Books and articles about Joe McCarthy

Joe McCarthy managed in the major leagues for 24 seasons. His winning percentage of .614 is the highest in baseball history. His seven World Championships are a record shared only with another Yankee manager, Casey Stengel. He was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1957.

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McCarthy never played in the majors. He grew up in Germantown, Pennsylvania, and broke into pro ball in 1906. He got a taste of managing at Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, in 1913 and a few years later made a name for himself as a manager in Louisville, where he developed outfielder Earle Combs. In 1926 McCarthy was named manager of the Chicago Cubs and he led them to the National League pennant in 1929.

Fired by the Cubs following the 1930 season, McCarthy in 1931 assumed the helm of a Yankee team that regarded him as a National League interloper; many of the rollicking Yankee veterans thought Babe Ruth should be the manager, a point of view that Ruth himself did not discourage. McCarthy never won Ruth over, but he did win the other players' loyalty and slowly molded his kind of undemonstrative and proficient team.

In 1932 McCarthy became the first manager to capture pennants in both leagues. In the ensuing World Series the Yankees beat the Cubs in four games, a great moment of revenge for their manager. Then came three consecutive second-place finishes - and the unkind tag of Second-Place Joe - before the Yankees' four consecutive World Championships in 1936-39. The late-1930s teams were arguably the most powerful ever, and their manager was a great proponent of power baseball. In 1941 McCarthy won his sixth World Series in six tries as the Yankees' manager, but the following year his streak was broken by the Cardinals. The Yankees won the rematch 1943 Series in five games.

McCarthy's teams were outstanding. They seldom had a difficult pennant race and, by and large, they overwhelmed their World Series foes. They were so good that some believed the batboy could have taken them to pennants, an insinuation that McCarthy hated. His temper flared when it was suggested he had only to push buttons to win. Many experts consider McCarthy the greatest manager of all time. He was a great double-play teacher, but his real strengths lay in his mental alertness. He seldom made the same mistake twice, missed little on the field, and had an amazing memory for minute details. Joe DiMaggio said, "Never a day went by when you didn't learn something from McCarthy."

McCarthy's players respected him, most liked him, and some were devoted to him. But he was perceived by the public as dull. Take away the fat little cigars and the long-sleeved uniforms and you were left with air. Squatty, square-jawed, tenacious - there was a sour side to this spike-fisted disciplinarian. Yet his heart almost broke when Lou Gehrig became fatally ill.

The war years were tough on McCarthy, and when Larry MacPhail became his boss in 1945, he didn't have the same rapport he had enjoyed with Ed Barrow. On May 24, 1946, McCarthy resigned. He became the Red Sox' manager in 1948 and came within a hair of winning a pennant that year and again in 1949, before retiring for good early in the 1950 season. McCarthy died January 13, 1978 at the age of 90. (MG)

FROM THE BASEBALL CHRONOLOGY » April 22, 1914: At age 19, Babe Ruth's first professional game (as a pitcher) is a 6-hit 6–0 win for Baltimore (International League) over Buffalo. The 2nd batter he faces is Joe McCarthy, the manager he will play for 17 years later with New York. Ruth is 2-for-4. » October 12, 1925: Louisville manager Joe McCarthy (American Association) is named to manage the Chicago Cubs. » September 25, 1930: Joe McCarthy, not receiving the support of Cubs owner William Wrigley, resigns as manager. Rogers Hornsby is named to finish the season. » April 26, 1931: Dusty Cooke, Yankee RF, is hurt diving for a fly ball off the bat of Ossie Bluege of Washington. 1B Gehrig winds up playing the ball, which becomes an inside-the-park HR. With Babe Ruth still sidelined, the shorthanded Yankees send P Red Ruffing to the outfield. The game's most significant play comes with Lyn Lary on base when Lou Gehrig's drive into the CF stands at Washington bounces back and is caught by CF Harry Rice. According to the rules, this is a home run, but when Lary sees Rice catching the ball, he thinks it's the final out of the inning. Unnoticed by Joe McCarthy, coaching at 3B, Lary heads for the dugout after crossing 3B. Gehrig circles the bases. He is called out and gets credit for a triple instead of a HR and loses 2 RBI. As a result Gehrig will end the season tied for the HR title with Babe Ruth and will have "only" 184 RBI. » October 12, 1932: NY Yankees manager Joe McCarthy signs a 3-year contract. » June 14, 1933: At Boston, Lou Gehrig's consecutive-game streak survives, even though he and manager Joe McCarthy are thrown out of a game in the 7th inning for protesting that Boston's Rick Ferrell ran out of the baseline between 1B and 2B. Joe McCarthy is suspended three games but Gehrig's streak, now at 1,249, continues. Gehrig is 1-for-3 with a triple in the 13–5 loss to Tommy Bridges. » June 19, 1936: Joe McCarthy is named to manage the AL All-Stars, rather than the high-strung Mickey Cochrane, who is very close to a nervous breakdown. » August 31, 1936: Yankees manager Joe McCarthy consents to Dixie Walker as a temporary substitute while the White Sox patch up Mike Kreevich, who is spiked on a play. Walker runs for Kreevich but does not replace him in the outfield. » May 26, 1937: Joe McCarthy of the Yankees and Bill Terry of the Giants are named to manage the All-Star teams. Judge Landis announces that the managers, not the fans, will pick the teams, and increases the squads from 21 to 23 players. » August 16, 1939: The Giants suspend 2B Burgess Whitehead, who will show up the next day in full uniform at Yankee Stadium and ask to work out. Yankee manager Joe McCarthy refuses. Whitehead rejoins the Giants a few days later, but he will be suspended again in mid-September after leaving the team. » May 11, 1940: The Red Sox top the Yankees 9–8 with two runs in the bottom of the 11th after New York had taken the lead on Tommy Henrich's 2nd home run of the game. Manager Joe McCarthy benches Frankie Crosetti, hitting .150, but New York (6–8) still loses their 8th in a row at home to drop into last place. Meanwhile, Boston takes their 6th straight. With Crosetti's benching, he ends his consecutive games played at 420, the longest current streak in the majors. » July 10, 1940: Boston Bees OF Max West, a late replacement for Mel Ott, hits a 3-run HR in the first inning to lead the NL to a 4-0 victory over the AL in the All-Star Game at Sportsman's Park. It is the first shutout in All-Star history. Joe Cronin directs the AL when Joe McCarthy steps aside, stating he has "had the honor often enough." » December 17, 1942: The Yankees trade OF Roy Cullenbine and C Buddy Rosar to the Indians for Roy Weatherly and IF Oscar Grimes. With the draft in mind, all four players are married with one child each. As noted by historian Lyle Spatz, Rosar had been in the doghouse with Joe McCarthy for leaving the team without permission the weekend of July 18-19 to take a police examination in Buffalo. The leave-taking prompted the Yankees to sign vet C Rollie Hemsley. » May 9, 1944: Joe McCarthy returns as Yankees manager after missing much of spring training and the early season due to illness. » April 29, 1945: The Yankees split a pair with the Senators, losing the nitecap, 2–1 after winning the lidlifter, 13–4. Russ Derry hits a pair of homers—including his 2nd slam of the season—in the opener, and has Joe McCarthy wondering if he has another Ruth. » May 24, 1946: Co-owner and GM Larry MacPhail fires Joe McCarthy as Yankee manager, and Bill Dickey replaces him. As prove that McCarthy had lost control of his players, MacPhail cites a confrontation between the manager and Joe Page during a May 21st flight from Cleveland to Detroit. McCarthy, whose health is ailing, leaves the team with a 22–13 record. » March 1, 1947: New managers in training camps are Billy Herman with Pittsburgh, Muddy Ruel with the Browns, Bucky Harris with the Yankees, and Johnny Neun at Cincinnati. Neun had ended 1946 as manager of the Yankees after both Joe McCarthy and Bill Dickey had quit. » September 29, 1947: Joe McCarthy, who led the Yankees to 9 pennants, is coaxed out of retirement and signs to manage the Red Sox. Joe Cronin will become general manager of Tom Yawkey's team. » February 26, 1950: The Red Sox sell pitcher Jack Kramer to the Giants for $25,000. Kramer will charge the Sox with railroading him out of the league because of his differences with manager Joe McCarthy. » June 23, 1950: Red Sox manager Joe McCarthy resigns and Steve O'Neill takes over. » July 22, 1950: Red Sox manager "Old Marse" Joe McCarthy leaves the team, citing ill health as the reason. Steve O'Neill replaces him. The Red Sox whip the Browns, 11–2, for their 12th win in 13th meetings with St. Louis. Mickey McDermott pitches the complete game win, pulling the Bosox to within six 1/2 of first-place Detroit. » September 8, 1951: At an Oldtimer's Day at Yankee Stadium, former manager Joe McCarthy is honored. With the game scoreless in the 7th inning, Mickey Mantle belts a Bob Porterfield pitch into the last row of the RF bleachers, some 460 feet away to break the scoreless tie. Ed Lopat shuts out the Senators for 4–0 Yankee win. » February 4, 1957: The BBWAA elects manager Joe McCarthy and Detroit's Wahoo Sam Crawford to the Hall of Fame » October 8, 1958: The Yankees win the WS handily on Moose Skowron's 3-run HR off Lew Burdette in the 8th that puts the game on ice 6-2. Eddie Mathews strikes out for the 11th time, a record that will stand until l980 when broken by Willie Wilson of Kansas City. The Braves' 53 strikeouts are also a new WS record. This is Casey Stengel's 7th championship, tying him with Joe McCarthy for the most Series won.