Miller Huggins
Encyclopedia
Miller James Huggins nicknamed "Mighty Mite", was a baseball
Baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...

 player and manager
Manager (baseball)
In baseball, the field manager is an individual who is responsible for matters of team strategy on the field and team leadership. Managers are typically assisted by between one and six assistant coaches, whose responsibilities are specialized...

. He managed the powerhouse New York Yankee
New York Yankees
The New York Yankees are a professional baseball team based in the The Bronx, New York. They compete in Major League Baseball in the American League's East Division...

 teams of the 1920s and won six American League
American League
The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, or simply the American League , is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league based in the Great Lakes states, which eventually aspired to major...

 pennants and three World Series
World Series
The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball, played between the American League and National League champions since 1903. The winner of the World Series championship is determined through a best-of-seven playoff and awarded the Commissioner's Trophy...

 championships.

Early life

Huggins was born in Cincinnati, Ohio
Cincinnati, Ohio
Cincinnati is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio. Cincinnati is the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located to north of the Ohio River at the Ohio-Kentucky border, near Indiana. The population within city limits is 296,943 according to the 2010 census, making it Ohio's...

, where his father (an Englishman) was a grocer. Huggins' father was a devout Methodist who was opposed to Sunday baseball. To keep his father from noticing, Huggins played semi-professional
Semi-professional
A semi-professional athlete is one who is paid to play and thus is not an amateur, but for whom sport is not a full-time occupation, generally because the level of pay is too low to make a reasonable living based solely upon that source, thus making the athlete not a full professional...

 baseball under an assumed name. He attended the University of Cincinnati
University of Cincinnati
The University of Cincinnati is a comprehensive public research university in Cincinnati, Ohio, and a part of the University System of Ohio....

 where one of his professors was William Howard Taft
William Howard Taft
William Howard Taft was the 27th President of the United States and later the tenth Chief Justice of the United States...

. He eventually got a law degree, but realized that he made more money playing baseball.

Playing career

As a player, Huggins joined the Cincinnati Reds
Cincinnati Reds
The Cincinnati Reds are a Major League Baseball team based in Cincinnati, Ohio. They are members of the National League Central Division. The club was established in 1882 as a charter member of the American Association and joined the National League in 1890....

 in 1904 as a second baseman. Despite his short stature (5-foot-6-inches)—or perhaps because of it—Huggins proved very adept at getting on base. Over a 13-year career (Cincinnati 1904–09, St. Louis Cardinals
St. Louis Cardinals
The St. Louis Cardinals are a professional baseball team based in St. Louis, Missouri. They are members of the Central Division in the National League of Major League Baseball. The Cardinals have won eleven World Series championships, the most of any National League team, and second overall only to...

, 1910–16) he led the league in walks
Base on balls
A base on balls is credited to a batter and against a pitcher in baseball statistics when a batter receives four pitches that the umpire calls balls. It is better known as a walk. The base on balls is defined in Section 2.00 of baseball's Official Rules, and further detail is given in 6.08...

 four times and regularly posted an on base percentage
On base percentage
In baseball statistics, on-base percentage is a measure of how often a batter reaches base for any reason other than a fielding error, fielder's choice, dropped/uncaught third strike, fielder's obstruction, or catcher's interference In baseball statistics, on-base percentage (OBP) (sometimes...

 near .400. He scored 100 or more runs three times and regularly stole
Stolen base
In baseball, a stolen base occurs when a baserunner successfully advances to the next base while the pitcher is delivering the ball to home plate...

 30 or more bases. He finished his career with 324 steals.

Player-manager and Manager

Huggins became player-manager for St. Louis in 1913. Serving as the Cardinals' manager until 1917, he didn't find any substantial success (they never finished higher than third place).

Huggins was able to build on his experience as the manager of a budding New York Yankee team beginning in 1918. As the Yankees skipper until his death in 1929, and with one of the finest offenses ever assembled (including Babe Ruth
Babe Ruth
George Herman Ruth, Jr. , best known as "Babe" Ruth and nicknamed "the Bambino" and "the Sultan of Swat", was an American Major League baseball player from 1914–1935...

, Lou Gehrig
Lou Gehrig
Henry Louis "Lou" Gehrig , nicknamed "The Iron Horse" for his durability, was an American Major League Baseball first baseman. He played his entire 17-year baseball career for the New York Yankees . Gehrig set several major league records. He holds the record for most career grand slams...

, Tony Lazzeri
Tony Lazzeri
Anthony Michael "Tony" Lazzeri was an American Major League Baseball player during the 1920s and 1930s, predominantly with the New York Yankees. He was part of the famed "Murderers' Row" Yankee batting lineup of the late 1920s , along with Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, and Bob Meusel...

 and Bob Meusel
Bob Meusel
Robert William "Bob" Meusel was an American baseball left and right fielder who played in Major League Baseball for eleven seasons from 1920 through 1930, all but the last for the New York Yankees...

), Huggins presided over six American League
American League
The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, or simply the American League , is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league based in the Great Lakes states, which eventually aspired to major...

 championships (1921–1923, 1926–1928) and three World Series
World Series
The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball, played between the American League and National League champions since 1903. The winner of the World Series championship is determined through a best-of-seven playoff and awarded the Commissioner's Trophy...

 championships (1923, 1927 and 1928). He finished his managerial career with a 1413–1134 record. His 1413 wins as a manager ranks 20th all-time.

Death

Huggins died at the age of 50 on September 25, 1929, as a result of erysipelas
Erysipelas
Erysipelas is an acute streptococcus bacterial infection of the deep epidermis with lymphatic spread.-Risk factors:...

, visible under his right eye, which progressed into sepsis
Sepsis
Sepsis is a potentially deadly medical condition that is characterized by a whole-body inflammatory state and the presence of a known or suspected infection. The body may develop this inflammatory response by the immune system to microbes in the blood, urine, lungs, skin, or other tissues...

. The league canceled its games for the following day out of respect; the viewing of his casket at Yankee Stadium drew thousands of tearful fans. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1964.

On May 30, 1932, the Yankees dedicated a monument to Huggins, and placed it in front of the flagpole in center field at Yankee Stadium. Huggins was the first of many Yankees legends granted this honor, which eventually became "Monument Park
Monument Park (Yankee Stadium)
Monument Park is an open-air museum located at the new Yankee Stadium containing a collection of monuments, plaques, and retired numbers honoring distinguished members of the New York Yankees....

", dedicated in 1976. The monument calls Huggins "A splendid character who made priceless contributions to baseball."

External links

  • Miller Huggins at Find a Grave
    Find A Grave
    Find a Grave is a commercial website providing free access and input to an online database of cemetery records. It was founded in 1998 as a DBA and incorporated in 2000.-History:...

  • Huggins Excelled As Lead-Off Man, by Harry Grayson
    Harry Grayson
    Harry Markey Grayson was an American sportswriter. He was the sports editor of the Newspaper Enterprise Association from 1934 to 1963.-Baseball:* , February 5, 1936*, March 18, 1938...

    , June 5, 1943
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