LEO "THE LIP" DUROCHER





Born: July 27, 1905 West Springfield, Massachusetts
Died: October 7, 1991

As a player, Leo Durocher was known as a light-hitting, slick-fielding infielder who managed to fashion a 20 year, four team (New York Yankees, Cincinnati Reds, St. Louis Cardinals and Brooklyn Dodgers) career that included two World Series appearances (1928 and 1934). It was as a manager, however, that Durocher truly left an indelible mark on the game. Over a span of 34 years and four teams (1939-1973), Durocher managed a total of 22 seasons with a passion for winning perhaps unequaled in baseball history. Though remembered best for three things (coining the phrase "Nice guys finish last," recognizing and cultivating the immense talents of Willie Mays, and managing the Giants to the 1954 World Series championship), Durocher will go down in baseball lore as a fierce competitor who richly deserved his nomination to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1994.

Quotes from Leo "The Lip"

Kevin Johnson As long as I've got a chance to beat you I'm going to take it.

Baseball is like church. Many attend few understand.

Buy a steak for a player on another club after the game, but don't even speak to him on the field. Get out there and beat them to death.

Give me some scratching, diving, hungry ballplayers who come to kill you.

God watches over drunks and third baseman.

How you play the game is for college ball. When you're playing for money, winning is the only thing that matters.

I believe in rules. Sure I do. If there weren't any rules, how could you break them?

I come to win.

I made a game effort to argue but two things were against me: the umpires and the rules.

I never questioned the integrity of an umpire. Their eyesight, yes.

If I were playing third base and my mother were rounding third with the run that was going to beat us, I'd trip her. Oh, I'd pick her up and brush her off and say, "Sorry, Mom," but nobody beats me.

If you don't win, you're going to be fired. If you do win, you've only put off the day you're going to be fired.

In order to become a big-league manager you have to be in the right place at the right time. That's rule number one.

In the olden days, the umpire didn't have to take any courses in mind reading. The pitcher told you he was going to throw at you.

Nice guys finish last.

Nobody ever won a pennant without a star shortstop.

Show me a good loser and I'll show you an idiot.

Some guys are admired for coming to play, as the saying goes. I prefer those who come to kill.

There are only five things you can do in baseball - run, throw, catch, hit and hit with power.

What are we out at the park for, except to win?

Win any way you can as long as you can get away with it.

You argue with the umpire because there is nothing else you can do about it.

You don't save a pitcher for tomorrow. Tomorrow it may rain.