| Billy Jurges | |
|---|---|
 Jurges with the Chicago Cubs in 1932 | |
| Shortstop /Manager | |
| Born:(1908-05-09)May 9, 1908 Bronx, New York, U.S. | |
| Died: March 3, 1997(1997-03-03) (aged 88) Clearwater, Florida, U.S. | |
Batted: Right Threw: Right | |
| MLB debut | |
| May 4, 1931, for the Chicago Cubs | |
| Last MLB appearance | |
| September 9, 1947, for the Chicago Cubs | |
| MLB statistics | |
| Batting average | .258 |
| Home runs | 43 |
| Runs batted in | 656 |
| Managerial record | 59–63 |
| Winning % | .484 |
Stats atBaseball Reference  | |
| Teams | |
| As player As manager | |
| Career highlights and awards | |
William Frederick Jurges (May 9, 1908 – March 3, 1997) was an Americanshortstop,third baseman,manager,coach andscout inMajor League Baseball. He was born in theBronx, New York. During the 1930s, he was central to three (1932,1935 and1938)National League championChicago Cubs teams. In July 1932, Jurges recovered from gunshot wounds—suffered when a distraught former girlfriend tried to kill him—to help lead the Cubs to the pennant.
A right-handed batter and thrower who stood 5 feet 11 inches (1.80 m) tall and weighed 175 pounds (79 kg), Jurgesbatted .258 in 1,816 games over 17 seasons. He collected 1,613hits, with 245doubles, 55triples and 43home runs.
Although he was a light hitter, Jurges was known as a top-flight fielder as a shortstop.Baseball Reference credits him with leading in the National League in such defensive categories asDefensive Wins Above Replacement andRange Factor. He led NL shortstops infielding percentage four times and indouble plays once.[1]
During his first eight seasons (1931–1938) in Chicago, he anchored an infield ofStan Hack (third base),Billy Herman (second base), andCharlie Grimm orPhil Cavarretta (first base). He then played seven more seasons (1939–1945) with theNew York Giants, missing over 90 games in1940 after he was hit in the head by a pitched ball. However, he recovered to play regularly for the Giants from 1941 to 1943. He then returned to the Cubs as a player-coach in 1946–47. For a while, during the off-seasons in the 1930s, Jurges stayed in shape by working out at the Waple Studio of Physical Culture in Alexandria, Virginia.
On July 6, 1932, Violet Valli, a showgirl with whom Jurges was romantically linked, tried to kill Jurges at the Hotel Carlos, where both lived. Jurges had previously tried to end their relationship. Valli (born Violet Popovich) also left a suicide note in which she blamed Cubs outfielderKiki Cuyler for convincing Jurges to break up with her. Although initial reports stated that Jurges was shot while trying to wrestle the gun from Valli, later reports, based on Valli's suicide note, stated that she was trying to kill Jurges as well as commit suicide.[2]
A week after the shooting, charges were dismissed against Valli when Jurges appeared in court and announced that he would not testify and wished to drop the charges.[3] Valli was later involved in a lawsuit when she sued a real estate developer who was blackmailing her by threatening to release letters in which Valli threatened Jurges.[4]
Future baseball club ownerBill Veeck was working for the Cubs at the time, and later wrote in his memoirThe Hustler's Handbook (Ch. 6) that the intended victim was actually a married player of whom Valli had been the mistress. This player was hanging out in Jurges's room, and Jurges was shot trying to defuse the situation. Jurges, being single, covered for the other player and made it seem like he had jilted the showgirl.
The shooting of Jurges—and/or a later shooting of fellow ballplayerEddie Waitkus at aChicago hotel in 1949—may have inspired authorBernard Malamud in penning the story of Roy Hobbs in his novelThe Natural,[5][6] which was published in 1952 and made into aHollywood film starringRobert Redford andGlenn Close in 1984.
Jurges was a full-time coach for the Cubs in 1948 under manager Grimm. Then, after leaving the Cubs, Jurges managed briefly in thefarm systems of theCleveland Indians andMilwaukee Braves, before returning to the coaching ranks with the originalWashington Senators franchise in1956. On July 3,1959, still a Washington coach, he was named the surprise manager of theBoston Red Sox, who had firedPinky Higgins. Jurges' appointment was hurriedly announced by Bostongeneral managerBucky Harris without consulting ownerTom Yawkey.[7]
Managing from the third-base coach's box, Jurges was able to rally Boston in1959: the Bosox won 44 of 80 games under him, improving from eighth to fifth place, and finally broke thecolor line with the promotion ofPumpsie Green from the minor leagues.
But the Red Sox, facing the end ofTed Williams' great career in1960, were a team in disarray. Composed of aging veterans and mostly unpromising youngsters—and stunned by the sudden retirement, in his prime, ofright fielder and1958Most Valuable PlayerJackie Jensen—the1960 Red Sox fell into theAmerican League basement after losing 27 of their first 42 games. Jurges, an intense competitor, suffered in an alien organization composed largely of cronies of owner Yawkey.[8] The Red Sox front office was about to undergo a massive shakeup, with Harris, Jurges' patron, on his way out the door. On June 8, Jurges left the team, citing illness. (Some Boston baseball writers believed that he suffered from nervous exhaustion.[8]) He was fired two days later, and, after bench coachDel Baker handled the team for five days, Higgins returned to the manager's post he had lost 11 months before.
Jurges never managed again in baseball (his final record was 59 wins, 63 losses — .484) but he scouted for six teams before his final retirement: theBaltimore Orioles,New York Mets,Houston Colt .45s/Astros, the expansionWashington Senators and its successor, theTexas Rangers, theSeattle Mariners and the Cubs. He died at age 88 inClearwater, Florida.
| Team | Year | Regular season | Postseason | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Games | Won | Lost | Win % | Finish | Won | Lost | Win % | Result | ||
| BOS | 1959 | 80 | 44 | 36 | .550 | 5th in AL | – | – | – | – |
| BOS | 1960 | 42 | 15 | 27 | .357 | fired | – | – | – | – |
| Total | 122 | 59 | 63 | .484 | 0 | 0 | – | |||
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