Sunday, September 9, 2012

no. 91 - bob lemon


Who is the man: Bob Lemon was entering his first full season as Royals manager in 1971 after taking over for Charlie Metro during the 1970 season.

Can ya dig it: Some nice foreshadowing in this photo as Lemon would go on to two separate stints of managing for the Yankees in Yankee Stadium.

Right on: I remember Lemon during his glasses days with the White Sox and the Yankees. It's odd to see him without them.

You see this cat Lemon is a bad mother: Lemon made it to the World Series four times, twice as a player and twice as a manager. He's also one of the few former pitchers to have notable success as a manager in the last 50 years.

Shut your mouth: Lemon's managerial style was adopted from manager Al Lopez. Lemon's biggest attribute was his low-key nature. He didn't say much and didn't hound his players. Speaking about Yankees manager Billy Martin, who he replaced in 1978, he said "Where maybe I keep things inside, he lets them come out."

No one understands him but his woman: Lemon led the Royals to their first winning season in 1971. But after a below-.500 season in 1972, owner Ewing Kauffman fired Lemon, saying he wanted someone younger.


(A word about the back): If that's not the exact same photo as the one that's on the front, it's one click of the shutter away.

2 comments:

  1. Anytime (in a pre free agent world) a manager can get 85 wins with a third year expansion club AND a 26 game turnaround in 1977 he must be good.
    This is probably why he was snapped up by NY in only 28 days from being let go with ChiWS.

    ReplyDelete