Leo Durocher - Early Career

Durocher began his professional baseball career as a shortstop with the Hartford Senators in the Eastern League. His defensive play attracted the attention of the New York Yankees, who purchased Durocher's contract in 1925. Durocher spent two years playing for minor league teams in Atlanta and St. Paul and was promoted to the Yankees roster in 1928. Durocher was a favorite of Yankee manager Miller Huggins, but was unpopular with his teammates and with Yankee general manager Ed Barrow for a variety of reasons, including his foul mouth, his expensive clothes, his nightlife, and his penchant for running up debts and writing bad checks. After Huggins's untimely death in 1929, Durocher was sold to a second division National League club, the Cincinnati Reds, for the waiver price and a player to be named later. Durocher stated in his autobiography that a dispute with Barrow over salary caused the Yankees to get rid of him. The final straw came when Durocher stormed out of Barrow's office after cursing at him. He spent the rest of his playing career in the National League and compiled a lifetime batting average of .247. He was an outstanding defensive player but a weak hitter.