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Birdie Tebbetts
Birdie Tebbetts
Catcher / Manager / Scout
Born: November 10, 1912(1912-11-10) Burlington, Vermont
Died: March 24, 1999 (aged 86) Bradenton Beach, Florida
Batted: Right	Threw: Right
MLB debut
September 16, 1936 for the Detroit Tigers
Last MLB appearance
September 14, 1952 for the Cleveland Indians
Career statistics
Batting average	.270
Hits	1000
Home runs	38
Teams
As Player Detroit Tigers (1936-1947) Boston Red Sox (1947-1950) Cleveland Indians (1950-1952) As Manager Cincinnati Redlegs (1954-58) Milwaukee Braves (1961-62) Cleveland Indians (1963-66)
Career highlights and awards
Four times All-Star (1941-'42, 1948-'49) National League Manager of the Year Award (1956)

George Robert "Birdie" Tebbetts (November 10, 1912 – March 24, 1999) was an American catcher, manager, scout and front office executive in Major League Baseball.

Born in Burlington, Vermont, and raised in Nashua, New Hampshire. Tebbetts acquired his nickname as a boy when an aunt said of his high-pitched voice, "He chirps like a bird".

In 1934 he graduated from Providence College with a degree in philosophy, an unusual beginning for one of the most abrasive managers in baseball history, whose major league career encompassed 53 years as a catcher (14), manager (11) and scout (28).

Tebbetts played with the Detroit Tigers between 1936 and 1947 — with the exception of three years that he served in World War II (1943-45) — and also played for the Boston Red Sox (1947-50) and Cleveland Indians (1951-52). He batted and threw right-handed, was a career .270 hitter with 38 home runs and 469 RBI in 1162 games, and made four All-Star teams. Before the arrival of Hall of Famer Carlton Fisk, Tebbetts was voted the Red Sox' all-time best catcher in a 1969 fan poll — a remarkable feat considering he only spent four years with the Bosox.

After his playing career, Tebbetts was a moderately successful manager who compiled a 748-705 record with the Cincinnati Redlegs (1954-58), Milwaukee Braves (1961-62) and Cleveland Indians (1963-66). In April 1964 he suffered a heart attack. Three months later, he returned to limited duties and resigned in August 1966. Tebbetts enjoyed his best season for the 1956 Cincinnati Redlegs with a 91-63 mark and a third place, being rewarded by Time Magazine as the Manager of the Year.

He also served as executive vice president of the Braves from 1959 through September 1961, when he took over as the team's field manager from Chuck Dressen. From 1968 to 1994, he scouted for the Mets, Yankees, Orioles and Marlins.

When he played for the Tigers, he was in the bullpen when a fan, wanting to hide tomatoes, eggs, etc., from stadium police who were combing the stands for unruly fans throwing things, filled a basket with the garbage and threw it over a railing. It landed on Tebbetts' head and knocked him cold. When the police identified the cuplrit to Tebbetts he said he would handle the matter himself--and busted the fan in the nose. (Source: The Baseball Hall of Shame, Nash & Zullo.)

Tebbetts also earned a reputation for speaking his mind and for his frank assessments. About his career, he regarded himself as an ordinary player and manager who worked hard. Between other things, he said:

• My whole world is wrapped up in baseball, and that means I must live the loneliest of lives. I can't discuss my problems with my friends or the newspapermen or the players or the coaches or my wife.

• I was sold for a dollar by one drunk owner to another.

• There ought to be a second-string or "Junior Hall of Fame" for guys like me. I had a lifetime average of .270 and I'm proud of it. I poured my life's blood into it. I clawed and scrambled and fought and hustled to get it.

In 1950 Tebbetts referred to some of his Red Sox teammates as "moronic malcontents" and "juvenile delinquents". In consequence, he was traded to Cleveland at the end of the season. He also dismissed former Detroit teammate Hal Newhouser as a World War II phenomenon who "got into the Hall of Fame by begging to get in."

"In 1956 Brooks Lawrence was 12-0 at All-Star Game time. And when he came back [manager] Birdie [Tebbetts] said, 'I bet you he doesn't win 20.' Brooks had 19, and he stopped pitching, so when he asked him about it, [Birdie] said, 'Ain't no black man going to win 20 games for me.'" -- George Crowe^[1]

About the theory that catching was difficult, he expressed:

• I don't think the physical part of catching is what it's cracked up to be. I think it's an easy job. The only thing about it is you sweat more than anybody else. Most catchers catch because they can't play anyplace else. They don't have much to complain about. They've got to be happy. There are too many catchers who are not good catchers who are showboating too much so that they can keep their job.

When Tebbetts scouted for Cincinnati, in 1953, he filed such no-nonsense reports as this on a promising young pitcher:

• "Major league stuff and a great arm. Screwy in the head. Eliminate head and I recommend him. Get good surgeon."

But perhaps most revealing of Tebbetts's character is his recollection of an umpire who suffered dizzy spells following his return from the war. Afraid of losing his job, the umpire asked Tebbetts, then the Tigers catcher, to help calling balls and strikes, and Tebbetts tipped him off with hand signals following each pitch.

Finally, Tebbetts also offered his version of what makes a baseball manager successful:

• If my players like me it's an accident of personality. I happen to like my players and I treat them like men. If a manager doesn't have confidence in his ball players, even when they're going badly, they're not going to have confidence in themselves. And when a ballplayer's confidence is gone, you haven't got a ballplayer. If you want to be a good manager, get good ballplayers.

Birdie Tebbetts died in Bradenton, Florida, at age of 86. On May 28th 2009, Birdie will be announced as a Local Legend of Nashua, NH and commemorated with a plaque to be placed in Holman Stadium.[1]

Resources

• Birdie: Confessions of a Baseball Nomad, by Birdie Tebbetts and James Morrison. Triumph Books, 2002.

References

External links

• Birdie Tebbetts at:
  • [1]
  • Baseball Library (profile)
  • Baseball Reference (player career and managerial record)
  • Time Magazine Article
  • The Deadball Era
  • SABR Biography of Birdie Tebbetts
• Birdie Tebbetts at Find a Grave