What do you get when you mix baseball and marriage and stick it in front of a microphone? You get Double Play with Durocher and Day, a unique sports show starring a rather unlikely duo! Leo Durocher, famed baseball manager, and his wife Laraine Day, Hollywood actress, team up in this radio show from the early 1950s.
Leo "The Lip" Durocher was already a controversial figure in the world of sports before teaming up with Day. Formerly the manager of the Brooklyn Dodgers, and later the New York Giants, Durocher was famous for his sharp tongue and no-holds-barred approach to winning ballgames. The originator of the now well-worn phrase, "Nice guys finish last," Durocher's fiesty personality was a natural choice for radio.
Laraine Day was a married Hollywood actress when she met Leo Durocher, and their whirlwind courtship, quickie Mexican divorce and wedding caused shockwaves in the conservative baseball world. She embraced her new husband's sport and quickly became "The First Lady of Baseball." Focusing on the human interest side of the sport, she once said, "Baseball isn't statistics and numbers to me. It's blood and tears."
Durocher and Day each brought a unique perspective to the sport, and with their romantic chemistry they produced a fascinating show as they interviewed other sports personalities of the day. |
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