Atlanta Braves Top 10 Managers in History: #10 – Lum Harris
The Atlanta Braves franchise hired 48 managers since Boston’s first nine took the field. Today we start our list of the ten best since 1871.
The Process
Most long-time Atlanta Braves fans could offer one or two names, and I thought I’d dig around in franchise history enough to create a list relatively easily. Oops, wrong again.
The names listed by BBR included two owners, Ted Turner and Emil Fuchs, two player-managers replaced early in the season, and seven interim managers. I ignored them and managers who didn’t last at least three years.
All managers on this list either won a league championship or managed at least one postseason series, even if it wasn’t considered postseason at the time on BBR’s summary of a manager’s performance. Without further adieu, here’s number ten.
Chalmer Luman “Lum” Harris, Atlanta Braves, 1968-1972
Lum Harris spent four years in the minors from 1937 through 1940 as a pitcher before joining the Athletics in 1941 and six years in the majors, broken by a break for military service in 1945. After four years of bouncing around the minors, Harris went home to Alabama and became a carpenter.
In 1951 the White Sox called and offered him a job as batting-practice pitcher. Manager and old friend Paul Richards liked what Harris did for the team and made him third-base coach the following season. From that point on, Harris and Richards were inseparable.
Harris followed Richards to Baltimore and helped him build the pitching staff, then turned a perennial loser into a winning team. When Richards moved to Houston, Harris wasn’t far behind. He joined the Colt 45s as pitching coach in 1962, took over as interim manager in 1964, and became the first manager of the newly christened Houston Astros in 1965. The team didn’t improve under Harris, and when a new owner took control, he fired him.
Atlanta Braves call Harris
In 1966, Harris’ mentor Paul Richards took over as vice president for player personnel with the Braves – effectively the general manager – and hired Harris to manage the Triple-A Richmond Braves in 1967. When Billy Hitchcock lost his job halfway through the season, Lane convinced Bill Bartholomay Harris was the man for the job.
In his first full season, Harris drug the Braves to a .500-record despite a series of injuries to key players and Rico Carty going down with tuberculosis. Expansion to twelve teams in 1969 put the Atlanta Braves in the NL West. Carty returned in May; Richards had traded Torre for an aging Orlando Cepeda, weakening the lineup, but Harris kept the team in the hunt.
In the West and in the hunt
The Atlanta Braves led the NL West for 14 days in April, clawed their way back into the lead on May 5, and held it until June 21. The same story replayed itself until September 9, when they found themselves four games back in a four-team dog fight for the NL West title after losing to the Dodgers on a walk-off in the tenth.
The next day the Braves returned the favor, walking off the Dodgers. When the Giants arrived for a three-game set, the Braves swept them out of town. The Astros came to town and met the same fate; the Braves headed to San Francisco 1.5 games up but lost both games to the Giants.
The turnaround
They arrived in San Diego in second place, a half-game back after splitting the two-game set in LA, the Braves took all three in San Diego, followed that with a three-game sweep in Houston, returning to Fulton County Stadium 1.5 games ahead.
The Padres arrived and left three games later with nothing to show for their trip to Atlanta. The Brave won their tenth straight the next day to go 2.5 games up and lock up the NL West title.
The Braves were 73-62 on the morning of September 1 and, after a 20-7 in September, ended the year 93-69.
Close, but no cigar.
The chase for the division title took a toll on the Braves and running into Tom Seaver, Nolan Ryan, and the miracle Mets proved too much. If the manager of the year award existed in 1969, Harris might well have finished near the top just as Brian Snitker did in 2022.
The Atlanta Braves lineup got old fast in 1970, and the team sank to a ninth-place finish. New blood revitalized the lineup a bit in 1971, and they climbed above .500 to finish third.
The Braves never got going in 1972; they were 10 games back on July 1, 12.5 games back on August 1, and 16 Games back when they replaced Lum Harris with Eddie Mathews.
Earlier in the season, writers ask Harris about the potential of getting fired.
The way I look at it, there’s only one letter difference between hire and fire. I’ll tell you this. I don’t know what I or anyone else could do differently. When people who have proved they are good pitchers lose their stuff, when people make mistakes out on the field, or when fellows you know can hit don’t, there isn’t much anyone can do but sit on the bench and squirm.
Epilogue
Harris managed the Braves for parts of six seasons and led them to their first postseason-type series since 1959. He finished with a 379-373-2 record and a .504 W/L%.
Atlanta was Harris’ last job in baseball.
Atlanta Constitution writer Wayne Minshew recalled, “The last thing Luman said to me was, ‘I’m going to my farm in Birmingham and I’m never leaving.’ And he was true to his word right up until the day he died.”
It was a sad parting for Harris, Old friend Eddie Robinson replaced Paul Richards as GM and had the job of telling Harris he was fired. Harris never spoke to him again; Richards and Harris didn’t speak for years but eventually reconciled. Harris died on November 11, 1996, at the age of 81.
That’s a wrap
Sometimes fans forget what a manager did for the team after a couple of years when the club doesn’t reach the same peak. Harris took over an aging, injury-prone team, and with a roster that included only four players with an OPS over .700, led them to a divisional title and a chance at a trip to the World Series.
Next. Spring Training in 49, 48, 47 . . .. dark
He didn’t sign the players or make the trades; Like all modern managers, he did the best he could with the players available. He wasn’t a perfect manager, but no one is, and tenth place on the list of a 152-year-old franchise is pretty good work.