Evening star., 1951-07-29
Gehrinqer
Continued From Page BIZ

blame in some quarters for thC
teams failure this year has been
pinned directly on Billy. If he is
to blame, then so am I. He let me
run the club completely"
Called Victim of Circumstances.
Rolfe termed Evans "a victim
of circumstances" this season.
The red-haired manager said
he was surprised at the selection
.of Gehringer but he had high
praise for the former Tiger gleat.
He understands ball player 5
and ball player psychology. That
is a mighty important thing for
a general manager" said Rolfe.
1T is a rough job that Geh-
ringer is stepping into" he added.
Naturally we face a real rebuild
ing job"
Rolfe said his own status as
1852 manager of the Tigers had
LIOG UeSn QlSCuSSeQ.
Evans came to the Tigers in
December. 1916. after a long ca
reer in baseball. His salary was
a reported $4,000 this year.
During Evans first year, l947
the Tigers finished second. They
sagged to fifth in 1948, but the
next year, with Rolfe replacing
Steve O'Neill as manager, climbed
to fourth.
Battled Yanks Last Year.
Last year the Tigers battled the
New York Yankees almost to the
finish for the pennant, winding
up three games behind the Amer
ican League champions.
Evans said he was sorry" he
was unable to bring the Tigers a
pennant during his stay but
added, baseball is like that"
Asked if he had been contacted
as a candidate for the post of
baseball commissioner, recently
vacated by Happy Chandler, Ev-
ans declared emphatically. mo,
no. nothing like that. That's 100
per cent wrong"
A few weeks ago, H. G. Sal
singer, veteran sports editor of
the Detroit News, criticized the
Detroit management in his COL
umn. He raped particularly the
Tigers apparent inability to
make trades that would help the
club.
Evans said he told Briggs that
his would be his last year as
general manager, regardless of
what the club did.
Rejected 3-Year Contract.
In a statement, Evans said he
came here originally with a three
year contract. At its expiration,
Evans said, Briggs offered him a
similar one But he refused, pre-
ferring a one-year contract.
IF we'd won the pennant last
year, I think I would have quit
then" Evans said You know
you always like to quit when you
have a winner"
He blamed the Tigers slump
this year on the clubs inability
to land a hard-hitting first base
man and another good pitcher,
IF we'd had them, we might
have been a 1851 contender" he
declared.
To add to the Tigers mis-
fortunes, some of last years stars
have faded badly this year, in
cluding outfielder Hoot Evers and
pitcher Hal Newhouser.
Evans baseball career goes back
to 1906 when he began as an
American League umpire, job
he held % years. Eight years as
general manager of the Cleveland
Indians followed and then six
with the Boston Red Sox minor
league system. After a year as
general manager of the Cleveland
Rams of the National Professional
Football league he served five
years as president of the Southern
Association.
He left Cornell University after
three years on the death of his
father and his early jobs included
a $15-a-Week sports writing job
with the Youngstown (Ohio) Vim
dicator.
Evans only son, Bob, is general
manager of the Toledo Mud Hens,
"a Tiger farm.