Читать книгу Bad Boys, Bad Times. The Cleveland Indians and Baseball in the Prewar Years, 1937–1941 онлайн

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On October 20, apparently Bradley did find someone he deemed worthier. He announced that O’Neill had been fired and Oscar Vitt, currently the manager of the Newark Bears, had accepted the job. O’Neill was generously offered a job in the Indians organization as a scout, but the deposed manager rightly asked for and received permission to look for other jobs. Bradley told the papers, “Changing managers is the most unpleasant feature of my job. It’s just one of those things that have to be done. The show must go on.”

The decision to replace O’Neill was a debatable one. It speaks of impatience by Bradley in his efforts to field a top-flight ball club. He seemed to overlook the fact that his two best pitchers had missed large portions of the season. That in itself ruined the Indians’ chances of finishing any higher in the standings. Certainly O’Neill had made some mistakes during the season. He gave his players a lot of leeway and expected them to respond accordingly. He kept an even temperament when the team struggled and Bradley wanted specific answers. Perhaps had he shouted a few more times or shown some frustration to Bradley, he might have kept his job.