American baseball player and manager
Baseball player
Marty Marion
|
---|
Marion in about 1953
|
Shortstop
/
Manager
|
Born:
(
1917-12-01
)
December 1, 1917
Richburg, South Carolina
, U.S.
|
Died:
March 15, 2011
(2011-03-15)
(aged 93)
Ladue, Missouri
, U.S.
|
Batted:
Right
Threw:
Right
|
|
April 16, 1940, for the St. Louis Cardinals
|
|
July 6, 1953, for the St. Louis Browns
|
|
Batting average
| .263
|
---|
Home runs
| 36
|
---|
Runs batted in
| 624
|
---|
Managerial record
| 356?372
|
---|
Winning %
| .489
|
---|
|
---|
|
As player
As manager
|
|
|
Martin Whiteford
"
Mr. Shortstop
"
Marion
(December 1, 1917 ? March 15, 2011) was an American
Major League Baseball
shortstop
and
manager
. Marion played for the
St. Louis Cardinals
and the
St. Louis Browns
between 1940 and 1953. He was a defensive stalwart of the Cardinals' dynasty in the 1940s, which saw them win three
World Series
in a five year span, and was named the
National League
Most Valuable Player
in 1944, the first shortstop in the history of the National League to win the award.
[1]
Marion managed the Cardinals in 1951, the Browns from June 10, 1952, through 1953, and the
Chicago White Sox
from September 14, 1954 through 1956. During his career, he batted and threw right-handed, stood 6 feet 2 inches (1.88 m) tall and weighed 170 pounds (77 kg).
Baseball career
[
edit
]
Marion was born in
Richburg, South Carolina
. He grew up in
Atlanta
, where he attended Tech High School and played baseball for the
Georgia Tech
Yellow Jackets
.
[2]
[3]
His older brother,
Red Marion
, was briefly an
outfielder
in the
American League
and a long-time manager in the
minor leagues
. Nicknamed "Slats", Marion had unusually long arms which reached for
grounders
like tentacles, prompting
sportswriters
to call him "The Octopus". A childhood leg injury deferred him from military service in
World War II
.
[4]
From 1940 to 1950, Marion led the
National League
shortstops in
fielding percentage
four times, despite several other players being moved around the infield during these years. In 1941 he played all 154 games at shortstop (also a league-high) and in 1947 he made only 15 errors for a consistent .981 percentage.
Marion was also a better-than-average hitter for a shortstop. His most productive season came in 1942, when he hit .276 with a league-leading 38
doubles
. In the
1942 World Series
, one of four series in which he participated with the Cardinals, he helped his team to a World Championship. In 1943 he batted a career-high .280 in the regular season and hit .357 in the
1943 World Series
.
He played with many second basemen throughout his career, including
Frank "Creepy" Crespi
. Marion commented after the 1941 season that Crespi's play was the best he ever saw by a second baseman. Crespi once took on
Joe Medwick
on the field (during a game) when he was trying to intimidate Marion. They remained friends until Crespi's death in 1990.
[
citation needed
]
Marion's playing career was interrupted in 1951 by knee and back injuries.
[2]
That season, he succeeded
Eddie Dyer
as manager of the Cardinals, leading them to an 80?73
record
and a third place finish, but was replaced by
Eddie Stanky
at the end of 1951. He then moved to the
American League
Browns as a player-coach, and took the reins from
Rogers Hornsby
on June 10, 1952, as their player-manager. The last pilot in St. Louis Browns history, he was let go after the 1953 season when the Browns moved to Baltimore as the
Orioles
. He then signed as a
coach
for the White Sox for the 1954 campaign and was promoted to manager that September, when skipper
Paul Richards
left Chicago to take on the dual jobs of field manager and
general manager
in Baltimore. Marion led the White Sox for two-plus seasons, finishing third in the American League each time, before he stepped down at the end of 1956.
In 1958, Marion purchased the
Double-A
minor league
Houston Buffaloes
from the Cardinals, and successfully moved the team to the
Triple-A
level under the
Chicago Cubs
farm system.
[5]
He later sold the team to a group led by William Hopkins on August 16, 1960.
[6]
Hopkins then sold the team to the Houston Sports Association led by
Roy Hofheinz
who had obtained a major league franchise in the
National League
which became the
Houston Astros
.
[7]
Career statistics
[
edit
]
In a 13-season career, Marion posted a .263
batting average
with 36
home runs
and 624
RBI
in 1572
games
. His career
fielding percentage
was .969. He made
All-Star Game
appearances from 1943 to 1944 and 1946?1950 (There was no All-Star Game in 1945). In 1944, he earned the National League
Most Valuable Player Award
. As a manager, he compiled a 356?372 record.
Managerial record
[
edit
]
Team
|
Year
|
Regular season
|
Postseason
|
Games
|
Won
|
Lost
|
Win %
|
Finish
|
Won
|
Lost
|
Win %
|
Result
|
STL
|
1951
|
154
|
81
|
73
|
.526
|
3rd in NL
|
?
|
?
|
?
|
?
|
STL total
|
154
|
81
|
73
|
.526
|
|
0
|
0
|
?
|
|
SLB
|
1952
|
103
|
42
|
61
|
.408
|
7th in AL
|
?
|
?
|
?
|
?
|
SLB
|
1953
|
154
|
54
|
100
|
.351
|
8th in AL
|
?
|
?
|
?
|
?
|
SLB total
|
257
|
96
|
161
|
.374
|
|
0
|
0
|
?
|
|
CWS
|
1954
|
9
|
3
|
6
|
.333
|
3rd in AL
|
?
|
?
|
?
|
?
|
CWS
|
1955
|
154
|
91
|
63
|
.591
|
3rd in AL
|
?
|
?
|
?
|
?
|
CWS
|
1956
|
154
|
85
|
69
|
.552
|
3rd in AL
|
?
|
?
|
?
|
?
|
CWS total
|
317
|
179
|
138
|
.565
|
|
0
|
0
|
?
|
|
Total
|
728
|
356
|
372
|
.489
|
|
0
|
0
|
?
|
|
Attempt at Purchasing NBA Team
[
edit
]
In 1957, Marion and business partner Milton Fischman attempted to buy the
Minneapolis Lakers
of the
National Basketball Association
from owners
Ben Berger
and
Morris Chalfen
with the intention to move the team to
Kansas City, Missouri
. Instead, Berger and Chalfen sold the team to
Bob Short
, who moved the team to
Los Angeles
.
Death
[
edit
]
Marion died of an apparent heart attack on March 15, 2011, at the age of 93. He lived in
Ladue, Missouri
.
[8]
[9]
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
Great Baseball Feats, Facts and Figures, 2008 Edition, p. 152, David Nemec and Scott Flatow, A Signet Book, Penguin Group, New York, NY,
ISBN
978-0-451-22363-0
- ^
a
b
Goldstein, Richard (17 March 2011).
"Marty Marion, Cardinals's Slick-Fielding Shortstop, Dies at 93"
.
New York Times
. Retrieved
11 August
2014
.
- ^
Asher, Gene (May 2009).
"School of Champions"
.
GeorgiaTrend
. GeorgiaTrend
. Retrieved
11 August
2014
.
- ^
Francis, Bill.
"Marty Marion ? No Shortage of Talent"
.
National Baseball Hall of Fame
. Cogapp
. Retrieved
24 April
2018
.
- ^
"Marion Gets Lumps as Front Office Man"
.
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
. 1960-03-22
. Retrieved
2013-03-25
.
- ^
"Buffs President Marion Sells Stock, Bows Out"
.
St. Petersburg Times
. August 17, 1960. p. 3-C.
- ^
"Houston Will Get Emphasis, Paul Declares"
.
Observer?Reporter
. 1961-01-19
. Retrieved
2013-03-25
.
- ^
"
'Mr. Shortstop' Marty Marion dies"
.
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
. March 17, 2011.
- ^
"Marty Marion dies; shortstop was MVP with '44 Cards"
.
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
. March 16, 2011.
External links
[
edit
]