Bing Devine oral history interview, circa 1968

Bing Devine oral history interview

Datecirca 1968

DescriptionAn interview of Bing Devine that was conducted by the St. Louis Cardinals in St. Louis Cardinals around 1968. Content of the interview includes: Track 1 - The front office of a baseball club specifically the Cardinals, is much the same as the office in many businesses; a world of activity, business decisions; some of the more glamorous matters, such as player signing, player acquisitions, player deals take place behind those doors, but basically, just a business office (00:00:00 to 00:00:40) Track 2 - On being a target for fan- and player- wrath, the top executives of any baseball club naturally are caught up in the whirl of attention from the standpoint of glamour, controversial decisions about player matters, particularly player deals; the general manager as the operating head of a baseball club naturally is the one who makes the final decisions regarding players, matters of great importance to baseball fans, in particular player deals, those of us in baseball for a good many years recognize that this is the calculated risks, the nature of the business and make the decisions recognizing that they will be right some and wrong some and hope the percentage of correct decisions is in our favor (00:00:40 to 00:01:50) Track 3 - As far as the Cardinals are concerned, made a good many satisfactory player deals and player acquisitions over a period of years, some did not work out as good as others; most noteworthy in his mind of a player deal that did not work well for the Cardinals is when they sent Wally Moon to the Dodgers for Gino Cimoli; that was an exchange of center fielders, it made good sense at the time, because Cimoli in theory was a better center fielder and a right-handed hitter, as opposed to Moon's left-handed hitting, which is what was needed on the club; Cimoli didn't do too badly for the Cardinals, but Moon happened to have some sensational years in Los Angeles, particularly in the Coliseum when the Dodgers were winning pennants and he learned to hit the ball into left field to take advantage of the short fence, so he became an important addition to the Dodgers and magnified his loss to the Cardinals (00:01:50 to 00:03:12) Track 4 - Difficult to select the best player deal or acquisitions over the years; the more important ones that received more publicity were the additions of Curt Flood, Bill White, now departed; Dick Groat, also now gone; Julian Javier, Lou Brock, the most recent; but when you think about it, can't put one player ahead of another; flood has been a long-time success for the Cardinals for many years, have to look a long time before you find other one better; Bill White came in not as a regular player but became a first base star in the National League, and Lou Brock has received the bulk of the attention because of his sensational plays since coming to the Cardinals from the Cubs (00:03:12 to 00:04:34) Track 5 - On player relationships not the most important function; have to recognize the most important part of a top executive's contribution to a baseball club is the overall supervision of the organization, the direction and organizing, the more glamorous parts of this business are the matters dealing with players; player relationships are important, not only on the Cardinal club but throughout the organization, the Minor League players who someday might be coming to the Cardinals; the most important segment of the manager's duties are his relationships with the players on the field, in the clubhouse, and the general manager's chain of command runs through the manager, that is the normal procedure (00:04:34 to 00:05:58) Track 6 - On the importance of the balance sheet, as opposed to the won-lost column, a difficult question to answer; no business, which includes baseball, can run consistently and constantly without paying its way; everyone in baseball, from ownership through all working levels, primarily interested in the success of their product, which means the success on the field, in the won-lost column, in the league standings; follows that that success is tied hand in glove with success off the field, at the gate, in attendance and as a result in the profit and loss sheets (00:05:58 to 00:07:16)

Object numberBL-2001-00092-009

Artist, Creator, or Manufacturer St. Louis Cardinals (Baseball team)

Attributes

Classificationsaudio/visual materials

Collection NumberBA RMA 003 St. Louis Cardinals oral history collection

Library Call NumberRR 401

Dimensions00:07:16|1 of 1

Copyrighthttp://rightsstatements.org/vocab/CNE/1.0/

Public Access NotePlease note that not all works are on view at all times - their availability is subject to change per the discretion of the Museum staff. Only a portion of NBHFM's collection is currently online and the information presented here is subject to updates and additions based on research and imaging activities. The images, titles, and descriptions are products of their time. If you have corrections or additional information about this object, please email research@baseballhall.org to help improve our records. This material is made available for private study, scholarship, and research use. Every effort has been made to accurately determine the rights status of images. Please email us if you have further information on the rights status of an image contrary to or in addition to the information in our records. For more information or access to a high resolution reproduction (some fees may apply), contact: National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, Giamatti Research Center, research@baseballhall.org, 607-547-0330.