Job Security II

We had previously written how tenuous and precarious is the life of a baseball manager. Baseball fans of a certain age may remember Birdie Tebbetts and Bobby Bragan.  Birdie's nickname came from his high pitched voice when he was a catcher for the Detroit Tigers. During the post WWII period there was an umpire who suffered dizzy spells from the war and fearing the loss of his job asked Tebbetts to assist him in calling balls and strikes which Birdie did with hand signals. Bragan was a disciple of Branch Rickey, had started as a shortstop and was converted to a catcher and had a reputation as a umpire baiter. These two characters crossed paths later as managers - Tebbetts preceding Bragan at Milwaukee circa 1963. When Tebbetts was departing Milwaukee he told his successor that when he arrived in the job he found two white envelopes - numbered 1 & 2 - in his desk drawer.  He was told that when the going gets tough and the team is in a losing streak and the fans are on you - to open the first envelope. The message inside read "Blame the press!" This should get you another three months of peace. But, inevitably, the problems will return and this time the owners will be breathing down your back. It will then be time to open the second envelope - which message reads "Start preparing two new envelopes for your successor." Bragan had been fired three times during mid-season - once in Cleveland after only 67 games so he knew the score. Job Security? As my friend Dan from Brooklyn used to say "Fuggettaboutit."
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