Word: hitting
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Dates: during 1950-1959
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...reduce Britain's horrible casualty figure," Prince Philip tried to stop his elegant green Lagonda convertible when a Morris slowed for a turn, failed to brake fast enough, clonked into the tiny car. The Morris pilot hopped out in a huff, "thinking 'Some stupid clod's hit me,' " melted immediately when Philip cheerfully took the blame. Damage to Queen, Prince and commoner: none. To Philip's prestige as president of the auto association: sufficient dents that a London columnist suggested it would be just as well if he stopped chauffeuring the Queen...
Tactics turned out to be the last thing General Manager Gabe Paul was worrying about when he hired Birdie. "You assume that, all the way down to Class D, managers know when to bunt or when to hit-and-run," says Paul. "The important thing is common sense, the ability to handle men." Paul had been thinking of Birdie in terms of those attributes ever since he read some of Birdie's scouting reports on American Association players. Says Paul: "Anyone who could prepare reports like that had to be a capable and clear-thinking fellow...
...glove, a batter tops a ball and beats a throw to first. Or a fellow gets up in the ninth and comes through with a liner between third and short-he's a hero. Two inches the other way and he's a bum because he hit into a double play. The only thing you can do is get a little faster man to play each position, keep adding the men who can make the inches work...
Third Baseman Don Hoak, who was ready to quit baseball when the Chicago Cubs sent him to Cincinnati this season, remembers how Birdie took him aside in spring training and said: "You just can't hit .215 and play in the big leagues. Now you're going to do things my way and see how we make out." Hoak has been making out so well that he is third in the league in Runs Batted In (49). Says he: "Birdie's the guy who helped me-the helpful little things, the kind of little things that...
...Birdie. They know what he means when he says: "There ought to be a second-string or junior Hall of Fame for guys like me. I'll read about some superstar who has had a bad season and the writers apologize when they say, 'He only hit .311 that year.' Listen, I had a lifetime average of .270 and I'm proud of it. I poured my life's blood into it. I clawed and scrambled and fought and hustled to get it." Thanks to Birdie, the whole Redleg team is clawing and scrambling...