1930: The year Shawkey managed Ruth and Gehrig

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The New York Yankees needed a manager.

Beloved skipper Miller Huggins, who endured the hardships and many trials and tribulations of dealing with troublesome Babe Ruth and a rowdy roster at the beginning of the decade, was in firm control as manager of baseball’s most powerful franchise in 1929.

But he was sick and by Sept. 25, Huggins died due to complications from an infection of a carbuncle, or large boil, on his face.

The Yankees were in second place and eliminated from the American League pennant race by the Philadelphia A’s, who were on their way to the first of three straight World Series appearances, when they were set to play the Boston Red Sox. Coach Art Fletcher finished out the season as interim manager.

Fletcher didn’t want the job moving forward. Yankees management, owner Colonel Jacob Ruppert and general manager Ed Barrow, went searching for Huggins’ replacement. A couple of former players, Donie Bush and future Hall of Famer Eddie Collins, turned down offers.

Continue Reading on The Courier Express

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