Burton Edwin Shotton (October 18, 1884 – July 29, 1962) was an American player, manager, coach and scout in Major League Baseball. As manager of the Brooklyn Dodgers (1947; 1948–50), he won two National League pennants and served as Jackie Robinson's first permanent Major League manager.

Playing career

Shotton was born in Brownhelm, a township in Lorain County, Ohio. In his playing days, he was a speedy outfielder — he was nicknamed "Barney" after record-setting race car driver Barney Oldfield — who batted left-handed and threw right-handed. The , Shotton compiled a .271 batting average with 1,338 hits in 1,387 Major League games played for the St. Louis Browns (1909, 1911–17), Washington Senators (1918) and St. Louis Cardinals (1919–23).

Although he stole over 40 bases in four consecutive seasons (1913–16), he was also caught stealing over 26 times in each of those seasons. In an American League dominated by speedsters such as Ty Cobb and Clyde Milan, Shotton was never among the top five base stealers in the league, and he had a high rate of being caught stealing, but he pilfered 294 bases during his MLB career. His real talent, however, may be shown in his on-base percentage, in which he finished in the top ten in the league four times in his career. He twice (in 1913 and 1916) led AL batters in walks, and finished in the top ten six seasons.

In the early 1920s, as a player and coach, he was the Cardinals' "Sunday manager", relieving skipper Branch Rickey, who always observed the Christian Sabbath. Rickey and Shotton had formed a longstanding friendship and professional relationship dating back to their years together (1913–15) with the Browns, when Rickey was his manager. mainly under Rickey, who was replaced by Rogers Hornsby on May 31, 1925, and moved into the club's front office. Shotton's record as the Redbirds' "Sunday manager" between April 22, 1923, and Hornsby's accession was 27–25. His 1927 Syracuse club posted a 102–66 record, but finished second, ten games behind league champion Buffalo.

Philadelphia Phillies

Shotton's first formal Major League managing opportunity came the following year with the NL's then-habitually tailend team, the Philadelphia Phillies. He lasted six seasons (1928–33) with the Phils, who twice lost more than 100 games during his tenure. The Shotton-era Phillies included two notable teams. Playing home games in a notorious bandbox, Baker Bowl, during a "lively ball" season, the 1930 edition compiled a team batting average of .315 (paced by Chuck Klein's .386 and Lefty O'Doul's .383) and scored 944 runs; but the Phillie pitching staff allowed 1,199 runs and posted a horrendous 6.71 earned run average and the club finished last, at 52–102. Then, only two years later, the 1932 team compiled a 78–76 record, good enough for fourth place in the National League. It would be the Phillies' only winning season and first-division finish between 1917 and . Altogether, Shotton's win–loss mark in Philadelphia was 370–549 (.403).

Shotton then coached for the Cincinnati Reds in 1934. On July 28, he had a one-game stint as interim manager after the firing of Bob O'Farrell and before new skipper Chuck Dressen arrived from Nashville to take command of the last-place Reds; in that game, Cincinnati defeated the Chicago Cubs, 11–2. Then Shotton returned to the Cardinals for a seven-year term (1935–41) managing their top-level Rochester Red Wings and Columbus Red Birds farm clubs, and spent four years (1942–45) on the coaching staff of player-manager Lou Boudreau of the Cleveland Indians.

But prior to the season, Shotton hung up his uniform and settled into a scouting role for the Brooklyn Dodgers, for whom Rickey was now part-owner, president and general manager.

A stand-in for Durocher

On the eve of the 1947 season, Shotton received a telegram from Rickey; it read: "Be in Brooklyn in the morning. Call nobody, see no one".

With Durocher's suspension over, Shotton retired again, this time to a front office post as "managerial consultant" in the Dodgers' vast farm system. But the 1948 Dodgers did not respond to Durocher's return; they even (briefly, on May 24) fell into the NL cellar. Durocher was still under siege by the Catholic Youth Organization because of his extramarital relationship with, and then quick marriage to, actress Laraine Day.

Return to Brooklyn's bench

With the New York Giants also floundering, owner Horace Stoneham decided to replace his manager, Mel Ott, with Shotton. He called Rickey to ask permission to speak with Shotton about the Giants' job, and was stunned when Rickey offered him the opportunity to hire Durocher instead. On July 16, 1948, Durocher moved from Brooklyn to Upper Manhattan to take over the Giants. The following day, Shotton was back in the Dodger dugout — still in street clothes. On that day, Brooklyn was 37–37 and in fourth place, 8<small></small> games behind the Boston Braves.

After his return, the Dodgers rallied to take the lead in the 1948 NL standings by the end of August, before they faltered in September to finish third, 7<small></small> games behind Boston. Then, in , Shotton won his second pennant, with Brooklyn capturing 97 regular-season victories to finish a game ahead of the Cardinals. Robinson won the National League's Most Valuable Player award and batting championship. But Brooklyn again bowed to the Yankees in the World Series, this time in only five games. Despite Shotton's two pennants in three seasons, he continually faced criticism from Durocher loyalists on the Dodgers, who claimed that Shotton was a poor game strategist and lacked Durocher's competitive intensity. Because he eschewed wearing a uniform, Shotton was prohibited from stepping onto the field of play during games to argue with umpires and make pitching changes; those tasks fell to one of his uniformed coaches.

Shotton also had severe critics within the press, notably New York Daily News baseball writer Dick Young, who came to refer to him in print only by the derisive acronym KOBS, short for "Kindly Old Burt Shotton." Shotton's poor relationship with the New York media partly was self-inflicted: according to author Roger Kahn, he attempted to ban Young from the Brooklyn clubhouse, and alienated and infuriated the New York Herald-Tribunes Harold Rosenthal by repeatedly addressing him as "Rosenberg" and "Rosenbloom."

In 1950, despite chronic pitching woes, Shotton guided the Dodgers to within a game of first place on the final day of the season. But Dick Sisler's tenth-inning home run off Don Newcombe won the pennant for the Phillies' "Whiz Kids", and ended both the Dodger season and Shotton's managerial career. Rickey was forced from the Brooklyn front office by new majority owner Walter O'Malley at the end of October. At his home in Bartow, Florida, Shotton ignored O'Malley's repeated suggestions that he fly back north to discuss his future, saying later, "There was no point coming to Brooklyn to be fired."

Managerial record

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! rowspan="2"|Team !! rowspan="2"|Year !! colspan="5"|Regular season !! colspan="4"|Postseason

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!Games!!Won!!Lost!!Win %!!Finish!! Won !! Lost !! Win % !! Result

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!STL||

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!STL||

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! colspan="2"|STL total

Shotton died in Lake Wales, Florida, from a heart attack at age 77 during the second All-Star break in 1962. Although his career win–loss record as a big league manager was 724–789 (.479), (Connie Mack, who famously wore a full suit during his 50 years as manager of the Philadelphia Athletics, also retired on October 1, 1950, but his game that day ended earlier.)

In the 2013 film 42, Shotton is played by Max Gail.

See also

  • 1947 Brooklyn Dodgers season
  • Jackie Robinson
  • List of Major League Baseball career stolen bases leaders
  • List of St. Louis Cardinals coaches

References

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