George Tweedy Stallings (November 17, 1867 – May 13, 1929) was an American professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

catcher Catcher is a position in baseball and softball. When a batter takes their turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the (home) umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. In addition to this primary duty, the catc ...

and

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

. He played in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

for the Brooklyn Bridegrooms and

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. The Phillies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East Division. Since 2004, the team's home stadium has ...

in 1890 and 1897 to 1898 and managed the Phillies,

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. One of the AL's eight chart ...

New York Highlanders The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East Division. They are one ...

, and

Boston Braves The Boston Braves were a Major League Baseball club that originated in Boston, Boston, Massachusetts, and played from 1871 to 1952. Afterwards they moved to History of the Atlanta Braves#Milwaukee, Milwaukee (and became the Milwaukee Braves). ...

between 1897 and 1920. Stallings led the 1914 Boston Braves from last place in mid-July to the

National League National League often refers to: *National League (baseball), one of the two baseball leagues constituting Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada *National League (division), the fifth division of the English football (soccer) system ...

championship and a

World Series The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB). It has been contested since between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winning team, determined through a best- ...

sweep of the powerful

Philadelphia Athletics The Philadelphia Athletics were a Major League Baseball team that played in Philadelphia from 1901 to 1954, when they moved to Kansas City, Missouri, and became the Kansas City Athletics. Following another move in 1967, they became the Oakland ...

– 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 Augusta is a city on the central eastern border of the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. The city lies directly across the Savannah River from North Augusta, South Carolina at the head of its navigable portion. Augusta, the third mos ...

. Stallings graduated from the

Virginia Military Institute The Virginia Military Institute (VMI) is a public senior military college in Lexington, Virginia, United States. It was founded in 1839 as America's first state military college and is the oldest public senior military college in the U.S. In k ...

in 1886. He entered medical school, but was instead offered a contract by

Harry Wright William Henry "Harry" Wright (January 10, 1835 – October 3, 1895) was an American professional baseball player, manager (baseball), manager, and developer. He assembled, managed, and played Center fielder, center field for baseball's first fu ...

, manager of the

. He was cut in spring training. Stallings was a mediocre player: he appeared in only seven major league games as a

first baseman A first baseman, abbreviated 1B, is the player on a baseball or softball team who fields the area nearest first base, the first of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. The first baseman is responsible for the majori ...

and

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to catch ...

with

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

(1890) and the Phillies (1897–98) and had only two

hits Hits or H.I.T.S. may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * '' H.I.T.S.'', 1991 album by New Kids on the Block * ''...Hits'' (Phil Collins album), 1998 * ''Hits'' (compilation series), 1984–2006; 2014, a British compilation album s ...

in 20

at-bat In baseball, an at bat (AB) or time at bat is a batter's turn batting against a pitcher. An at bat is different from a plate appearance. A batter is credited with a plate appearance regardless of what happens upon completion of his turn at bat, b ...

s, 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 The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is the younger of two sports leagues, leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western L ...

with the

(1901) and

(1909–10). In the minor leagues, he managed the 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

. 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 games from the frontrunning

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The ...

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 George William James (born October 5, 1949) is an American baseball writer, historian, and statistician whose work has been widely influential. Since 1977, James has written more than two dozen books about baseball history and statistics. His a ...

(who each won 26 games), the Braves won 52 of their final 66 contests to overtake the other seven National League teams and finish games in front of the second-place Giants. They then defeated the heavily favored

in four straight games to earn the nickname "Miracle Braves.""Down To The Wire; Six Greatest Stretch Runs For The Pennant"
by George Vass, ''Baseball Digest'', Sep 2001, Vol. 60, No. 9, George Tweedy 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.

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 Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

, 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 Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

. In 1928, his partnership with Montreal lawyer and politician

Athanase David Louis-Athanase David (June 24, 1882 – January 26, 1953) was a Canadian lawyer, politician, and businessman. He was a cabinet minister in the Provincial Parliament of Quebec, representing the riding of Terrebonne and serving as Provincial Secret ...

and businessman

Ernest Savard J. S. Ernest Savard (April 17, 1896 – March 12, 1971) was a Canadian businessman. He was a stockbroker and a partner at the brokerage firm of Savard & Hart in Montreal, Quebec. He was also an owner of the Montreal Canadiens and Montreal Royals s ...

resurrected the

Montreal Royals The Montreal Royals were a minor league professional baseball team in Montreal, Quebec, during 1897–1917 and 1928–1960. A member of the International League, the Royals were the top farm club ( Class AAA) of the Brooklyn Dodgers from 1939; pi ...

as part of the

International League The International League (IL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the United States. Along with the Pacific Coast League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A level, which is one grade below Major ...

. 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 Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is any disease involving the heart or blood vessels. CVDs constitute a class of diseases that includes: coronary artery diseases (e.g. angina pectoris, angina, myocardial infarction, heart attack), heart failure, ...

. According to legend, when asked by his physician why he had a bad heart, Stallings replied, "

Bases on balls A base on balls (BB), better known as a walk, occurs in baseball when a batter receives four pitches during a plate appearance that the umpire calls '' balls'', and is in turn awarded first base without the possibility of being called out. The bas ...

, doc ... those damned bases on balls." He was buried in Riverside Cemetery in

Macon, Georgia Macon ( ), officially Macon–Bibb County, is a consolidated city-county in Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, United States. Situated near the Atlantic Seaboard fall line, fall line of the Ocmulgee River, it is southeast of Atlanta and near the ...

Managerial record

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Stallings, George 1867 births 1929 deaths Brooklyn Bridegrooms players Philadelphia Phillies players Baseball managers Major League Baseball player-managers 19th-century baseball players 19th-century American sportsmen Philadelphia Phillies managers Detroit Tigers managers New York Highlanders managers Boston Braves managers American vaudeville performers Baseball players from Atlanta People from Jones County, Georgia Toronto Canucks players Birmingham Ironmakers players Galveston Giants players Oakland Colonels players Toledo Black Pirates players San Jose Dukes players Augusta Electricians players Kansas City Cowboys (minor league) players Nashville Tigers players Nashville Seraphs players Detroit Tigers (Western League) players Montreal Royals managers Mercer Bears baseball coaches Mercer Bears football coaches Virginia Military Institute alumni Stal Baseball players from Macon, Georgia

Playing career

Managerial career

Managerial record

See also

References

External links