Among the collection of articles from the August 3, 1955, The Sporting News, was a short piece about Sherman Lollar’s management skills. Marty Marion was in his second year as White Sox Manager, replacing Paul Richards, who resigned and went to Baltimore to be both field manager and general manager of the Orioles. The title of this Hoffman offering on Page 4 was Sherman ‘Great Help to Me on Field’ Declares Marion.
“I’d hate to be without him.” That was a quick appraisal of Sherman Lollar’s value to the White Sox by manager Marty Marion. “Sherman is a big factor among the personalities and things which have taken us as high as we are in the race,” continued Marion. “I depend upon him for so much.”
“Before the start of each series, I turn the meetings over to him and he gives the pitchers an intelligent and very correct rundown on the hitters of the opposing team.”
“He is a quiet unassuming fellow, but he is a good talker in our meetings and his opinions are factual.”
“He’s also a good field general, an excellent handler of pitchers, a good thrower and a very dangerous hitter. He is a big help to me, too, in deciding whether a pitcher has lost his stuff and should be taken out of the game.”
“I always wait for Sherman to come out to the mound when I go in to talk to a pitcher,” Marion went on. “He never comes right out and says a pitcher has lost his stuff. I guess he doesn’t like to seem too presumptuous, but I can tell by his manner if I should yank the pitcher. Hhe will start hemmin’- and-hawin’ when I ask him how things are going, and when he does that, I know the pitcher has got to come out.”
It is apparent that Marion places more responsibility on Lollar than Paul Richards did when he managed the White Sox. Sherman caught 107 games last year but will catch many more this season.
“I suppose Sherman would hit better if I could rest him now and then,” said Marion, “but I feel better about things when he’s in there so I just have to sacrifice some hitting to utilize his services to the fullest extent on defense. He’s more than a coach. He’s my first assistant.”
“It is my opinion that Lollar will someday make a very good manager. He’s pleasant, intelligent and loyal. He might not be tough, but I think being tough is not a manager’s big job. His biggest problem is to command the respect his players and I think Lollar would rate very high in that respect.”
Marion was right about Sherm’s leadership abilities, because when Lollar retired from playing in 1963, following a thumb fracture, he went right into management.
In 1964, he became bullpen coach of the Baltimore Orioles until 1967, earning a 2nd World Series ring in 1966. Maybe this one fit better? Next, he was bullpen coach of the 1968-69 Oakland Athletics, with a stable that included Catfish Hunter, who threw a perfect game on May 8, 1968. Then he got a manager’s position with the Iowa Oaks from 1970 to 1972, and ended his career as manager of the Tucson Toros, claiming a division title in 1973, and finally retiring from baseball in 1974. Maybe his health started to become an issue?
Long before these career-ending managerial stints were twelve great years that #10 spent with the White Sox. It became my favorite player number starting in 1959.
Leave a Reply