[The following material is reprinted with permission from Dan Schlossberg's Baseball Gold: Mining Nuggets from Our National Pastime, a $14.95 paperback published in March 2007 by Triumph Books. Copies may be ordered from www.triumphbooks.com.]
JOE MCCARTHY
By Dan Schlossberg
CHARACTER BUILDER
"Give a boy a bat, a ball, and a place to play and you'll have a good citizen."
-Manager Joe McCarthy
10 Commandments for Success in the Majors
By Joe McCarthy
1. Nobody ever became a ballplayer by walking after a ball.
2. You will never become a .300 hitter unless you take the bat off your shoulder.
3. An outfielder who throws back of a runner is locking the barn after the horse is stolen.
4. Keep your head up and you may not have to keep it down.
5. When you start to slide, slide. He who changes his mind may have to change a good leg for a bad one.
6. Do not alibi on bad hops. Anybody can field the good ones.
7. Always run them out. You never can tell.
8. Do not quit.
9. Do not fight too much with the umpires. You cannot expect them to be as perfect as you are.
10. A pitcher who hasn't control hasn't anything.
McCARTHY ON MANAGING
Longtime manager Joe McCarthy, who left the game in 1949, usually enjoyed his job. "Sometimes I think I'm in the greatest business in the world," he said. "Then I lose four straight and want to change places with a farmer."
