George Stallings

Template:Short description Template:Short description George Tweedy Stallings (November 17, 1867 – May 13, 1929) was an American professional baseball catcher and manager. He played in Major League Baseball for the Brooklyn Bridegrooms and Philadelphia Phillies in 1890 and 1897 to 1898 and managed the Phillies, Detroit Tigers, New York Highlanders, and Boston Braves between 1897 and 1920.

Stallings led the 1914 Boston Braves from last place in mid-July to the National League championship and a World Series sweep of the powerful Philadelphia Athletics – resulted in a nickname he would bear for the rest of his life: "The Miracle Man."

Playing career

Stallings was born on November 17, 1867, in Augusta, Georgia. Stallings graduated from the Virginia Military Institute in 1886. He entered medical school, but was instead offered a contract by Harry Wright, manager of the Philadelphia Phillies. He was cut in spring training. Stallings was a mediocre player: he appeared in only seven major league games as a catcher, first baseman and outfielder with Brooklyn (1890) and the Phillies (1897–98) and had only two hits in 20 at-bats, hitting a weak .100.

Managerial career

As a manager, he had a mixed major league resume prior to 1914: a poor record with the Phillies (1897–98), then mild successes in the American League with the Detroit Tigers (1901) and New York Highlanders (1909–10). In the minor leagues, he managed the 1895 Nashville Seraphs to win the Southern League pennant; he also played an infield position on the team. He also managed Detroit before it became a major league team in part of 1896 and from the end of 1898 through its becoming a charter member of the American League. He was also part-owner of the Tigers during their first season as a major league team.

Named manager of the last-place Braves after the 1912 season, Stallings raised Boston to fifth place in the NL in his first season, 1913, but the Braves were sunk at the bottom of the eight-team league and 11+1⁄2 games from the frontrunning New York Giants on July 15, 1914, when they began their meteoric rise. With Stallings expertly handling a roster of light hitters (Boston hit only .251 as a team) and relying on pitchers Dick Rudolph and Bill James (who each won 26 games), the Braves won 52 of their final 66 contests to overtake the other seven National League teams and finish 10+1⁄2 games in front of the second-place Giants. They then defeated the heavily favored Philadelphia Athletics in four straight games to earn the nickname "Miracle Braves."

File:George Tweedy Stallings in 1914.jpg

Stallings in 1914

Stallings is credited with being the first manager to use platooning to good effect. It was not strictly left/right hand platooning (there were then relatively few southpaw pitchers), but he did change his lineup significantly when the Braves played a team starting a left-handed pitcher. Bill James credits him with being the first major league manager to use platooning as a weapon, rather than to cover a hitter's weaknesses.

The 1914 championship was the only World Series title earned by the Braves during their tenure in Boston, which lasted through March 1953. It also was Stallings’ first and only big league championship. He managed the Braves through 1920, but posted no winning season after 1916. His career major league managing record was 879 wins, 898 losses (.495) over 13 years.

Stallings was responsible for bringing professional baseball back to the city of Montreal, Quebec. In 1928, his partnership with Montreal lawyer and politician Athanase David and businessman Ernest Savard resurrected the Montreal Royals as part of the International League. They built the modern new Delorimier Stadium in downtown Montreal.

Stallings was famous for his superstitions, and for his nervousness on the bench. He has been described as both "distinguished" and salty-tongued. He died in Haddock, Georgia at age 61 of heart disease. According to legend, when asked by his physician why he had a bad heart, Stallings replied, "Bases on balls, doc ... those damned bases on balls." He was buried in Riverside Cemetery in Macon, Georgia.

Managerial record

Team	Year	Regular season					Postseason
		Games	Won	Lost	Win %	Finish	Won	Lost	Win %	Result
PHI	1897	134	Template:WinLossPct	10th in NL	–	–	–	–
PHI	1898	46	Template:WinLossPct	fired	–	–	–	–
PHI total		178	Template:WinLossPct		Template:WinLossPct
DET	1901	135	Template:WinLossPct	3rd in AL	–	–	–	–
DET total		135	Template:WinLossPct		Template:WinLossPct
NYH	1909	151	Template:WinLossPct	5th in AL	–	–	–	–
NYH	1910	137	Template:WinLossPct	fired	–	–	–	–
NYH total		288	Template:WinLossPct		Template:WinLossPct
BOB	1913	151	Template:WinLossPct	5th in NL	–	–	–	–
BOB	1914	153	Template:WinLossPct	1st in NL	Template:WinLossPct	Won World Series (PHA)
BOB	1915	152	Template:WinLossPct	2nd in NL	–	–	–	–
BOB	1916	152	Template:WinLossPct	3rd in NL	–	–	–	–
BOB	1917	153	Template:WinLossPct	6th in NL	–	–	–	–
BOB	1918	124	Template:WinLossPct	7th in NL	–	–	–	–
BOB	1919	139	Template:WinLossPct	6th in NL	–	–	–	–
BOB	1920	152	Template:WinLossPct	7th in NL	–	–	–	–
BOB total		1176	Template:WinLossPct		Template:WinLossPct
Total		1777	Template:WinLossPct		Template:WinLossPct

See also

• List of Major League Baseball player–managers

External links

• Career statistics from
• Template:PAGENAMEBASE managerial career statistics at Baseball-Reference.comTemplate:EditAtWikidata
• Template:First word Template:PAGENAMEBASE at Find a GraveTemplate:EditAtWikidata