[Did you go directly from playing to minor league management?]

CLYDE SUKEFORTH: Well, they offered me a job managing. After the '34 season they optioned me to Toledo, and I decided that I wasn't going out in the ????? American Association for the kind of money that they'd offered me. I could make as much playing semi-pro ball around here as Toledo had offered me.

I played semi-pro ball around the state here in '35, and of course Brooklyn hasn't released me. In the winter of '35, they wanted to know if I'd be interested in managing one of their farm clubs.

[So you played for Brooklyn in '34 and semi-pro in '35?]

Still, the Brooklyn club had my contract. Then they asked me if I wanted to get back into pro ball if they gave me a minor league club to manage. And I took it, down in Carolina, the Tri-State League. This was "D". That was the lowest. It went D, C, B, and Double A, and Triple A. That was the classifications back in those days.

The next year I was at Clinton, Iowa in the Three-I League, and the next year, the next two years, I was in Elmira in the Eastern League. And then I had three years with the Montreal club, '40, '41, and '42. Then Mr. [Branch] Rickey took over in Brooklyn.

[Larry MacPhail had been running the Dodgers. Did you report directly to him?]

Oh, they usually had more of a business man, I would think, or maybe a farm director or somebody.

[Who called you in '35?]

I still can't think of that guy's name. He was only there one year. The fellow was in charge of the Brooklyn minor league system, and I can't think of his name to save me.

[He thought you would be helpful with young ballplayers?]

Somebody must have thought so. I don't know.

I told him that I didn't have much business dealings with MacPhail. Let's see. MacPhail didn't come back until, he didn't take over the Brooklyn club until along there, '38 or later possibly. He got me the Montreal job. He recommended me for that.

[Wasn't it just his decision?]

You know, I was still working for the club all the while, except that I was under contract with them. They didn't have to go out and get a stranger.

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