George Tweedy Stallings (November 17, 1867 – May 13, 1929) was an American

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Modern professiona ...

catcher Catcher is a position in baseball and softball. When a batter takes their turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the (home) umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. In addition to this primary duty, the catcher ...

and

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities ...

. He played in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL) ...

for the Brooklyn Bridegrooms and

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. Since 2004, the team's home stadium has been Citize ...

in 1890 and 1897 to 1898 and managed the Phillies,

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the American League (AL) Central division. One of the AL's eight charter franchises, the club was f ...

, New York Highlanders, and

Boston Braves The Atlanta Braves, a current Major League Baseball franchise, originated in Boston, Massachusetts. This article details the history of the Boston Braves, from 1871 to 1952, after which they moved to Milwaukee, and then to Atlanta. During it ...

between 1897 and 1920. Stallings led the 1914 Boston Braves from last place in mid-July to the

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team ...

championship and a

World Series The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, contested since 1903 World Series, 1903 between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The ...

sweep of the powerful

Philadelphia Athletics The Philadelphia Athletics were a Major League Baseball team that played in Philadelphia from 1901 to 1954, when they moved to Kansas City, Missouri, and became the Kansas City Athletics. Following another move in 1967, the team became the Oakl ...

– resulted in a nickname he would bear for the rest of his life: "The Miracle Man."

Playing career

Stallings was born on November 17, 1867, in

Augusta, Georgia Augusta ( ), officially Augusta–Richmond County, is a consolidated city-county on the central eastern border of the U.S. state of Georgia. The city lies across the Savannah River from South Carolina at the head of its navigable portion. Georg ...

. Stallings graduated from the

Virginia Military Institute la, Consilio et Animis (on seal) , mottoeng = "In peace a glorious asset, In war a tower of strength""By courage and wisdom" (on seal) , established = , type = Public senior military college , accreditation = SACS , endowment = $696.8 mill ...

in 1886. He entered medical school, but was instead offered a contract by

Harry Wright William Henry "Harry" Wright (January 10, 1835 – October 3, 1895) was an English-born American professional baseball player, manager, and developer. He assembled, managed, and played center field for baseball's first fully professional team, ...

, manager of the

. He was cut in spring training. Stallings was a mediocre player: he appeared in only seven major league games as a

first baseman A first baseman, abbreviated 1B, is the player on a baseball or softball team who fields the area nearest first base, the first of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. The first baseman is responsible for the major ...

and

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to c ...

with

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Kings County is the most populous Administrative divisions of New York (state)#County, county in the State of New York, ...

(1890) and the Phillies (1897–98) and had only two

hits Hits or H.I.T.S. may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * '' H.I.T.S.'', 1991 album by New Kids on the Block * ''...Hits'' (Phil Collins album), 1998 * ''Hits'' (compilation series), 1984–2006; 2014 - a British compilation album s ...

in 20

at-bat In baseball, an at bat (AB) or time at bat is a batter's turn batting against a pitcher. An at bat is different from a plate appearance. A batter is credited with a plate appearance regardless of what happens during their turn at bat, but a batt ...

hitting A strike is a directed physical attack with either a part of the human body or with an inanimate object (such as a weapon) intended to cause blunt trauma or penetrating trauma upon an opponent. There are many different varieties of strikes. A ...

a weak .100.

Managerial career

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 The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league ...

with the

(1901) and New York Highlanders (1909–10). In the minor leagues, he managed the Nashville Seraphs to win the Southern League pennant; he also played an infield position on the team. 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

. He was also part-owner of the Tigers during their first season as a major league team. 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 games from the frontrunning

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divisio ...

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 George William James (born October 5, 1949) is an American baseball writer, historian, and statistician whose work has been widely influential. Since 1977, James has written more than two dozen books devoted to baseball history and statistics ...

(who each won 26 games), the Braves won 52 of their final 66 contests to overtake the other seven National League teams and finish games in front of the second-place Giants. They then defeated the heavily favored

in four straight games to earn the nickname "Miracle Braves.""Down To The Wire; Six Greatest Stretch Runs For The Pennant"
by George Vass, ''Baseball Digest'', Sep 2001, Vol. 60, No. 9, George Tweedy Stallings in 1914

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.

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 Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the capital city, state capital and List of municipalities in Massachusetts, most populous city of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financ ...

, 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 Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple-p ...

. In 1928, his partnership with Montreal lawyer and politician

Athanase David Louis-Athanase David (June 24, 1882 – January 26, 1953) was a Canadian lawyer, politician, and businessman. He was a cabinet minister in the Provincial Parliament of Quebec, representing the riding of Terrebonne and serving as Provincial Secre ...

and businessman

Ernest Savard J. S. Ernest Savard (April 17, 1896 – March 12, 1971) was a Canadian businessman. He was a stockbroker and a partner at the brokerage firm of Savard & Hart in Montreal, Quebec. He was also an owner of the Montreal Canadiens and Montreal Roy ...

resurrected the

Montreal Royals The Montreal Royals were a minor league baseball, minor league professional baseball team in Montreal, Quebec, during 1897–1917 and 1928–1960. A member of the International League, the Royals were the top farm system, farm club (Triple-A (base ...

as part of the

International League The International League (IL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the United States. Along with the Pacific Coast League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A level, which is one grade below Major League Baseball ( ...

. They built the modern new Delorimier Stadium in downtown Montreal. 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 Haddock (also known as Haddocks Station) is an unincorporated community in Jones County, Georgia, United States. It lies along State Route 22, to the east of the city of Gray, the county seat. Its elevation is 499 feet (152 m). It has ...

at age 61 of

heart disease Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a class of diseases that involve the heart or blood vessels. CVD includes coronary artery diseases (CAD) such as angina and myocardial infarction (commonly known as a heart attack). Other CVDs include stroke, ...

. According to legend, when asked by his physician why he had a bad heart, Stallings replied, "

Bases on balls A base on balls (BB), also known as a walk, occurs in baseball when a batter receives four pitches that the umpire calls '' balls'', and is in turn awarded first base without the possibility of being called out. The base on balls is defined in Sec ...

, doc ... those damned bases on balls." He was buried in Riverside Cemetery in Macon, Georgia.

Managerial record

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Stallings, George 1867 births 1929 deaths Brooklyn Bridegrooms players Philadelphia Phillies players Baseball managers Major League Baseball player-managers 19th-century baseball players Philadelphia Phillies managers Detroit Tigers managers New York Highlanders managers Boston Braves managers Vaudeville performers Baseball players from Atlanta People from Jones County, Georgia Toronto Canucks players Birmingham Ironmakers players Galveston Giants players Oakland Colonels players Toledo Black Pirates players San Jose Dukes players Augusta Electricians players Kansas City Cowboys (minor league) players Nashville Tigers players Nashville Seraphs players Detroit Tigers (Western League) players Montreal Royals managers Mercer Bears baseball coaches Mercer Bears football coaches Virginia Military Institute alumni Stal

Playing career

Managerial career

Managerial record

See also

References

External links