Gene Mauch, who drew comparisons with Eddie Stanky, got to play for him a brief while with the Cardinals.
On March 26, 1952, the Cardinals claimed Mauch for $10,000 after he was placed on waivers by the Yankees.
Mauch began the 1952 season with the Cardinals as a utility infielder but was released in May. A few months later, he began a more prominent career as a manager.
The Natural
The Dodgers signed Mauch, 17, in 1943 out of Fremont High School in Los Angeles.
A year later, at the Dodgers’ wartime spring training camp at Bear Mountain, N.Y., Mauch, 18, impressed manager Leo Durocher and earned the shortstop job.
“He’s a natural,” Durocher, the former Cardinals shortstop, told the Brooklyn Daily Eagle. “He does everything right by instinct.”
Pee Wee Reese, who took over for Durocher as Dodgers shortstop in 1940, was in military service in 1944, opening an opportunity for Mauch. “Durocher regards Mauch as a better shortstop prospect than Reese was at Mauch’s age,” the Brooklyn Daily Eagle reported.
On April 18, 1944, Mauch was the Dodgers’ Opening Day shortstop against the Phillies. Boxscore
Joining Mauch in the infield were first baseman Howie Schultz, a 6-foot-6 basketball player; second baseman Luis Olmo, an outfielder; and third baseman Gil English, a utilityman appearing in a big-league game for the first time in six years. English was an upgrade from Dixie Walker, an outfielder who flopped in a tryout at third base in spring training.
Years later, Mauch told the Atlanta Constitution, “It must have been the worst infield of all time.”
Mauch started the Dodgers’ first five games, made no errors but hit .133 and was returned to the minors. In May 1944, Mauch entered the Army Air Corps and served until the spring of 1946.
On the move
When Mauch resumed his baseball career, he embarked on an odyssey as a utility player with the Dodgers, Pirates, Cubs and Braves.
Atlanta Constitution columnist Furman Bisher told the story of the time the Braves’ bus got stuck under a low overpass on the way to a game. The embarrassed driver was unsure what to do. Mauch suggested he let the air out of the tires and back out. The driver did.
Mauch spent most of the 1951 season with the Braves’ Class AAA team in Milwaukee, hitting .303 and posting a .445 on-base percentage. Milwaukee manager Charlie Grimm told The Sporting News, “Every big-league scout I have talked with this season tells me Mauch is good enough to be the regular shortstop on almost any big-time club except the Yankees and Dodgers.”
Naturally, it was the Yankees who took Mauch in the Rule 5 draft in November 1951. Looking to be the backup to shortstop Phil Rizzuto, Mauch batted .077 in spring training.
The Cardinals, in Eddie Stanky’s first season as manager, were seeking a reserve infielder to replace Stan Rojek. They claimed Mauch on waivers from the Yankees near the end of spring training at St. Petersburg, Fla., where both clubs trained.
On their way from Florida to St. Louis to open the 1952 season, the Cardinals played a series of exhibition games. At Lynchburg, Va., on April 9, Mauch drove in the winning run against the Phillies.
Mauch, 26, made his Cardinals regular-season debut on April 17 when he was sent to run for Steve Bilko. Boxscore
Pinch-running became Mauch’s primary role with the Cardinals. He appeared in seven games, four as a pinch-runner, two as a substitute shortstop and one as a pinch-hitter. In four plate appearances for the Cardinals, he had no hits and a walk. In two fielding chances at shortstop, he made one putout and one error.
In May 1952, the Cardinals acquired Virgil Stallcup from the Reds to be their backup shortstop and asked waivers on Mauch.
Chance to lead
According to the Associated Press, the Cardinals were planning to send Mauch to one of their minor-league teams, Rochester or Columbus, if no one claimed him, but the Braves did. Mauch spent the rest of the 1952 season with the Braves’ farm club in Milwaukee and hit .324.
After the season, Mauch’s former Dodgers teammate, Dixie Walker, left his job as manager of the minor-league Atlanta Crackers, a Braves farm team in the Class AA Southern Association, to become a Cardinals coach on Stanky’s staff.
Crackers owner Earl Mann sought a player-manager to replace Walker. While attending the 1952 World Series between the Dodgers and Yankees in New York, Mann met with Braves general manager John Quinn, who recommended Mauch.
According to the Atlanta Constitution, Quinn labeled Mauch an Eddie Stanky-type.
“He’s always thinking on the field, talks baseball all the time, and is one of the sharpest young students of baseball in the game,” Quinn said. “I feel confident that Mauch is ready to take a shot as a manager in double-A ball.”
Mann called Mauch at home in Los Angeles, invited him to Atlanta for an interview and hired him. “That’s where my future is in baseball _ managing,” Mauch told the Atlanta Constitution.
Mann said, “He has everything I’ve been looking for in a manager: youth, aggressiveness, personality.”
Told Mauch was described as a Stanky-type, Eddie Stanky replied to the Atlanta Constitution, “I’m not sure that’s an asset, but I’m sure you’ve got a good man. I can vouch for him as a student of baseball.”
Making his mark
Mauch had no connection to Atlanta or the South, so he arrived as a mystery man to Crackers fans. Columnist Furman Bisher wrote, “The selection of Mauch exploded on Atlanta with much the same surprising effect as if the Prohibition candidate had won the presidency.”
It didn’t take long for him to get noticed. Mauch, 27, led the 1953 Crackers to an 84-70 record. One of his top players was outfielder Chuck Tanner, who, like Mauch, became a successful big-league manager.
According to the Atlanta Constitution, Mann invited Mauch to return in 1954, but Mauch declined. “We may have had some success on paper, but I wasn’t satisfied because I didn’t think I measured up to what I thought I should as a manager,” Mauch told the Philadelphia Inquirer.
The Crackers sent Mauch to the Pacific Coast League’s Los Angeles Angels, a Cubs farm team, and he resumed playing. He returned to the majors as a Red Sox utility player in 1956 and 1957, then went back to managing. He managed the Red Sox’s farm team at Minneapolis in 1958 and 1959.
In 1960, Mauch was 34 when he got his first job managing in the majors with the Phillies. The man who hired him, general manager John Quinn, was the one who recommended Mauch for the Atlanta job when Quinn was with the Braves.
A smart instigator, Mauch turned out to be a lot like Stanky. Mauch managed in the big leagues for 26 seasons with the Phillies, Expos, Twins and Angels but never won a pennant.
Throughout his playing career, Mauch had several managers who either had played for or managed the Cardinals. Those influencers included Leo Durocher (1944 Dodgers), Ray Blades (1946 St. Paul), Jimmy Brown (1947 Indianapolis), Frankie Frisch (1949 Cubs), Billy Southworth (1950 Braves) and Eddie Stanky (1952 Cardinals).
In 1980, when Whitey Herzog became Cardinals general manager, he tried to hire Mauch to manage the Cardinals, but was turned down.
RetroSimba 
Hey Mark. I like that Mauch became a manager and then returned to playing before settling in as a skipper for the rest of his career. I’d love to see that today. Manager gets fed up of his middle infield defense and activates himself to be available as a late inning defensive replacement. I first knew about Mauch when he managed the Angels in 82 and had a 2-0 lead on the Brewers in the ALCS but the Brewers won three in a row.
Thanks, Steve. Until researching this piece, I didn’t know about Gene Mauch’s prominent ties to the minor-league Milwaukee Brewers. It must have been especially bittersweet for him when his Angels blew their chance at the American League pennant against the Brewers in 1982.
That LA Angels farm team played in the little-known Los Angeles version of Wrigley Field, where they filmed the impeccable “Home Rub Derby.” It’s been 50 years since they demolished it, and now a mental hospital sits where the diamond used to be.
Thanks, Gary. I didn’t know what had become of the site where Wrigley Field in Los Angeles was located. I like the look of that ballpark.
The last time we were in Los Angeles (October 2019) we visited the Farmers Market for the first time and I was stunned to learn that it was the site of Gilmore Field, where the Pacific Coast League Hollywood Stars played. They did a great job at the Farmers Market of explaining, with photos and plaques and diagrams, the historic significance of Gilmore Field. Plus, the variety of food at that Farmers Market was just superb.
The expansion Angels played there in 1961.
Yes, thanks. The American League expansion Angels played their home games at Los Angeles’ Wrigley Field in 1961. They had a home record of 46-36 (24-55 on the road). The Angels moved to Dodger Stadium in 1962. Here is a SABR article on Wrigley Field in Los Angeles: https://sabr.org/bioproj/park/wrigley-field-los-angeles/
Nice post. Sparky Anderson was once quoted as saying that, “while there is no such thing as a perfect manager, Gene Mauch is the closest thing to it.” Cardinals fans can only wonder what might have happened if he had accepted Whitey Herzog’s offer to manage the team. I’ve always wondered how he would have put up with all the ” extra curricular activities ” that was taking place among certain players back then.
Thanks for the Sparky Anderson quote, Phillip. It’s worth noting that both Mauch and Anderson got their starts in the Brooklyn Dodgers system. Later, Mauch was the second baseman for the 1956 Pacific Coast League Los Angeles Angels. Anderson replaced him as Angels second baseman in 1957 when Mauch spent that season with the Boston Red Sox. Anderson’s only season as a big-league player was with the Phillies in 1959. Mauch became Phillies manager the next year.
I am glad you noted the info about Mauch being offered the chance to manage the Cardinals. I remain intrigued by that.
Didn’t Sparky also say that Chris Pittaro would be the greatest third baseman ever?
Thanks, Marty. Yes, something like that. Sparky was a master of hyperbole, or as Ray Knight pronounced it, “hyper-bowl.”
At Tigers spring training in 1985, Sparky became enamored of rookie infielder Chris Pittaro, who had been targeted to start the season at Class AAA. According to the Detroit Free Press, Sparky called Pittaro “the best rookie infielder I’ve seen in 15 years.”
Sparky announced he would break up the great keystone combination of Lou Whitaker and Alan Trammell, shifting Whitaker to third base and starting Pittaro at second. After a few days of commotion, Sparky put Whitaker back at second and declared Pittaro as the starter at third base.
On Opening Day 1985, Pittaro was starting third baseman for the defending World Series champions. He went 3-for-4, stole a base and fielded flawlessly. His first hit came against a future Hall of Famer, Bert Blyleven.
By May, Pittaro was back in the minors, and Tom Brookens was at third base. Pittaro got 95 at-bats in the big leagues with the Tigers and Twins and hit .221.