Pinky Higgins
Michael Franklin "Pinky" Higgins (May 27, 1909 - March 21, 1969) was an American third baseman, manager, front office executive and scout in Major League Baseball who played for three teams and served as manager or general manager of the Boston Red Sox during the period of 1955 through 1965. He batted and threw right-handed.
Playing career
Higgins was born in Red Oak, Texas and attended the University of Texas at Austin before beginning his career with the Philadelphia Athletics on June 25, 1930. After having only 24 at bats that year, he didn't play in the majors again until 1933 when he finally began to play full-time for the A's. In his rookie season of 1933, he looked great, batted .314, with 13 home runs and 99 RBIs. He hit for the cycle on August 3 of that year, in a 12-8 win over the Washington Senators. That season, his team finished third in the American League.
By 1938, when he was traded to the Boston Red Sox for fellow third baseman Billy Werber, he was considered one of the better hitting third basemen in the league, having made the top in batting average in 1933 and 1934. In his two years with the Sox (|1937, 1938), he batted over .300 both years with a career-high 106 RBIs both years. In June 1938, Higgins set a major league record with base hits in 12 consecutive at bats. Higgins accomplished the feat over 14 plate appearances, because he also received two bases on balls during the skein. His mark was tied by Walt Dropo in 1952, who made his 12 straight knocks in 12 appearances, with no bases on balls in between.
He would next head to the Detroit Tigers in a trade for Elden Auker, and that is where he would end up spending the majority of his playing career. It was also where his hitting numbers began to dissipate, but his power numbers still stayed fairly strong, but not in the same realm as his career-high of 23 homers back with Philadelphia in 1935.
Boston got Higgins back in mid-1946 and he was the team's regular third baseman as they won the AL pennant by 12 games (although they dropped the 1946 World Series). He was released by them at the end of the season and then retired to become a manager in the Red Sox farm system. His final numbers included a .292 batting average with 140 home runs and 1,075 RBIs. He accumulated 1,941 career hits in 6,636 at bats. He made the All-star game three times (1934, '36, '44).
Managing and front office career
Higgins started his managing career at Class B Roanoke, Virginia (Piedmont League) in the Red Sox farm system in 1947 and became Boston's skipper in 1955 after leading their AAA affiliate, the Louisville Colonels of the American Association, for four seasons. Higgins managed the Red Sox through the mideason of 1959, when he was replaced by Billy Jurges. He then became a special assistant to owner Tom Yawkey, with whom he had become friends.
But Jurges struggled as a manager and was fired midway through the 1960 season with the Sox in last place. After coach Del Baker handled the Red Sox for seven games, Higgins resumed his old job. However, the Red Sox continued to lose. Nevertheless, on September 30, 1960, Higgins was signed to a three-year contract extension as field manager, and given control of all playing personnel in the Boston organization effectively serving as general manager as well as skipper.[1]
Higgins formally hanged up his uniform as joined Boston's front office full-time as executive vice president and general manager after the 1962 campaign, finishing his managerial career with a record of 560-556 (.502) in 1,119 games. His best finish was third place (1957-58), although his best winning percentage came in 1955 and 1956, when he ended both seasons with an 84-70 record, a .545 winning percentage (Boston finished fourth in each season).
He was 53 when he fully retired from managing. As a skipper, Higgins was known for being well-liked by players and very laid back. He would not go out to the mound to talk to his pitcher very often and once said, "I don't believe in that business of walking out to the mound every time a pitcher's in trouble. You can't tell him anything new."
Red Sox historians often single out Higgins, along with long-time Red Sox owner Tom Yawkey, when they discuss the root of the club's reputation for resisting racial integration. The Red Sox were the last of the then-16 major league teams to play an African American. Higgins was quoted by one Boston baseball writer, the late Al Hirshberg, as saying, "There'll be no niggers on this ball club as long as I have anything to say about it."[2] He also reportedly called sportswriter Clif Keane "a fucking nigger lover"[3] upon hearing Keane praise the talents of outfielder Minnie Minoso, a Cuban of African descent.
The Red Sox' first African-American player, utility infielder Pumpsie Green, was recalled from the minor leagues in 1959, during Jurges' brief tenure as pilot.
However, Higgins had no control over the big league roster until he became Red Sox manager in 1955, and the club's hostility toward breaking the color line appeared to be in place well before then under Yawkey and his front office bosses, Eddie Collins and Joe Cronin.[4]
When Higgins returned to his managerial post from mid-1960 through 1962, he managed an integrated roster, and did acquire a few nonwhite players (outfielders Roman Mejias, Lenny Green and Al Smith and infielder Felix Mantilla) during his GM tenure.
Higgins' record as a general manager, like his managing record, was mediocre. The major league team continued to struggle, and in 1965 it lost 100 games for the only time during the Yawkey era. Higgins made a few major trades during his first offseason, one of them netting slugging Dick Stuart, but they did not materially improve the club on the field. But at the minor league level, the team - led by its farm director, Neil Mahoney - was amassing talent (including African-American players such as Reggie Smith, George Scott and Joe Foy) that would lead to an improbable AL pennant in 1967. Higgins, however, was finally ousted by Yawkey on September 16, 1965 - ironically the day on which 21-year-old Boston righthander Dave Morehead threw a no hitter. Higgins then joined the Houston Astros as a scout; that was his last job in baseball.
In February 1968, Higgins was arrested after killing one and injuring three others with his car. He suffered two heart attacks between the time of his conviction and sentencing. He pled guilty to driving while drunk, and was sentenced to four years, but was paroled after two months of his sentence.
One day after being paroled, he died of a heart attack in Dallas, Texas at the age of 59.
Postseason
Higgins made it to two World Series: One with Detroit in 1940 and one with Boston in 1946. His team lost both, but Higgins had a solid .271 all-time postseason batting average with 1 home run (DET) and 8 RBIs (6 DET, 2 BOS). He had 13 hits in 48 at bats.
Trivia
Higgins was nicknamed "Pinky" as a baby, and according to some reports, detested the name. Alternatively, he was identified by each of his given names. He signed some autographs as Frank Higgins, and was also known as Mike, especially later in his career.
References
- ^ The New York Times, October 1, 1960
- ^ Hirshberg, Al. What's the Matter with the Red Sox, New York: Dodd, Mead & Company, 1973
- ^ Halberstam, David. Summer of '49, New York: William Morrow and Company, 1989
- ^ Bryant, Howard. Shut Out: Race and Baseball in Boston, New York: Routledge, 2002
External link
- Baseball-Reference.com - career playing stats and managing record