one of the most dominant three-year stretches in National League history.

On February 15, by|1945, his son, Major William Brooks Southworth—also a professional baseball player—died in a plane crash in Flushing Bay, New York, during military flight training. Despite this tragedy, the Cards' manager began managing at the beginning of the season. The Cardinals finished second that season, three games behind the Chicago Cubs.

One final NL pennant for Boston

Southworth then moved to the Boston Braves in by|1946, signing a then-lucrative managing contract for a reported $50,000 per season, and immediately led the Braves into the first division. In by|1948, spearheaded by the National League's best one-two pitching combination, lefthander Warren Spahn and righthander Johnny Sain, the Braves won their second NL pennant of the 20th century but were defeated in six games by the Cleveland Indians in the 1948 World Series.

The following season saw Boston struggle on the field and in chaos off the diamond, with numerous players rebelling against Southworth's rules and regulations. The manager was rumored to be drinking heavily and near nervous collapse. With Boston at 55-54 in August, Southworth turned the Braves over to coach Johnny Cooney for the remainder of by|1949. Southworth returned to his post in by|1950 — most of the rebellious players had been traded — and led the Braves back into the first division, but an aging team and declining attendance bode poorly for both Southworth's career and the Braves' future in New England. In by|1951, Southworth's club was only 28-31 on June 19 when he was fired and replaced by his former standout right fielder, Tommy Holmes. While he remained with the Braves as a scout, Southworth never managed again in the major leagues and the Braves abandoned Boston for Milwaukee in March by|1953.

'A genius on the diamond'

Billy Southworth died of emphysema in 1969 in Columbus, Ohio, at the age of 76, and was buried in Green Lawn Cemetery. On the occasion of Southworth's election to the Hall of Fame, one of his former players on the 1948 Braves, Clint Conatser, paid tribute to his old manager. "He just had a gut feeling about the right thing to do in a situation," Conatser recalled. "The moves he would make would work for him — all the time, not occasionally. Leo Durocher was the same way. It's like some guys can pick horses out of nowhere. Southworth was a genius like that on the diamond." [Boston Braves Historical Association Newsletter, Spring Training 2008 edition]

ee also

*List of Major League Baseball triples champions

References

External links

*bbhof|id=122551
* [http://web.baseballhalloffame.org/news/article.jsp?ymd=20071128&content_id=5643&vkey=hof_news Baseball Hall of Fame - 2008 inductee profile]
*baseball-reference manager|id=southbi01
* [http://web.baseballhalloffame.org/news/article.jsp?ymd=20080722&content_id=8225&vkey=hof_news Southworth's Cardinals were dominant]
* [http://web.baseballhalloffame.org/news/article.jsp?ymd=20080727&content_id=8731&vkey=hof_news St. Louis skipper Southworth enshrined in Hall]
*baseballstats |mlb= |espn= |br=s/southbi01|fangraphs=1012291 |cube=S/billy-southworth
* [http://baseballevolution.com/halloffame/southworthb.html Baseball Evolution Hall of Fame] - Player Profile
* [http://www.thedeadballera.com/Obits/Southworth.Billy.Obit.html The Deadball Era]