By Woodrow Carroll
Frank Lane, Charlie Dressen, and Buddy Parker. Three names from the sporting world that were often mentioned in the 1950s. Each one a study in how not to operate when things were in your favor. At least for the moment!
First up we have Frank Lane. Lane was well established in the world of baseball when he was hired as Chicago White Sox general manager in 1948. A position that was a real challenge, given the White Sox 30-year struggle dating back to the fallout associated with the 1919 Black Sox game-fixing scandal, in which eight members of the White Sox were accused of intentionally losing the 1919 World Series in exchange for payment from a gambling syndicate.
It took a few years, but by 1951 Lane had made a number of trades and acquisitions that brought the likes of Nelson Fox, Billy Pierce, and Minnie Minoso into the Chicago fold. The White Sox finished the 1951 season with a 81-73 record and started a 17-season run of winning seasons. And, in truth Lane’s years with the White Sox were his best.
While it is difficult to prove, Lane’s success in building the White Sox in the early 1950s led to him, making trades that were more attention getting than improving the franchise. In later years with the St. Louis Cardinals and Kansas City Athletics, among others, Lane’s trades and machinations garnered attention for Lane, but produced few long term positives for the club he was involved with.
How well was Lane remembered? Lane died at the age of 86 in a Dallas Nursing Home. Major League commissioner, Bowie Kuhn, asked Bobby Bragan, who had managed in the Majors and knew Lane, to represent MLB at the funeral. Bragan reported back that he was the only prominent baseball figure at the funeral. The man involved in baseball’s daily life was largely alone in his final days.
•We now turn to Charlie Dressen whose claim to fame was his time managing the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1952 and 1953. The Boys of Summer as they came to be known.
Just like Frank Lane, Dressen had a wealth of baseball knowledge. And, managing Brooklyn in the early 1950s was a great job, given you could call on the likes of Gil Hodges, Jackie Robinson, and Duke Snyder, among others.
By guiding the Dodgers to the National League Pennant in 1952 and 1953, Dressen became the first manager in franchise history to win back-to-back pennants.
Plagued with an oversized ego, Dressen held out for a three-year contract as Dodgers’ manager going into the 1954 season. The answer was no, and after his 1953 contract expired, Dressen was out of a job.
Dressen was replaced by Walter Alston. A relative unknown, Alston was more than happy to work with one-year contracts. Alston ended up with 23 of those contracts during his years in Brooklyn (4) and in Los Angeles (19).
Alston was elected baseball’s Hall of Fame while Dressen’s backers are still awaiting the call.
•Buddy Parker shined as coach of the Detroit Lions in the early 1950s. In 1952 and 1953, Parker’s Lions captured the NFL Championship by defeating the Cleveland Browns on each occasion. True, the Browns gained a bit of revenge by mauling Detroit, 56-10, in the 1954 title game. Still, Parker’s place as a great coach seemed to be secure.
If there was a character flaw associated with Parker it was him taking credit for the Lions’ success while letting the players take the blame for Detroit’s lack of success on a number of occasions. And, Parker often hinted at his desire for a multi-year contract.
In Lane, Dressen, and Parker, we have names who stood tall in the early 1950s little remembered today. Names worth recalling for their contributions.