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Sometimes, he does not even seem to like the Dodgers; he hurt rather than helped three promising players by tongue-lashings that shook their confidence; last season, Little Vic Lombardi hardly dared pitch a ball without looking to the dugout for Leo's nod. Leo's smart assistant, Coach Chuck Dressen, now with the Yankees, spent much of his time reinflating egos. (Some belittlers, exaggerating Dressen's importance, think the Dodgers won't be the same without him.) But Leo's lip also pays off. Against the Chicago Cubs last season, the day was getting dark and Brooklyn's pitcher was weakening. As his club came to bat, still leading 2-to-0, Durocher snapped to the bench: "Listen, you guys! I'm gonna stir up a rhubarb.* He began heckling the Cubs' catcher, Mickey Livingston: "Yeah, you! Grimm never used you this year until the pennant race was over, did he? Couldn't take a chance with a bum like you when the chips were down!" Catcher Livingston headed toward the Dodger bench angrily, and the ensuing brawl with an umpire lasted long enough for Durocher's purposes. It was soon too dark to continue the game. The game ended: Dodgers 2, Cubs 0.
"I'll Beat You." Says Branch Rickey: "Leo can't be found mollycoddling a situation. He has marvelous aptitude—whether shooting pool, playing golf or squash or gin rummy—but no classical education. His marks in deportment may not have been too good. He came out of a pretty tough neighborhood in Springfield, Mass. with great energy which boiled down to three words: 'I'll beat you, I'll beat you.' "
The Durochers' home in West Springfield, Mass, was just a few blocks from the roundhouse where Leo's railroading father worked. It was a self-respecting if tough neighborhood. Of French descent, Leo went to St. Louis Roman Catholic Church. But two years as an altar boy did not soften him noticeably. At 17, Leo was the best pool shot in town (though his habit of talking to his opponent while the latter was lining up a shot was not considered ethical), and the brassiest guy on the Wico Electric Co. baseball club.
Five years later he was on the New York Yankees, and hanging around the great Babe Ruth. Ruth was making $70,000 a year, and Durocher $4,500; Leo did his best to spend as if they were equals, and soon owed nearly everybody. He was a whiz in the field, but Ruth warned him: "You ain't stayin' in this league long, buddy. You gotta be able to hit to stick up here."
Already known as Lippy, young Leo Durocher insolently replied: "Yeah? Listen, you big slob, I've got a brain. All you got is a strong back. We'll see who stays in the big leagues the longest." Durocher was thrown off the gentlemanly Yankees, bounced in Cincinnati, and came down to earth in St. Louis with the famed Gashouse Gang (Pepper Martin, Dizzy Dean and Frankie Frisch).
Branch & Leo. The shepherd of St. Louis' wild flock was Branch Rickey the Bible quoter, who dutifully shunned the ball park on Sunday, the day the turnstiles clicked most merrily. Rickey considered himself a molder of character, and Leo became his pet reclamation project.