Frankie Frisch on lazy ball playing and manager
Not all rookies are naive and dumb. Some of them are fast on the draw with brain and tongue.
When Frankie Frisch was manager of the St. Louis Cardinals, he came into possession of a rookie infielder named Sam Narron. One morning in spring training camp, the playing manager of the Cards was on the sidelines, lazily leaning on a bat and watching his players going through their practice paces. Suddenly, his eagle eye spied rookie Sam Narron in a corner of the field, lazily leaning on a bat -loafing.
The fiery-tempered manager stopped all play, and with a sharp tongue berated the young rookie in the presence of all the players.
"What d'ya mean by loafing in the field?" roared Frisch. "Are you too stupid to understand my orders? Only this morning we had a clubhouse meeting and do you remember I told all young players that I wanted each one of them to pick out a star on the team and imitate him at all times? Well, you lazy bum, did you?"
"Of course, sir," the rookie replied politely. "I picked you!"
