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From things I have uncovered recently, it seems that it was being assumed that Leo Durocher was going to be the first manager of the New York Mets.In fact it was said by a Dodger executive, that Durocher was hired by the Dodgers in 1961 as a coach, so he could re-learn the national league, so he would be ready to manage the Mets in 1962. I wonder what happened? Leo would have been a natural in New York, and the principal qoner Mrs. Payson had been a big New York Giant fan.
Joined: Sun Sep 16, 2007 9:30 pm Posts: 11255 Location: Brooklyn to New Jersey
I haven't read this, and I have never heard it before today........interesting. I guess (and it's merely a guess) when Stengel was available and willing, the Mets wanted to "sting" the Yanks and their fans a bit.
_________________ You can take the DODGERS out of BROOKLYN but you can't take BROOKLYN out of the DODGERS
Im guessing that many people thought that Branch Rickeywould be running the Mets and Durocher seemed a logical choice. When George Weiss was named, it was an easy choice for him to name Stengel as manager, Weiss and Stengel were together on the Yankees for a number of years.I'm sure Weiss trusted Stengel a lot more then he would have trusted Durocher.
Joined: Sun Sep 16, 2007 9:30 pm Posts: 11255 Location: Brooklyn to New Jersey
VIBaseball wrote:
Arthur Daley had a piece in the Times on March 16, 1961 saying pretty much exactly that, Robert.
16 March 1961, New York Times, "A Smart Move" by Arthur Daley, pg. 45: If Rickey had been persuaded to become head man of the Mets - or whatever their name will be - it's a cinch that he would have installed as manager his favorite reclamation project, Leo Durocher.
_________________ You can take the DODGERS out of BROOKLYN but you can't take BROOKLYN out of the DODGERS
I still am not convinced that Rickey was ever offered the job. This is probably a conspiracy theory, but there is no way O'Malley wanted Rickey back in the National League, and I'm sure he used all his snake oil salesman charm on Mrs. Payson.
Joined: Sun Sep 16, 2007 9:30 pm Posts: 11255 Location: Brooklyn to New Jersey
tonypug wrote:
I still am not convinced that Rickey was ever offered the job. This is probably a conspiracy theory, but there is no way O'Malley wanted Rickey back in the National League, and I'm sure he used all his snake oil salesman charm on Mrs. Payson.
Yes, according to Peter Gollenbock, Branch was offered the job by Joan Payson. Rickey wanted a "warchest" of $5M and complete control. He was laughed off.
_________________ You can take the DODGERS out of BROOKLYN but you can't take BROOKLYN out of the DODGERS
As I said in the other post, I don't believe it went down that way. There was no way O'Malley was going to let Rickey back into major league baseball, especially in New York. The Dodgers were very generous to the Mets in the early years. many nsurplus Dodgers went the way of the Mets, could that have been part of the deal to keep Rickey out? Making Gil Hodges available, trading Charlie Neal for Lee Walls and many others.
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