Baseball History: Black Friday Comes to National League

Every so often, there are the occasional managerial changes during the regular season. On this day in baseball history in 1948, three teams changed their managers, a surprising number for the regular season.

We all know of Black Friday in regards to the day that Christmas sales begin in earnest after Thanksgiving. In the sporting world, a black day typically refers to the day after the season, when teams fire their managers due to poor performance, and begin the search for someone to find anyone capable of bringing the team back to relevance.

On this day in 1948, despite being in the middle of the season, the National League had its own Black Friday. Three of the eight teams changed managers, an unprecedented rate during the regular season in baseball history.

The fireworks began with the Philadelphia Phillies, as they relieved manager Ben Chapman of his duties. Chapman is remembered as one of the loudest critics of integrating the game, with his racist vitriol earning him a rebuke by Happy Chandler for his conduct. The Phillies, who were 37-42 at the time of the move, did not classify Chapman’s outer as a firing. Instead, owner Bob Carpenter said he was “concluding business” with Chapman.

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Meanwhile, the Giants and the Dodgers each changed managers. Mel Ott, a great slugger who was the inspiration for the phrase “Nice guys finish last,” was let go by the Giants. In his place, they hired Leo Durocher, who infamously uttered that line.

Durocher, for his part, had been managing the cross town Dodgers until that day. had been released by the club to take the Giants job. In his place, they hired Burt Shotton, who had replaced Durocher once before. During the 1947 season, Shotton managed the Dodgers while Durocher was suspended for the year for “conduct detrimental to the game.” The Dodgers players actually wanted Shotton to return for 1948, so his return to the dugout was not entirely unexpected.

To complete the loop, Durocher also had connections with Chapman. The former Dodgers manager was one of the most vocal supporters of Robinson, quelling dissent inside the clubhouse about playing with a black player. Having the fiery manager behind Robinson, even if he was not around for the regular season, helped the infielder become accepted by his team.

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Black Friday came early in 1948. On this day, three teams changed managers, a surprising total for a day during the regular season.