Sportswriter-turned-skipper for the New York Giants, Horace Fogel, had a reputation for making some questionable decisions in his short tenure as manager. Most notable was his attempt to turn second-year pitcher Christy Mathewson into a position player, in spite of Mathewson’s having won twenty games as a rookie. Fogel’s rule over the Giants dugout came to an end on June 10, 1902, fired by the organization, and Mathewson went on to the Hall of Fame — as a pitcher.
To be replaced by some guy named Heinie Smith, who wasn’t much better. Then they went out and got John J. McGraw. That worked.
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