Evening star., 1960-11-04
WIN, LOSE OR
DNAW By FRANCIS srANN
Bill Dewitt
Whot's He Got?

BAsEBALLs TWIN capacities for retaining the tried
and trite and vet divorcing the truly big wheels is
that General Manager George Weiss was moved into
emi-retirement by the Yankees the Cincinnati Reds
sannonnced that Bill Dewitt to be their new GM
replacing the Houston bound Gabe Paul
Weiss, whether the man on the street knows it or
not was the fellow behind those fabulous years in New
York He helped to preside those 10 championships
In Is years He didn't wear uniform, but Weiss the
who handed the players Casey Stenge needed
TO win. Casey also is gone.
Weiss, you might say, not a highly popular figure
In fact, most people didn't know him. Newsmen who had
occasion to talk to Weiss, wrote him off cold cal
culating man. And they were right perhaps because
in his dealings he poker face and when the ques
ton came up of whether to trade off player he
as cold about the move as any man could be-
*%%
NOW YOU COME to Bill Dewitt Who's he? He's
guy you occasion, smiling and affable, but
fellow who's record won't bear close inspection. He's
one Of those career baseball men, first messenger for
the st. Louis Cardinals and later an executive here and
there.
For who has been maintained for so long in
baseball DeWitt history is remarkably undistinguished
Some critics have felt that he opportunist
than baseball man of outstanding capabiity.
Once and this back in 1914 when 4-F bail
player with two fiat feet was automatically an asset
Dewitt was associated with winner He with the
ST. Louis Browns when they their only pennant But
by and large Dewitt has been Herculean figure
Yet the man, no matter how many times jobless
always seems to come up with big leather chair and
desk Even when Dewitt was "at liberty" so to speak,
the American League created job administrator of
$5O0000 fund to help the stricken leagues Minor
league cubowners reported they unable detect
any strengthening OF their common pulses. -..
***a
WHEN DEWITT LANDED or was handed the Job
as president of the Detroit Tigers year ago he didn't
do much Of job and the Tigers gathers from reports
were happy to settle for the remaining two years Of his
contract Neither Dewitt nor the Tigers fell into the
ball-of-fire category in 1860.
a mistakes
season that still linger in memory When he discovered
that AL Kalne of his stars owned piece of
horse he looked skyward and gesturng piousy
less damned racing evil, disease. Kaine, of
course disposed of his interest in the sport Of
kings, but DeWitts outburst neither called for
quickly forgotten.
Then he became party to the cheap and shocking
incident OF trading managers with Frank Lane of Ceve
land. He sent Jimmie Dykes the Indians "in trade"
Tor Joe Gordon How Commissioner Ford Frick let this
maneuver slide by is to wonder.
Dykes and Gordon are class guys Lane and Dewitt
cheapened them and all baseball managers with that
bizarre move. Gordon, later to prove what he
thought of Dewitt when he walked out on the Tigers
with year to his contract Joe was signed by the
Athletics hours later.
RETURNING TO WEISS, he once said "If there were
1O-year ull in baseball and all clubs were to start
anew the first men who would be hired would be baseball
scouts"
The creed Of this man in the Ed Barrow image was
thus He believed that If he got necessary players
the field manager figured to win Weiss have been
right.
Stengel used to poke fun lat my front office people
The suspicion Is that Weiss Caseys target but meant
in good vein. They were opposites stengel with his
Jocuarity and superb public relations and Weiss with
hs coldneSS. But they must have been friends or at
least, mutual admirers
When Stenge needed pitchers Weiss got him the likes
OF Don Larsen Bob Turley Bobby Shantz Art Dtar and
Ralph Terry He acquired Bob Cerv and engineered the
monStrous acquisition of Roger Maris. They were a
wonderful team Stenge and Weiss
And now they're gone from the Yankees