RetroSimba

Gussie Busch made a handshake agreement to hire Leo Durocher to manage the Cardinals, lied about it to the public and reneged on the commitment.

Busch’s mishandling of the Durocher deal was one of several missteps made by the meddling Cardinals owner during the 1964 season.

Despite Busch’s bumbling, the Cardinals rallied to win the National League pennant on the last day of the regular season and went on to clinch a World Series title against the Yankees.

Holy cow!

On Aug. 17, 1964, the Cardinals were nine games out of first place when Busch, figuring there was no hope for a pennant, fired general manager Bing Devine and replaced him with Bob Howsam, a colleague of consultant Branch Rickey.

Busch wanted to fire manager Johnny Keane, too, but decided to wait until after the season.

On Aug. 29, 1964, before a Saturday game between the Dodgers and Cardinals at St. Louis, Durocher was interviewed by broadcaster Harry Caray. Durocher, a shortstop for the Cardinals’ Gashouse Gang clubs in the 1930s before becoming a manager and leading the Dodgers (1941) and Giants (1951 and 1954) to pennants, was in his fourth season as a Dodgers coach in 1964 and Caray asked him whether he wanted to manage again.

If an offer was made, Durocher replied, “I just know I would accept if it was a good ballclub.”

Busch was listening and liked what he heard. He contacted Caray and told him he wanted to meet with Durocher the next morning. Caray called Durocher at his hotel room that night and said he’d drive Durocher to Busch’s estate in the morning.

In his book “Nice Guys Finish Last,” Durocher said, “Harry was going to pick me up at 8 in the morning, not in front of the hotel but two blocks down on Lindell Boulevard where nobody would see us.”

It’s a deal

On Aug. 30, 1964, Caray took Durocher to Busch’s home and waited in the car as Durocher went inside. Busch and Durocher had breakfast before going into an office where they talked for about an hour. According to Durocher, Busch stuck out his hand and said, “You’re the manager of the ballclub. Don’t worry about the salary.”

Durocher returned to the car and told Caray what happened. “Harry was simply overjoyed,” Durocher said.

When the Dodgers got back to Los Angeles, Durocher informed club owner Walter O’Malley about his talk with Busch. O’Malley already knew, Durocher said, because Busch had phoned him. Durocher and O’Malley agreed Durocher would resign near the end of the season, clearing the way for the Cardinals to hire him.

Left hanging

On Sept. 22, 1964, three weeks after Busch and Durocher met, Milt Richman of United Press International reported Keane would be fired within two weeks and Durocher “most likely will succeed him.”

“The decision to fire Keane was reached some time ago” by Busch “who conferred with Durocher the last time the Dodgers were in St. Louis,” Richman reported.

Contacted by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Busch said he had “great admiration for Durocher,” but denied he had met with him.

Durocher told United Press International, “I haven’t approached anybody and nobody has approached me.”

Asked about Keane’s performance as manager, Busch declined comment.

Busch “left Johnny Keane hanging by his thumbs,” the Post-Dispatch concluded.

On the day Richman broke the story, the Cardinals, in New York to play the Mets, were six games behind the first-place Phillies. It later was learned Keane met that day with a “trusted emissary” for the Yankees about the club’s managerial job, according to the Associated Press. The Yankees planned to fire manager Yogi Berra after the season and contacted Busch to get permission to talk to Keane. Busch gave his approval, but soon came to regret it.

The plot thickens

On Oct. 1, 1964, Dodgers general manager Buzzie Bavasi announced Durocher would not return as coach “at his own request.”

Asked whether he was going to become Cardinals manager, Durocher told the Los Angeles Times, “My hands are tied. I just can’t say.” Bavasi said Durocher asked for his release so he could negotiate for a managerial job and he got the impression the Cardinals were the club.

Durocher’s timing was terrible because the Cardinals had surged while the Phillies had faltered. From Sept. 24 to Oct. 1, the Cardinals won eight in a row and moved into first place with three games remaining.

On Oct. 2, 1964, the day after Durocher resigned, Busch met Keane in the clubhouse and offered him a contract extension, but Keane said he preferred to wait until after the season to discuss an offer, the Post-Dispatch reported.

On Oct. 4, 1964, after the Cardinals clinched the pennant that day, Busch approached Keane at the team party and offered him “whatever you want,” but Keane said he wouldn’t talk terms until after the World Series.

October surprise

Busch’s attempts to sign Keane put Durocher in limbo. Durocher expected “to accept Busch’s offer to manage the Cardinals next season but when Leo pounced the cupboard was bare,” the Post-Dispatch reported.

On Oct. 9, 1964, the New York Journal-American reported Busch offered Durocher $100,000 to forget about their agreement. Durocher denied getting any payoff from Busch.

The Cardinals clinched the World Series title on Oct. 15, 1964. Busch scheduled a news conference for the next morning with the intention of announcing a contract extension for Keane, but when Keane arrived at the gathering he handed Busch a resignation letter. Keane cited Busch’s firing of Devine and flirtation with Durocher among the reasons for his decision.

A few hours later, the Yankees fired Berra.

With Keane’s departure, Busch could have hired Durocher, but he feared a backlash from a fan base who blamed the two conspirators for driving out Keane. “Although Durocher has the qualifications and credentials to do the job on the field, indications are that public pressure might make this choice unwise for the ballclub _ and the (Anheuser-Busch) brewery,” the Post-Dispatch reported.

Thanks, Leo

Busch called Durocher and “right from the beginning I didn’t like the way the conversation was going,” Durocher said. “All hemming and hawing and not a word about managing his ballclub.”

“I could understand the fix he was in,” Durocher said. “He had become the laughingstock of the country.”

Durocher also understood the public perceived he and Busch as having acted underhandedly.

As Busch dawdled, Durocher said to him, “Apparently what you’re trying to tell me is you can’t make me manager of your ballclub. Is that what you’re trying to tell me?”

“Yeah,” said Busch, “in sort of a way.”

“It’s perfectly all right,” Durocher responded. “Forget the handshake. Forget you gave me the job.”

Busch replied, “Thanks very much, Leo. I knew you’d understand the predicament I was in” and hung up.

“There I sat, with the telephone in my hand,” Durocher said.

On Oct. 20, 1964, the Cardinals named coach Red Schoendienst to be the manager and the Yankees hired Keane to replace Berra.

Durocher worked in broadcasting for a year before becoming manager of the Cubs in 1966.