CLYDE SUKEFORTH: When I first went to Cincinnati, Garry Herrmann was the president. He and Ban Johnson, they were Mr. Baseball, the two of them. [Before Landis.]

The Cardinals began to take over about that time. They were bringing in a raft of good ballplayers.

I first met MacPhail when I was managing minor league clubs for the Dodgers.

I played with both [Charlie] Dressen and [Leo] Durocher at Cincinnati. Charlie was playing third base and Durocher shortstop. Or maybe Hod Ford was playing shortstop when Dressen was playing third base. I played in Cincinnati with Ford and Dressen.

Around '30 or '3l, Bob Meusel and Harry Heilmann joined Cincinnati, well past their primes.

[To "did the prior relationship with Durocher and Dressen matter when you worked with them later?", answer: "No."]

[About the Ralph Branca move in the '51 playoff game.]

Incidentally, that's the first decision I made all year. He would always send the man he wanted in the early part of the game. [Given] was usually the one in the early part of the game. And then, for a couple of years there Casey was the closer and he closed them. He was great. But he [Dressen] would name the two pitchers: "so-and-so up until the 7th inning, this guy from the 7th inning on. Before the game started."

But this day, he'd call up from the seventh inning on: "Who's ready? Who's ready?"

I had the bullpen throwing from the seventh inning on. That was very much his decision.

[Clem Labine had thrown the shutout the day before.] Labine was there. But he wasn't really dressed. He always had to have an ankle taped. He didn't even have his ankle taped. He was there sunning himself in that bullpen.

[On being traded from the Reds to the Dodgers. Did it bother him?]

All in a day's work, I guess.

I was probably flattered. I don't know what -- and [Tony] Cuccinello thought...they were trading Babe Herman, Ernie Lombardi and --- was a pretty good ballplayer...I felt a little bit flattered.

[Al Lopez was already established as the Brooklyn catcher. Sukey was coming over to play behind him.]

He was a right-hand hitter and I was a left-hand hitter. I thought possibly I could get into more games. But that's a year after I got shot. You know about that, of course...

[No.]

I got birdshot in my right eye after the '31 season. I was hunting out in Ohio, got birdshot in my right eye, I've never been able to read print or anything with it since. I don't want it to sound like too much of an alibi, but it sure didn't help me.

The oculists say you have one eye that's a seeing eye and the other eye is a judgment eye. You judge the speed of things.

The accident was in November, right after the baseball season [before Clyde was traded.]

[Did the Reds give the Dodgers damaged goods? Did they know Sukeforth's eye was damaged?]

You know, I got a little suspicious because the night I was traded was the day I wasn't supposed to catch. By Sunday late they had me in the hospital and were treating me with potassium iodide to dissolve the blood clot my eye. I wasn't even supposed to catch.

Howard [the manager] said "can you catch?" and I said, "sure I can catch." I went back to the hotel and they said, "you've been traded."

Along with --- and Cuccinello. We were in Tampa. They were over in Clearwater.

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