1959-1960

Billy Jurges was born in the Bronx, NY on May 9, 1908. He attended Richmond Hill High School in Queens, where he improved his baseball skills and moved on to semipro ball, developing a reputation as a smooth fielder with a rifle arm.

In 1927 the Newark Bears signed Billy to play the outfield and sent him to Manchester, New Hampshire, of the New England League. He spent the off-season chopping wood to gain strength, and returned the next season to lead the league in hits.

The Chicago Cubs signed Billy in 1929, and sent him to their Double-A affiliate in Reading, Pennsylvania. In 1931 the Cubs gave him a chance, and he became their regular shortstop.

In July 1932, a scorned showgirl named Violet Popovich Valli interrupted Billy's breakthrough, when she tried to kill both herself and the young ballplayer. Her .25-caliber pistol fired three shots, hitting Billy in the little finger of his left hand and in a rib, then ricocheted out his right shoulder. The shooting incident, provided inspiration for the 1952 novel The Natural, and the classic 1984 baseball movie.

When restored to health, Billy joined the Cubs’ lineup to stay. The street kid from Brooklyn teamed with future Hall of Famer Billy Herman, at second base, to form the double-play combo that led Cubs teams to three World Series appearances in the 1930s.  Billy was selected for the National League All-Star team in 1937, 1939, and 1940. 

Considered a gentleman off the field, he developed a fiery reputation as one of the most volatile competitors in the game. Second base became a war zone for runners hoping to gain access past the feisty Jurges. 

Billy was traded to the New York Giants in 1939. Then in 1940, was struck in the head, just behind his left ear, by a pitch and suffered a concussion. He experienced frequent dizzy spells for the rest of the 1940 season and in spring training the next March, his fingertips and ears went numb.  He returned to New York for further treatment, fearing he might not play that season. He traveled to the Mayo Clinic, in Minnesota, for treatment and when he was feeling much better, returned to the Giants and managed to play 134 games at shortstop that season.

Billy’s beaning raised serious consideration about the requirement of some form of protective headgear for batters. That summer, National League President Ford Frick began meetings with medical experts and team owners, setting into motion the process that eventually led to the compulsory use of batting helmets.

In 1941 Billy led the National League in hitting, in early August with a .368 average, but injured his left shoulder sliding into home. He finished that season at .290, and became an opposite-field hitter, no longer able to get his bat around quickly. 

Billy completed his playing days back with the Cubs in 1946 and 1947 and then coached for them in 1947 and 1948.

He came close to managing the Cubs in 1938 when owner P.K. Wrigley offered him the job and he rejected an offer to coach the Cincinati Reds in 1949. He accepted instead a position doing promotional work with A.G. Spalding and Brothers. 

He soon returned to baseball, coaching in the minor leagues and managing the Class B Cedar Rapids (Iowa) Indians in the Illinois-Indiana-Iowa League in 1950, and the Hagerstown (Maryland) Braves in the Piedmont League in 1953. In 1955, the Senators hired him as a coach, following the recommendation of Cookie Lavagetto.

In 1959, his big opportunity to fulfill his longtime dream of managing in the major leagues came as a surprise to him and to everyone else, when he was summoned to take over the Boston Red Sox from Mike Higgins in July. He began the job in Boston, expecting the players to reflect his competitiveness and hustle.

Less than three weeks into his term, Billy was part of baseball history again. In July, he brought up Pumpsie Green to become the first African-American to play for the Red Sox, thereby completing the integration of the major leagues. Billy coasted through the integration controversy, as the team performed well the rest of the season. 

Despite Billy’s early success, rumors of unrest began to arise among the players, who resisted his attempts to instill discipline and hustle. Very sensitive to criticism, he became particularly perturbed when baseball writers printed a player interview, hinting that some players were simply going through the motions to finish the season. The rookie manager addressed the team in front of the writers, embarrassing both writers, and players, causing both to question the skipper’s managerial savvy. 

He survived the awkward situation for the time being, but preparing for the 1960 season presented major challenges. The team clearly showed its age. Former MVP and RBI leader Jackie Jensen and veteran catcher Sammy White made late announcements of their retirements.

Billy continued to demand hustle and commitment and conducted special instructional sessions for the younger, inexperienced players. He then invited his old infield partner Billy Herman, to coach third base, while Jurges took charge in the dugout. Juggling and maneuvering on and off the field, did not bring good results. He received a vote of confidence from Tom Yawkey at the end of May, yet the team slumped well under .500. Criticism of his leadership flowed from every side and he could hardly manage a smile, much less a struggling ball club.

In June, the team announced that coach Del Baker had replaced Billy on an interim basis, for an undetermined period. Billy was completely exhausted from his fruitless task and the doctors concluded that his health was in danger. In June, Yawkey brought back Mike Higgins as Red Sox manager, officially ending Jurges’ term less than a year after it started.

Just weeks after leaving the Red Sox, Billy joined the Orioles as a scout “at large,” to prepare for the off-season trading period. He found other big league work early the next season with the newly formed New York Mets, as an advance scout prior to their player draft.

Billy soon moved to the other new team of 1962, and became a scouting supervisor with the Houston Colt .45’s. Just before the 1969 season, after living in the Washington, D.C., area for 16 years, he rejoined the new Washington Senators. Finally he returned to the Cubs and finished his active career as a scout from 1979 to 1982. He retired when his wife’s health deteriorated, and chose to spend more time caring for her.

During his career Billy pursued several business interests, running parallel to his playing and coaching duties. In the early 1940s, he partnered to open a bowling alley, with a restaurant and cocktail lounge, on Long Island.

After receiving a grim diagnosis of cancer in 1991, Billy Jurges survived another six years, until he died on March 3, 1997, at 88 years old, in Clearwater, Florida.