April 9, 1947: Brooklyn Dodgers manager Leo Durocher is suspended for the entire season, for what Commissioner Albert B. "Happy" Chandler calls "conduct detrimental to the game" -- 6 days before Opening Day.
He was accused of consorting with gamblers, including organized crime figures. And gambling was the thing that scared the baseball establishment the most. He was also accused of a different kind of consorting, marrying actress Laraine Day, with both of them being previously divorced.
Both accusations were true. Brooklyn's Catholic Youth Organization threatened to cancel its ticket buys if Durocher were not removed. They seemed to care more about the fooling around with Day than with the connections with the Mob.
Team president Branch Rickey was a Methodist and a moralist, and didn't like Durocher on a personal basis. He knew that Durocher fooled around, that he drank heavily, and that he bet on racehorses. But Rickey tolerated Durocher, because he won. Well, once; A former shortstop, he managed the Dodgers to the National League Pennant in 1941, and lost Playoffs for the Pennant in 1942 and 1946. In other words, in the last 3 seasons that were not affected by the manpower drain of World War II, Durocher had put the team in position to win the Pennant all 3 times.
Rickey also knew that he did not need a distraction, 6 days before Opening Day, the day when his project, Jackie Robinson, was to become the 1st black player in modern baseball. Before his suspension, though, Durocher stood up for Jackie. Having faced anti-Catholic bigotry in his youth, he told the Dodger players who didn't want Jackie on the team that he was going to play, and that any player who wouldn't play with him would be traded. And Rickey was willing to back Durocher up on that.
Branch Rickey
But now, Durocher had been suspended for a full year, the longest suspension in baseball history to that point, short of a permanent ban. Rickey didn't want the fuss over Durocher to detract or distract from Jackie's debut. So on this issue, he did not stick up for Durocher. He chose not to fight the suspension.
He turned to Burt Shotton, one of his scouts. A former outfielder, Shotton had played for both the St. Louis Browns and the St. Louis Cardinals, and had coached the Cardinals, while Rickey was the general manager of those teams. Shotton had also managed the Philadelphia Phillies and the Cincinnati Reds. Rickey wanted Shotton to manage the Dodgers.
Shotton had promised his wife that he would never wear another major league uniform. Rickey reminded him that Connie Mack, owner and manager of the Philadelphia Athletics, wore a suit in the dugout, rather than a uniform. So Shotton wore a suit, a team jacket, and a Dodger cap.
Burt Shotton
He managed the Dodgers for the 1947 season. Durocher came back in 1948, but a deal between Rickey and New York Giants owner Horace Stoneham allowed Durocher to switch teams. Rickey brought Shotton back, and he managed the Dodgers through the end of the 1950 season. He led the Dodgers to the Pennant in 1947 and 1949, and nearly did so again in 1950. He and Mack were the last 2 managers to wear suits instead of uniforms.
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April 9, 1947 was a Wednesday. Baseball was in Spring Training. Football was out of season. The Stanley Cup Playoffs were between the Semifinals and the Finals. The Toronto Maple Leafs went on to beat the Montreal Canadiens in 6 games.
There was 1 score on this historic day: The Basketball Association of America, in its 1st season, 1 of 3 before it merged with the National Basketball League to form the National Basketball Association, played a 1st round Playoff game at the old Madison Square Garden. The New York Knicks beat the Cleveland Rebels, 93-71.
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