GRPL Gets Inside the Head of a Big League Manager
The Grand Rapids Public Library explores the world of baseball's big league managers with a presentation by Dr. Bill Anderson, author of the book View from the Dugout: The Journals of Red Rolfe on Wednesday, June 14 at 7:00 pm. The program is free and open to the public and part of the Vander Veen Center for the Book programming.
The program, Getting Inside the Head of a Big League Manager, examines the life of Red Rolfe, a third baseman for the New York Yankees from 1931 to 1942 who went on to manage the Detroit Tigers from 1949 - 1952. Rolfe is the only big league manager in baseball to keep a journal throughout his tenure as a field boss. His journal is a candid and insightful revelation of how a manager thinks, strategizes and evaluates the talents of his players and the opposition.
Baseball players as a rule aren't known for documenting their experiences on the diamond. Red Rolfe, however, recorded daily accounts of each game, including candid observations about his team's performance, and the strengths, weaknesses and tendencies of opposing players and managers, and he used these observations to coach his players and to gain an advantage. Rolfe's journals carry added value considering his career as an All-Star Yankee third baseman on numerous world champion teams where he played with Lou Gehrig and Joe DiMaggio.
Bill Anderson is the Director of the Department of History, Arts and Libraries for the State of Michigan. His other books include The Detroit Tigers: A Pictorial Celebration of the Greatest Players and Moments in Tigers' History. Anderson used many photographs from the collection of the Grand Rapids Public Library, which has one of the best photography collections of the Tigers dating from the 1940s to the 1960s. These photographs, many never before published, will be featured in an exhibition on the Detroit Tigers opening June 14 at the Main Library.
Getting Inside the Head of a Big League Manager will be held at 7:00 pm on Wednesday, June 14, 2006 in the Ryerson Auditorium at the Grand Rapids Public Library, 111 Library St. NE. The program is free. For more information, call 616-988-5400.