George Stallings

Infobox MLB retired
name=George Stallings
position=Catcher


bgcolor1=black
bgcolor2=black
textcolor1=white
textcolor2=white
bats=Right
throws=Right
birthdate=November 17, 1867
Augusta, Georgia
deathdate=death date and age|1929|5|13|1867|11|17
Haddock, Georgia
debutdate= May 22
debutyear= 1890
debutteam= Brooklyn Bridegrooms
finaldate= August 28
finalyear=1898
finalteam=Philadelphia Phillies
stat1label=Batting average
stat1value=.100
stat2label=Home runs
stat2value=0
stat3label=Runs batted in
stat3value=0
teams=
* Brooklyn Bridegrooms (1890)
* Philadelphia Phillies (1897-1898)
highlights=

George Tweedy Stallings (November 17, 1867 – May 13, 1929) was an American manager and (briefly) player in Major League Baseball. His most famous achievement – leading the by|1914 Boston Braves from last place in mid-July to the National League championship and a World Series sweep of the powerful Philadelphia Athletics – resulted in a nickname he would bear for the rest of his life: "The Miracle Man."

A native of Atlanta, Georgia, Stallings graduated from the Virginia Military Institute in 1886. He entered medical school, but was instead offered a contract by Harry Wright, manager of the Philadelphia Phillies. He was cut in spring training. Stallings was a mediocre player: he appeared in only seven major league games as a catcher, first baseman and outfielder with Brooklyn (1890) and the Phillies (1897-98) and had only two hits in 20 at-bats, hitting a weak .100. As a manager, he had a mixed major league resume prior to 1914: a poor record with the Phillies (1897-98), then mild successes in the American League with the Detroit Tigers (1901) and New York Highlanders (1909-10). In the minor leagues, he managed the by|1895 Nashville Seraphs to win the Southern League pennant; he also played an infield position on the team. [Traughber, Bill. [http://www.nashvillesounds.com/news/newsarchive.asp?newsId=1023 "Looking Back: Seraphs Win 1895 Championship."] "Nashville Sounds". 10 May 2004. 22 March 2008.] He also managed Detroit before it became a major league team in part of 1896 and from the end of 1898 through its becoming a charter member of the American League.

Named manager of the last-place Braves after the 1912 season, Stallings raised Boston to fifth place in the NL in his first season, 1913, but the Braves were sunk at the bottom of the eight-team league and 11 ½ games from the frontrunning New York Giants on July 15, 1914 when they began their meteoric rise. With Stallings expertly handling a roster of light hitters (Boston hit only .251 as a team) and relying on pitchers Dick Rudolph and Bill James (who each won 26 games), the Braves won 52 of their final 66 contests to overtake the other seven NL teams and finish 10½ games in front of the second-place Giants. They then defeated the heavily favored Athletics in four straight games to earn the nickname "Miracle Braves."

Stallings is credited with being the first manager to use platooning to good effect. It was not strictly left/right hand platooning (there were then relatively few southpaw pitchers), but he did change his lineup significantly when the Braves played a team starting a left-handed pitcher. Bill James credits him with being the first major league manager to use platooning as a weapon, rather than to cover a hitter's weaknesses.

The 1914 championship was the only World Series title earned by the Braves during their tenure in Boston, which lasted through March 1953. It also was Stallings’ first and only big league championship. He managed the Braves through 1920, but posted no winning season after 1916. His career major league managing record was 879 wins, 898 losses (.495) over 13 years.

Stallings was responsible for bringing professional baseball back to the city of Montreal, Quebec. In 1928, his partnership with Montreal lawyer and politician Athanase David and businessman Ernest Savard resurrected the Montreal Royals as part of the International League. They built the modern new Delorimier Stadium in downtown Montreal as the home for the team that would be where Jackie Robinson would break the baseball color barrier in 1946.

Stallings was famous for his superstitions, and for his nervousness on the bench. He has been described as both "distinguished" and salty-tongued. He died in Haddock, Georgia at age 61 of heart disease. According to legend, when asked by his physician why he had a bad heart, Stallings replied, "Bases on balls, doc ... those damned bases on balls."

External links

* [http://www.baseball-reference.com/managers/stallge01.shtml Baseball-Reference.com] - career managing record and playing statistics
* [http://www.gshf.org Georgia Sports Hall of Fame]

References

*Biography Project, Society for American Baseball Research