67. Jerry Reuss and his year playing for Leo Durocher cover art

67. Jerry Reuss and his year playing for Leo Durocher

67. Jerry Reuss and his year playing for Leo Durocher

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 The strongest man in the world 50 years ago was Vasily Alekseyev of the Soviet Union and there he was on the cover of Sports Illustrated on April 14th, 1975. The question is… was he a nice guy? Apparently the answer was no. Because also in that issue was the 2nd part of a 4 part series from the book, “Nice Guys Finish Last,” from former player and Hall of Fame manager, Leo Durocher. The “Lip” was a heckuva ballplayer, spanning 20 years with the Yankees, Reds, Cardinals and Brooklyn Dodgers from 1925-1945. A 3-time All-Star, and 4-time World Series champion, Durocher ended his playing days as a player/manager in Brooklyn and would go on to retire as the 5th winningest skipper in MLB history. Starting in 1939 with the Dodgers and then spending 8 more years with the Nw York Giants from 1948-1955, Durocher won his only World Series as a manager when Willie Mays and the Giants swept the Cleveland Indians in 1954. The next year was his last in New York and he wouldn’t manage again until the Cubs hired him in 1966. Chicago was 59-103 in his first season guiding the team but didn’t have a losing season in the remainder of his 5+ seasons at the helm. He would finish his Hall of Fame managerial career in Houston with another winning season in 1973. On that ’73 teams was a young lefty who started 40 games for the Astros, completing 12 of them and amassing 279 innings pitched. Jerry Reuss was just 23 years old when he played for Durocher and the two had an adventurous time together with Durocher riding his young stud as often as he could, and Reuss often questioning the tactics of the veteran manager. It was a memorable season in Houston for the southpaw who would go on to win 220 games in his 22 years in the bigs. Reuss tells us how he pranked Dave Parker when he and The Cobra met up with Muhammad Ali in an elevator while playing for the Pirates. He takes us to Candlestick Park on a warm June night in 1980 when he no-hit the Giants, and he recounts the time Ron Cey was beaned in the head by a Goose Gossage fastball in the ’81 world Series. But more than anything we talk to Reuss about what was it like for a kid born in 1950 to play for a manager who had been managing in the majors for 23 years by the time their paths crossed in the Lone Star state. It was a bumpy ride to say the least. Reuss tells us that much of it was his fault and that he and Durocher didn’t see eye-to-eye most of the time. He goes on to tell us that years later they met up in the office of another Dodgers manager, Tommy Lasorda, and both admitted they could have handled things differently. Reuss and The Lip patched things up and shortly thereafter, Durocher passed away. One of the greatest managers in baseball history was a mercurial and difficult man who never finished last in his 24 years as a manager. Was it because he was a Hall of Fame manager or because only Nice Guys Finish Last? In Durocher’s case… probably a little of both. Listen, download, subscribe and review the Past Our Prime podcast. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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