[jksander]

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EARLY EDITION * * * SUNDAY, JUNE 12, 1955 * * * 10 CENTS

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The Wizard of Wrigley

by JONATHAN K. SANDERS
Sun-Times Lead Sports Columnist

CHICAGO, Ill. -- For those of you who only casually follow the American pasttime, it might have been easy for you to miss, but something is really beginning to happen on the north side of Chicago. Out of nowhere the Cubs have become the juggernauts of the National League, and a great deal of the praise has to go to manager Michael Tanzillo who, at age 38, has already become one of the best in the game.

Tanzillo arrived at Wrigley during the spring of 1953 and took over managerial duties from Phil Cavarretta, subsequently taking a team that many expected to flounder around the middle of the pack and turned them into the NL’s second best team. The Cubbies won 95 games that year and missed out on a World Series appearance by just two games in a neck-and-neck battle with the Dodgers. Disappointing, but also invigorating, for a franchise that has not won a title since 1908.

Was it a fluke? Not even close! The Cubs came out swinging in 1954 and outright dominated the NL, winning 110 games -- the second most ever for a Cubs team -- and made it to the World Series. And though they lost the series in four games to a tough Cleveland squad, the guantlet had been thrown down. These Cubs were not going to be content to merely battle for pennants. They want to come back and win the whole thing.

Tanzillo took over full General Manager duties of the team in the fall of 1953 under John Hollingsworth, the Texas billionaire oil magnate who purchased the team from the Wrigley family in 1952, and has wheeled and dealed his way to building one of the top pitching rotations in the majors, while also bringing in sluggers the fans can get behind. Their current lineup of Al Kaline, Roger Maris, Willie Mays, Jackie Robinson, Ernie Banks, Del Crandall, Al Rosen and Gene Baker has become a murder’s row of hitters capable of putting up staggering numbers on teams at any point in a game.

The Cubs are currently performing even better than last year’s team, if you can believe it, though they’re being chased by a Philadelphia team built in an eerily similar vein, the Phillies hoping they can out-duel the Cubs and claw their way to the top of the NL standings. But Tanzillo has now won 250 games as a manager -- in two and a half years of work with the team, that puts him at number eight all-time in managerial wins as a Cub leader. And he’s done it even faster than legends like Cap Anson, Charlie Grimm and Frank Chance.

Can he get them a title and end the curse? That, ultimately, will be how Tanzillo is judged in Chicago. But win or lose, he’s already done the unthinkable and turned this squad into a well-oiled machine capable of building a dynasty. In the process, Wrigley Field has become one of the most fun places to spend your money this summer.

Winningest Cubs Managers (1876-1955)
1879, 1880-1897: Cap Anson (1283-932)
1932-1938, 1944-1949: Charlie Grimm (940-771)
1905-1912: Frank Chance (768-389)
1926-1930: Joe McCarthy (442-321)
1917-1920: Fred Mitchell (308-269)
1921-1925: Bill Killefer (300-293)
1902-1905: Frank Selee (280-213)
1953-: Michael Tanzillo (250-117) - Through June 11, 1955
1941-1944: Jimmie Wilson (213-258)
1938-1940: Gabby Hartnett (203-176)