Free Bill James Guide to Baseball Managers, The by Bill James

Fame.
    Of these sixteen managers who began the 1919 season, at least seven had played for Ned Hanlon, and at least three of the others had played for some other manager who had played for Ned Hanlon.
    The managers of 1915–1920 are as impressive a group as you would find in any era of baseball history.

John McGraw in a Box
    Year of Birth:
1873
    Years Managed:
1899, 1901–1932
    Record As a Manager:
2,784–1,959, .587
    Managers for Whom He Played:
Ned Hanlon, Billy Barnie, Patsy Tebeau.
    Characteristics As a Player:
Extremely high on-base percentage. Fast, aggressive, fearless. Quick fielder with quick release, arm not outstanding.
    McGraw’s career on-base percentage, .465, is the third-highest ever among players with 4,000 career at bats, behind only Ted Williams and Babe Ruth. He was a .334 hitter who walked almost once a game.
    WHAT HE BROUGHT TO A BALL CLUB
    Was He an Intense Manager or More of an Easy-to-Get-Along-With Type?
He was very intense. According to Rogers Hornsby in My War With Baseball , “If players thought I was mean they should have spent a little time under John McGraw… He’d fine players for speaking to somebody on the other team. Or being caught with a cigarette. He’d walk up and down the dugout and yell, ‘Wipe those damn smiles off your face.’”
    Was He More of an Emotional Leader or a Decision Maker?
He was both. McGraw was a master of detail. Casey Stengel remembered that McGraw would go over the meal tickets at the team hotel, checking to see what his players were eating. If a player wasn’t eating right, McGraw would talk to him about it.
    According to Hornsby, McGraw had an 11:30 curfew, and somebody would knock on your door every night at exactly 11:30. And you’d better answer.
    Was He More of an Optimist or More of a Problem Solver?
One key thing that McGraw brought to a team was direction and order. An awful lot of what happens on a baseball team is wasted effort due to chaos and disorder. McGraw was such a powerful figure that he organized the world around him by his mere presence. If John McGraw traded for you, you knew why he had traded for you and what he intended for you to do. If you were a young player, you knew what his plans for you were. The rules were well understood. This put his teams ahead of most of the other teams.
    Johnny Evers
    Johnny Evers, the scrappy little leader of the Cubs, was, during the 1913 season, the same bundle of nerves and ginger as of old. He probably carried his aggressiveness even further than he formerly did, because of a healthier and stronger constitution. The Evers who suffered a nervous breakdown in 1911 was not the Evers of 1913. The Trojan declared recently that he did not care much about managing a club from the bench. Said he:
“There is too much fretting about it. I pity men like Clarke and McGraw—this is, if they look at things the way I do when I am not in there working. I would sooner play in a double-header than watch one game from the bench. I tried it once this season. We were playing two games at St. Louis. I did not play in the first game, in which Cheney had a tough battle with Sallee, beating him eventually, 2 to 1. I was all worn out when it was over and made up my mind that there would be no bench managing for mine as long as I was able to kick in and play myself. I played in the second game, and it went 10 innings and proved a much more uncertain battle. But I enjoyed it and pulled through it much better. Watching a game from the bench is tiresome, and I don’t know how some of them do it. I believe that Fred Clarke often pines for the days when he was in there himself instead of sitting on the bench and pulling for others.”
    —1914 Reach Guide
    HOW HE USED HIS PERSONNEL
    Did He Favor a Set Lineup or a Rotation System?
A set lineup, with the exception noted below. McGraw used his bench players less than the typical major league manager during his time, but in more well-defined roles.
    Did He Like to