[mlbvideo id=”31372329″ width=”550″ height=”308″ /]
By Jon Weisman
A classic find of Leo Durocher at the Dodgers’ 1945 Spring Training was posted by MLB.com.
“Thinking about this year’s club for Brooklyn,” Durocher begins. “After all, how bad can we get? We finished seventh last year, and I know this club is going to be quite an improvement over last year’s club.”
And then, during drills…
“Oh ho! Now look, you haven’t got a bucket of paint with you at third base, you know! You gotta get the paint brush out of your hands! Let’s go!”
In 1945, the Dodgers trained at the Bear Mountain Inn in New York’s Hudson Valley, due to World War II. And indeed, after going 63-91 (with a tie) in 1944, the Dodgers improved to 87-67 and third place in ’45. A pennant would come two years later, with Jackie Robinson — but without the suspended Durocher.
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