That's the old ballgame Shreveport, chapter 13 (the managers, Part II)

Chapter 13

The managers, part II (1941-78)

     FRANCIS "SALTY" PARKER (1941-42, 1946-51) -- separate, chapter 11

    MICKEY LIVINGSTON -- A catcher, he was the Shreveport Sports' player-manager for two seasons (1952-53), his first managing job, and the first season brought a Texas League championship. His second season was not as successful, but he was re-signed for 1954, only to be fired when -- without the team's permission -- he opened a bar (with his name) in a downtown Shreveport hotel. He sued for breach of contract, but lost the suit. He had been mostly a reserve in 10 seasons in the major leagues, although he was a starter and star in the World Series for the 1945 Chicago Cubs (eight hits, three doubles, four RBI, a .364 average). His last MLB stop was two games for the Brooklyn Dodgers in September 1951, after he spent the bulk of the season in the Texas League, batting .307 for Fort Worth. His '52 Sports were third in the regular season (84-77 record), then won the league playoff championship and lost in the Dixie Series. Livingston hit .274 with 18 doubles and five homers in 111 games that season. The 1953 season didn't go as well; he hit only .159, the Sports went 79-75, and did not make the playoffs. He was back in the TL in 1954-55, managing and playing for Beaumont. His managing career (five seasons) soon ended and he was out of baseball by age 41. As a player, his career went from 1937 to '56; his major-league debut came with Washington in 1938. In 561 games (six organizations), he batted .238, with 19 home runs and 153 RBI. He died April 3, 1983, in Houston, at age 68.

MEL MCGAHA (1954-57) -- Separate, chapter 12.

 

     LES PEDEN -- Slow afoot, but a professional hitter, the bulky catcher was the Shreveport Sports' player-manager for three seasons (1959-61) and hit .300, .327 and .283, while playing in a little more than half the games. He first came to Shreveport for 30 games in 1955 and in a full season in 1956, he hit. 282 in 137 games, with 23 home runs and 88 RBI. The A&M player  and World War II veteran, nicknamed "Gooch," played the first of his 18 minor-league seasons in 1947 and was in the big leagues for nine games, eight starts, for the Washington Senators at the start of the 1953 season (he hit .250, 7-for-28, with one solo home run). He was a minor-league manager for 12 seasons (10 as a player, too) in the Cubs and Athletics' organizations. He managed Little Rock in 1958, and it was one of his best hitting seasons -- .334, 26 home runs, 88 RBI -- and when the Southern Association franchise moved to Shreveport, he came with it. His 1960 Sports, after a furious last-season surge, missed the regular-season pennant by a half-game. He played through 1964 and managed in the Triple-A Pacific Coast League) for three seasons, then stayed in the game as a scout. In the minors, he was a .299 hitter over 1,787 regular-season games, with 249 home runs and 644 RBI. Died Feb. 11, 2002, in Jacksonville, Fla., at age 78.

Charlie Lau coaching third base
 (The Shreveport Times photos)

   CHARLIE LAU -- After a decade as a major-league catcher, mostly a reserve and not a batting star (.255 average), he was the Shreveport Braves' manager at age 35 in 1968, the year after he retired as a player with the Atlanta Braves. Shreveport's team, loaded with past and future major-league talent, went 78-62, but was second in its division. Lau the next year was a coach in the majors and soon became known as one of the top batting instructors -- a "guru" -- in the game. He helped develop some of the Kansas City Royals' stars of their powerful late 1970s/early 1980s teams. He died of colon cancer March 18, 1984, in Key Colony Beach, Fla., at age 50.

LOU FITZGERALD -- His 20-year minor-league managing career ended with the Shreveport Braves in 1969 and 1970. He had five regular-season or playoff championship teams in a 12-year period -- including with San Antonio in the Texas League in the mid-1960s -- but the 1969 S-Braves were 61-75 and after a 3-9 start in '70, he was replaced by Clint Courtney, who had been one of his catchers for Durham in 1962. Fitzgerald, from Cleveland, Tenn., had a 55-year pro baseball career -- as an infielder (never a major leaguer), manager and scout. Paul Richards, the baseball sage from Waxahachie, Texas, was his boss with three organizations: Orioles, Colt 5s/Astros and Braves. He died Jan. 27, 2013, in Chattanooga, Tenn., at age 93.

    CLINT COURTNEY -- He provided a nearly local presence as the Shreveport manager when he replaced Lou Fitzgerald after the first 12 games of the 1970 S-Braves' season. The hard-battling, tough little guy -- "Scrap Iron" -- was from Hall Summit, La., 40 miles southeast of Shreveport and he had been the Braves' minor-league catching instructor. Shreveport's record under him was 55-67 and he would go on to manage Richmond in Triple-A. He had played in the Texas League for Beaumont in 1950, then was in one game for the 1951 Yankees before a decade in the majors (1952-61) for four other American League franchises. He twice was a .300 hitter and hit .268 overall. He was known as (1) the first bespectacled catcher in MLB; (2) a fierce style and frequent fighter; and (3) with ex-catcher and noted manager/general manager Paul Richards' input, the first catcher to use an oversized mitt to catch knuckleballs (thrown by Hoyt Wilhelm with Baltimore in 1960). He was manager of the Richmond Braves when he died of a heart attack -- while playing ping-pong with one of his players -- on a team road trip in Rochester, N.Y., on June 16, 1975, at age 48.

LES MOSS -- The season (1971) he managed Shreveport was unique: (1) it was the first year of the Captains' team nickname and (2) the Texas League and the remnants of the Southern Association and South Atlantic (Sally) League were combined into a 14-team Dixie Association -- a one-year experiment. It was only three years after Moss, a journeyman big-league catcher for more than a decade,  had been interim manager (36 games) for the Chicago White Sox. The '71 Captains went 69-73; after six more seasons managing in the minors, Moss again was an interim MLB manager, 53 games with the 1979 Detroit Tigers -- he succeeded Ralph Houk and was followed by Sparky Anderson. He died Aug. 29, 2012, in Longwood, Fla., at age 87.

Captains 1972 manager Norm Sherry with
baseball commissioner Bowie Kuhn, who was
visiting Shreveport and SPAR Stadium.
(The Shreveport Times photo)

      NORM SHERRY -- He wasn't as famous as pitching brother Larry and only a bit player for the 1959-62 Los Angeles Dodgers. After stints as a Dodgers' minor-league manager and coach for the 1970-71 California Angels, he managed the 1972 Captains (62-78 record) With a roster shortage, he even played in four games at the end of the season (at age 40), going 3-for-9 (.333) with three RBI. In 1976-77, he was the Angels' manager -- succeeding Dick Williams -- for 147 games.

GENE FREESE -- A major-league third baseman for a dozen years, a star with the 1961 National League champion Cincinnati Reds, "Augie" had been out of baseball for five years, living in his adopted hometown, New Orleans, when he was named manager of the 1973 Captains (Milwaukee Brewers' chain). A team that included end-of-the-line, ex-MLB pitching star Denny McLain (right, with Freese) went 70-68. At age 39, Freese played in four games near the end of the season, going 3-for-9,  with a double and two RBI. He returned to manage in '74, but the team faltered (59-79 final record) and he was replaced in midseason by minor-league pitching instructor Ken McBride. He died June 18, 2013, in Metairie, La. -- a New Orleans suburb where he lived for decades -- at age 79.   

TIM MURTAUGH -- The son of the Pittsburgh Pirates' two-time World Series champion manager Danny Murtaugh, he spent 13 years in the Pirates' chain -- six as a catcher, seven as a minor-league manager. His teams had won two championships before he managed the 1975 Captains. They were the Texas League's best team for much of that season, but faded late and, despite a 76-52 record -- the best for a Shreveport team over a 56-year period -- and 98 more runs than their opponents, finished two games behind Midland in the West Division. He then managed in Triple-A for 1½ seasons before returning to Shreveport for the second half of the '77 season, and then retired from baseball.

    JOHN LIPON -- A journeyman major-league shortstop for nine seasons and a World War II (Navy) veteran, he was 53 when he managed the 1976 Captains to a division title. It was the 18th of his 30 seasons managing minor-league teams, plus a 59-game stint as the Cleveland Indians' interim manager in 1971. He came back to Shreveport to start the 1977 season, then was promoted to manage the Pirates' Triple-A team, swapping spots with Tim Murtaugh. After his managing career, he was a baseball scout and in 1992 was chosen as the "King of Baseball" for his lifetime contributions. He died Aug. 17, 1998, in Houston, his longtime home, at age 75.

    STEVE DEMETER -- He was a veteran minor-league player -- a good one -- who had short stays in the majors and was a Pittsburgh Pirates' coach for a year before a nine-year minor-league managing career. He maintained a positive approach through a long, difficult season in Shreveport in 1978. Died Feb. 3, 2013, in Parma, Ohio, at age 78.