Paul Krichell
Paul Bernard Krichell was a French Major League Baseball catcher, best known for being the head scout for the New York Yankees for 37 years until his death. Krichell's talent evaluations and signings played a key role in building up the Yankees' run of success from the Murderers' Row teams of the 1920s to the 1950s teams led by Casey Stengel.
Krichell began his professional career in the minor leagues, playing as the reserve catcher for the St. Louis Browns before a serious injury threatened his career. He continued to play in the minor leagues and began to move into coaching before Yankees manager Ed Barrow signed him as a scout in 1920. Considered one of the greatest scouts in baseball history, Krichell signed over 200 players who later played professional baseball, including future Baseball Hall of Famers Lou Gehrig, Hank Greenberg, Phil Rizzuto, Whitey Ford, and Tony Lazzeri. His recommendation of Stengel as the Yankees manager was instrumental in Stengel's appointment in 1948. Barrow called Krichell "the best judge of baseball players he ever saw".
Early life
Krichell was born in Paris, France, the son of a German cabinetmaker and youngest of nine children. He grew up in The Bronx, near the site of the future Yankee Stadium. Krichell made his professional baseball debut in 1903 as a catcher with the Ossining, New York, club in the Hudson River League's inaugural season. He moved to the Hartford Senators of the Connecticut League in 1906 and spent most of the following three years with the Newark Indians of the Eastern League. For the latter part of the 1909 season and the whole of 1910, Krichell played for the Montreal Royals at third base. In 1910, he played 102 games for the team, achieving a batting average of.249 and hitting 14 doubles. Krichell began his long association with manager Ed Barrow that year when the latter took charge of the Royals.Playing and managing career
In 1911, Krichell joined the St. Louis Browns as a reserve catcher, playing 28 games with a.232 batting average, 19 hits and 8 runs batted in during 82 at bats. The following year, he managed 59 games while sharing catching duties with Jim Stephens. In 161 at bats, Krichell achieved 35 hits and a.217 batting average. His fielding percentage was.959 that season. Ty Cobb of the Detroit Tigers stole second, third, and home plate in the same inning of a game while Krichell was catching. In a later game, a famous photograph captures Cobb appearing to Intentionally be flying foot-first into Krichell's crotch while the catcher squints in pained anticipation. There is a 1950s interview with Krichell, and by his own testimony, Cobb was aiming his foot at the ball in Krichell's glove, and succeeded in knocking it to the backstop. “The ball hit the grandstand on the fly. I was mad and stunned. Cobb was mad and shaken. In a way it was really my fault. I was standing in front of the plate, instead of on the side, where I could tag Ty as he slid in. But out of that mix-up I learned one thing: never stand directly in front of the plate when Cobb was roaring for home.”After the 1912 season, the Browns released Krichell, but after recovering from his injury, he played six seasons in the minor leagues. He was the starting catcher for the Buffalo Bisons in 1914 when Babe Ruth made his professional debut with the Baltimore Orioles, hitting a double and a single against his pitching. From 1917 to 1918, Krichell served as manager for Bridgeport of the Eastern League, making several playing appearances over the two seasons. He resigned on June 27, 1918, after two wins were forfeited when he used a player not under contract. He worked in the shipyards during the First World War. During the offseason, Krichell became the owner of a saloon popular with players in the Bronx, before Prohibition forced Krichell to close and return to baseball. For the 1919 season, he coached the New York University baseball team, and after the season ended, he signed with Ed Barrow to become a coach and scout for the Boston Red Sox in the following season.
Scouting career
Prior to the 1921 season, Barrow was appointed general manager of the New York Yankees and requested that Krichell join him as a full-time scout. At the time, the Yankees had a two-man scouting rotation, and Barrow believed the appointment of Krichell would improve the scouting staff. The first player signed by Krichell was Hinkey Haines, an outfielder from Penn State University. He signed catcher Benny Bengough from Buffalo of the International League, and Charlie Caldwell, a Princeton University graduate. Caldwell was used mainly as a batting practice pitcher, appearing in just three games in his major league career. During one practice, Caldwell fractured Wally Pipp's skull with a high fastball, allowing Lou Gehrig to assume Pipp's place in the starting lineup.Discovery of Gehrig
Early in the 1923 season, while traveling to New Brunswick, New Jersey, for a baseball game between Columbia University and Rutgers University, Krichell shared a train with the manager of the Columbia squad, Andy Coakley. They discussed Lou Gehrig, a left-handed pitcher on his squad who could also hit, and later that day, Gehrig hit two home runs in three at-bats. Following the game, Krichell spoke with Barrow, saying he had found the "next Babe Ruth". Skeptical, Barrow sent Krichell to watch Columbia's next game against New York University, where Gehrig hit a home run that reportedly went out of the stadium. After the game, Krichell persuaded Gehrig to sign for the Yankees for $2,000 for the remainder of 1923, with a $1,500 bonus. Krichell also asked Gehrig to give up pitching to focus on being a hitter.After joining up with the team for batting practice in June 1923, Gehrig was sent by Yankees manager Miller Huggins to the Hartford Senators. After a good start, Gehrig went through a long slump and suffered depression which led him to consider quitting baseball. Upon hearing this, Krichell was sent to Hartford to speak with the star player. He discovered that Gehrig was drinking, boosted his confidence and gave him batting advice, including one of Ty Cobb's batting tricks. Gehrig started hitting again, and eventually joined the Yankees.
Later signings
1920s
Before the 1925 New York Yankees season, Babe Ruth collapsed at a train station in Asheville, North Carolina. Krichell's actions may have saved Ruth's life. On the instructions of Huggins, Krichell drove Ruth to hospital, before traveling with Ruth by train to New York, where Ruth had emergency surgery for an "intestinal abscess" that left him hospitalized for six weeks.The same year, Krichell went to Hartford, Connecticut, to sign shortstop Leo Durocher for a $7,500 bonus. When the deal was concluded, Barrow sent Krichell to Salt Lake City to watch young second baseman Tony Lazzeri, who played for the Salt Lake Bees of the Pacific Coast League and hit 60 home runs and achieved over 200 RBIs the previous season. The Bees were asking for $50,000, but several scouts placed his value ten times lower. The Chicago Cubs were given the option to sign him for a discounted rate, but declined because he had epilepsy. Krichell saw promise in the player and convinced Barrow to buy him. Around the same time, he helped acquire shortstop Mark Koenig from the Minneapolis Millers. These Krichell signings formed part of the 1927 New York Yankees team, considered by many to be the greatest team ever assembled. Four of the starters in this squad were signed by Krichell, including three-quarters of its infield and Mike Gazella, its main backup, who signed for $500 in 1923. The Yankees took just four games to defeat the Pittsburgh Pirates and win the 1927 World Series.
To assist at practice for the 1927 season, Krichell signed Billy Werber from Duke University. He left the team after a month, but re-signed after graduating in 1930. During that time, Krichell was involved in what is considered one of the worst deals from the era. Barrow asked him to travel to Durham, North Carolina, to negotiate with the Durham Bulls for an outfielder named Dusty Cooke. Neither Krichell nor Barrow had seen Cooke; he was believed to be a great hitter, even though he had hardly played for the Bulls. The Yankees signed him for $15,000, beating the Cleveland Indians' offer of $12,500 and an unnamed player in exchange. Cooke turned out to be an injury-prone backup outfielder, and the Yankees gave up on both Cooke and Werber. After the 1933 season, the two were traded to the Boston Red Sox for cash considerations.
In the summer of 1929, Krichell discovered Hank Greenberg while on a scouting trip in Massachusetts. Krichell believed Greenberg would be the next Lou Gehrig. Krichell offered Greenberg a $10,000 contract on the spot based on his potential and knowing the Yankees were looking for Jewish players to increase their Jewish fanbase. Greenberg discussed the deal with his father but declined it because he knew his opportunities would be limited by the presence of Gehrig as first baseman. Subsequently, he signed with the Detroit Tigers.
1930s
In the early 1930s, Krichell focused on Ivy League pitchers, saying he preferred signing pitchers who could think. From Harvard University, he signed Charlie Devens later saying he could have been great had he continued to play baseball, and from Yale University, he scouted pitcher Johnny Broaca who seemed to be heading for stardom after winning 12 games in his first three seasons with the Yankees, but suddenly retired to become a professional boxer. In 1935, a local scout who worked with Krichell placed Long Island University pitcher Marius Russo in a semi-professional team. When Krichell deemed Russo ready, he signed with the Yankees for $750, twice becoming a 14-game winner and being an All-Star in 1941 before injuring his arm. Other Krichell signings from this period included Johnny Murphy, Hank Borowy and Johnny Allen. Murphy, a relief pitcher and four time saves leader, was signed while still in high school in the Bronx and at Krichell's behest, the Yankees followed Murphy's education at Fordham University, where he gained baseball experience. Krichell signed Borowy from Fordham University for $8,500 and the player later became the ace for the Yankees during the wartime era. Krichell supposedly discovered Allen by a chance encounter when Allen worked as a desk clerk at a Sanford hotel. The story said he recognized Krichell as a scout, told him that he was a pitcher, and that he wanted to try out. Krichell agreed, and impressed by Allen's ability, signed him to a minor league contract. However, in an interview with J. G. Taylor Spink of The Sporting News, Krichell said while he signed Allen, he did not discover him.Aside from his Ivy League pitcher focus, Krichell also unearthed several position players. He signed Charlie Keller, a highly touted prospect playing for the University of Maryland. To encourage Keller to sign, Krichell met and had dinner with his family. In 1937, Krichell signed shortstop Phil Rizzuto, who had tried out with the Brooklyn Dodgers and the New York Giants, but was dismissed by them on the grounds that he was too small. Even so, Krichell decided to look at the infielder and was impressed by the way Rizzuto accomplished double plays; his technique reminded Krichell of Leo Durocher, one of his favorite players. He signed Rizzuto for $75 a month and sent him to the Yankees' farm club in Bassett, Virginia.